Solar?

[Keep Right On]

Getting new van soon - as soon as DVLA register it......
It has solar factory fitted 100Kw. Not had solar before and so is there a dummies guide to solar anywhere? Does it work in place of EHU -ie operate sockets?
Ta

 

[LesW]

Does it work in place of EHU -ie operate sockets?
Ta

It will only produce 12volts..

 

[funflair]

No it doesn't operate sockets directly, you would need an inverter to make 240v from the 12v batteries, all solar does is charge/recharge your 12v battery.

And it will be 100w 100Kw would need a big roof.

 

[Carpmart]

It will be 100w.

The solar charges your habitation battery, you use this for lights, pumps etc.

100w is not really enough to be fully self sufficient except in late spring through to early autumn, but very dependent on your use.

 

[Keep Right On]

Thanks all - suspected same. Presume solar will be ok all year round to keep fridge, tracker and router working without resorting to EHU at home?

 

[Silver-Fox]

Thanks all - suspected same. Presume solar will be ok all year round to keep fridge, tracker and router working without resorting to EHU at home?

Depends on how long between trips re keeping fridge going but that would be on ehu or gas.

Tracker I’m guessing is off the cab battery.
Various ways to keep that topped up.

 

[Figaro]

It may do in summer, but probably not in winter, although the fridge is the big question mark ???
Is it a compressor fridge ? I don't think a 100 watt solar panel will keep that going even in summer,

 

[Viennese]

I would imagine whoever is selling you a new (not yet registered) van will go through all these things with you. Make the most of the intro and ask whatever you need to know there as well.

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[Ingwe]

I would imagine whoever is selling you a new (not yet registered) van will go through all these things with you. Make the most of the intro and ask whatever you need to know there as well.

And, if possible, video the intro with your phone so that you can listen/watch again whenever you need to.

 

[autorouter]

There's two kinds of fridge fitted in a motorhome, compressor and 3-way. A compressor fridge works from electricity only, 12V or 240V, not gas. A 3-way fridge works from gas, 12V or 240V.

A 3-way fridge uses a small amount of power for the 12V control circuit. If it's the Automatic Energy Selection (AES) type, it will automatically switch to gas when the MH is parked without EHU, 12V while the engine is running, and 240V when the EHU is plugged in. For some fridges the selection is manual, not automatic. When running on gas, the fridge takes very little 12V power, and 100W of solar will be OK for that.

A compressor fridge runs from the battery all the time. It is much less power-hungry than a 3-way powered by 12V, but it still takes quite a lot of power. You need at least 200W, preferably 300W of solar to keep a compressor fridge going.

 

[Keep Right On]

It is AES - so is there a way of calculating whether EHU or gas will be the more expensive. In the past, I've tended to switch off gas when upping sticks while parked/camped and then sticking the EHU on when arriving home. I'm guessing though that the cost of gas to power a fridge would be minimal

 

[InvictaMoto]

Our Majestic has two 100w panels on the roof. The leisure battery powers the lights inside and the water pump and that's it.

You will need EHU for the sockets. We also have two Gaslow LPG bottles we use for cooking and heating.

 

[Spriddler]

. I'm guessing though that the cost of gas to power a fridge would be minimal

Gas in exchange cylinders (e.g. Calor) will be at least double the cost of having refillable cylinders (e.g. Gaslow).

 

[cyberyacht]

A 100W panel is just going to keep your lights and water pump going. If you want serious EHU free, off-grid vanning using things like microwaves, then you need to be looking at 3-400W of solar, 200AH of lithium, a 1500-2000W Inverter and if a new van then almost certainly a B2B. Not cheap but cost effective over the longer term.

 

[Keep Right On]

A 100W panel is just going to keep your lights and water pump going. If you want serious EHU free, off-grid vanning using things like microwaves, then you need to be looking at 3-400W of solar, 200AH of lithium, a 1500-2000W Inverter and if a new van then almost certainly a B2B. Not cheap but cost effective over the longer term.

Happy using someone else's electric on EHU and not planning on wild camping off grid other than day trips. Main query is whether the solar would be enough to power fridge, tracker and router without EHU at home

 

[Raul]

Happy using someone else's electric on EHU and not planning on wild camping off grid other than day trips. Main query is whether the solar would be enough to power fridge, tracker and router without EHU at home

One 100w panel? NO. It will struggle to keep a router going trough the winter.

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[VXman]

Happy using someone else's electric on EHU and not planning on wild camping off grid other than day trips. Main query is whether the solar would be enough to power fridge, tracker and router without EHU at home

Solar will not power the fridge. The fridge will work off 240v if plugged into the EHU or gas if not. It only uses the 12v battery when the engine is running so solar panel doesn't really come into it....other than it recharges the battery.

In response to your earlier comment, fridges do use quite a bit if gas. We used 11kg gas bottle every 2 weeks when completely off grid. That was essentially fridge, hot water and cooking. The fridge uses gas pretty much 80% of the time.

 

[Andy Spain]

Maybe a silly question, but why do you need to power the fridge at when van is at home? We only hookup at home if doing some work in the van or getting ready for a trip in next day or two and that's when we switch fridge on plus check out everything else