Solar panels,what should we get in April?

[Camper634]

Could anyone please advise what a 100 watt panel,mounted flat on the van roof,should generate on a sunny day in early April?Also what could I expect from the same panel in mid June?Does angling the panel towards the sun make a significant difference?Thank you.

 

[Lenny HB]

If you have a good quality MPPT regulator like a Votronic or Victron.
Mid June around midday about 5 to 6 amps.
Early April around midday about 2 to 2.5 amps.

Probably a bit less up in Hull.

 

[Jev88]

I haven't used extensively yet but my last 100w panel (moncrystalline) was ECOWORTHY brand as seen on Fleabay or Amazonia.
Nicely packed. Under £80.
Don't forget the mounting mechanism (plastic corner feet or aluminium brackets), cabling, MP4 connectors and an MPPT controller as mentioned by Lenny HB . It is advantageous to swivel perpendicular to sun but that means fancier brackets. Most common I have seen is where you undo one side and pivot up so not always useful depen ding on which way your pitch is.
In hindsight I would have fitted two together rather than two separated over 6 months.... If you have the space go for more wattage.

 

[hilldweller]

Does angling the panel towards the sun make a significant difference?Thank you.

Sin(57) = 0.83 to theoretical 20%.

 

[Jev88]

Sin(57) = 0.83 to theoretical 20%.

Flashback to school and my precious trogonometry books........ althougn calculators were allowed on one exam paper and not the other.

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[Stealaway]

It will depend how fully charged the batteries are

 

[hilldweller]

Flashback to school and my precious trogonometry books........ althougn calculators were allowed on one exam paper and not the other.

Youngster eh ! We had slide rule or log tables and, how sad, I've still got the log tables and I might have a slide rule somewhere.

PS.....

Tilting brings a shed load of mechanical problems. An extra panel give 100% improvement and just needs some space.

 

[two]

I've not tried different regulators side by side. I know that marketing people say MPPT are 'better', but by how much?
I have tried angling a panel towards the sun (before installation) and it made a noticeable difference.
In Spring, you will get less than you do in Summer (the sun's not up or as high for so long).
I'm not sure that a 100W panel ever provides 100W, but never actually checked that.
You compensate for inefficiencies by having more panels.
A better solution (but much more fiddly) might be to use portable ones that you can place out of shade and towards the sun, adjusting every hour.
The acid test is the state of your batteries. If they're up to charge, you don't need any sun. You only need enough to keep them topped up, so panel size is related to power consumption (in low season).

 

[Hotelman]

Youngster eh ! We had slide rule or log tables and, how sad, I've still got the log tables and I might have a slide rule somewhere.

PS.....

Tilting brings a shed load of mechanical problems. An extra panel give 100% improvement and just needs some space.

The question is ‘can you remember how to use them’ !!

 

[hilldweller]

The question is ‘can you remember how to use them’ !!

Yes. I showed my grandson at Christmas, it was like showing an F1 car to a chimpanzee. "What is the olde foole doing" sort of thing.

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[DBK]

It will depend how fully charged the batteries are

I don't think everyone appreciates that.

If your MH is parked up and not being used you might see just a trickle charge of an amp or so going in. You won't see what your system can do until you put a load on it and run the batteries down a bit.

 

[Camper634]

Wonder what type of job it would be to retrofit the angle brackets to existing panels,and would it be worth while for the extra solar it would generated?

 

[two]

Wonder what type of job it would be to retrofit the angle brackets to existing panels,and would it be worth while for the extra solar it would generated?

Increasing the area of panels would be much easier.

 

[Robert Clark]

Increasing the area of panels would be much easier.

Providing your solar controller could cope

 

[Jev88]

Youngster eh ! We had slide rule or log tables and, how sad, I've still got the log tables and I might have a slide rule somewhere.

PS.....

Tilting brings a shed load of mechanical problems. An extra panel give 100% improvement and just needs some space.

I was the LAST year of O-levels, before GCSE continuous assessment came in...... Didn't use a PC until University and Windows had not been invented, we were on pre DOS systems and there were 20 computers for the building of approximately 500 students? It all worked though back then as you prepared everything before you sat at the terminal to load data or print a report (which printed in a different building 1 mile away!).

