Solar question (1 Viewer)

[Chris]

Quick question from someone who is clueless..

If a new van comes with a factory fitted solar panel is it likely to have an inverter fitted?

If not, am I right in thinking that the panel will just charge the leisure battery so I could use lights and tv but not say charge my phone?

Thanks.

 

[dave newell]

no its not likely to have an inverter unless its advertised as such. For charging mobile phones etc get yourself a 12 volt charger, cheap as chips and a much more energy efficient way to charge portable items.

D.

 

[GJH]

I should have thought that it is unlikely that the van will have an inverter fitted. The panel will keep the leisure battery topped up so everything on the 12v circuit will remain usable for longer.

Depending on the charging circuitry installed by the manufacturer the panel may well send a float charge to the starter battery as well as charging the leisure battery.

To charge phones/laptops/tablets we use either car chargers which plug into a cigar lighter socket or (increasingly) USB leads. If the 12v sockets in the van are not the lighter type it's an easy job to replace the plug with one compatible with the sockets. I've done that on a couple of multi-socket adapters, one of which has lighter sockets (from Aldi) and the other of which has both lighter and USB sockets (from Lidl).

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[Chris]

Thank you gentlemen:thumb:

 

[Snowbird]

As has already been said, if your charging anything from a mobile phone to a laptop use 12volt direct.
Dont know what van you have been looking at but if its an RMB Silver Star, yes it comes from the factory with solar panels and a pure sine wave inverter fitted.

 

[magicsurfbus]

As with the answers above, we have a solar panel and run everything off the 12v - our inverter is now permanently disconnected and the EHU cable is gathering dust. It helps to have LED light bulbs fitted.

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