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[hilldweller]

we were on pre DOS systems

Tandy TRS80, Commodore Pet, SWTP, Atari and you could not put a floppy out of one into another make ! Those were the days my friend..........."

My daughters did the last GCSE, youngster.

 

[Canyon904]

I use my panels year round and found that when flat on the roof they were almost useless in winter. I spent a couple days messing about with some ally checkerplate, stainless bolts and some nylon bushes, so now I can tilt the panels approx. 30 degrees, big difference though I do need to park up facing east/west.

 

[Lenny HB]

! We had slide rule

I remember taking the kids around the Sience Musume I pointed at a Slide Rule in a case and said I got one the same as that at home, they gave me a very strange disinterested look.

Wonder what type of job it would be to retrofit the angle brackets to existing panels,and would it be worth while for the extra solar it would generated?

Only if you are prepared to move the van every couple of hours to keep the panel facing the sun.

 

[Richard n Ann]

Yes tilting will make a massive difference in winter, if you tilt it enough you can get very near to full power out of it in February.(During testing I got 2.03amps out of our 40w panel in Feb) I made ours tiltable as we like to park facing north in Benidorm and the panel tilts backwards ?

 

[Leakylunar]

I live in Cottingham next Hull
112w yesterday on a 175w panel but that’s on a pop top facing sun
Victron mppt controller.

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[Lumpy]

Mid day today in Cornwall my photonicuniverse 100w panel flat on the roof was producing 2.8a with just a pwm.

 

[Chris51]

My setup (cheap one) ,80amp panel / pwm has averaged 1 amp a day over last 3 months ... and is parked between buildings.

 

[Lenny HB]

Mid day today in Cornwall my photonicuniverse 100w panel flat on the roof was producing 2.8a with just a pwm.

A PWM regulator will be fine with a clear sky around midday. MPPT regulators come into their own when the sun is lower in the sky and on cloudy days, then you can expect a 25% improvement over a PWM regulator.

 

[Campervan_man]

If you have an Auto-trail it will be pre-wired for a dual charge controller.
There is a white 3 wire plug buried under the Sargent Unit.

 

[Dave2000]

To answer the original question, you will generate about 300 watts a day in April, and about 435 watts in mid June, based on a 100 watt panel.
The data below might be useful for some people, again based on a 100 watt panel.
The first table's location is Finningley (closest I could get to Hull), the second Is Murcia Spain.
You can see why solar in the UK is so poor in winter, compared with Spain.
DC array figures are kWh per month so divide by 30 for a daily figure.
These figures are corrected for location, and local weather data, and 10% for losses, so should produce a real world figure.

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[knokinonabit]

,what should we get in April?

Isn't the answer showers ?

 

[Hymerbell]

If you have a good quality MPPT regulator like a Votronic or Victron.
Mid June around midday about 5 to 6 amps.
Early April around midday about 2 to 2.5 amps.

Probably a bit less up in Hull.

a LOT less in Hull !

 

[Hymerbell]

a LOT less in Hull !

..just got a new (to me) van....how do I find out what sort of regulator I have MPPT etc....where is it...what does it look like. Also while I’m here how do I find out what wattage my two solar panels are and if they charge the starter batttery as well as the leisure...cheers Alex.....

 

[Richard n Ann]

if they charge the starter batttery

On a sunny day look at the starter battery voltage with a multimeter. If it's 13 volts or more it's charging... If not charging it will be 12.5v or less.

 

[Emmit]

Your solar panels are on the roof.
If you can get up a stepladder and see where they are, you should be able to see where the wires from it/them enter the vans insides.

Go to that place in the 'van, (it will probably be inside a cupboard). Follow that wire until it stops being a wire and enters something else. It could be something like this;

Invariably, the above will be an PWM controller. This is the most basic type and makes sure that the solar panel doesn't send 20 volts down the wire and fry's your Batteries.

There is another type of Controller.
It goes by the Acronym MPPT.

It could look a bit like this;

This type of Controller is more advanced than the PWM controller. It extracts more useable energy in low light conditions that the top one and therefore is more useful to us in Northern climes.

It costs more than the PWM but you get what you pay for.

Keep asking. Someone on here is bound to know.

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