What will 100W run?

[Odd-no-more]

Hi everyone now we have a caravan we will have to rely on solar when off grid (when we had the MO HO we drove it enough to change the batteries) if we run the fridge and, if needed, the heating on gas, will the 100W panel we got with the van do the job? We run a tv and charge 2 phones.

 

[Lenny HB]

Depends on time of year and the sun, probably ok in the south of Spain and for UK OK mid May to early September.
Even 300watts of solar won't be enough in the UK from October to April.

 

[Odd-no-more]

Depends on time of year and the sun, probably ok in the south of Spain and for UK OK mid May to early September.
Even 300watts of solar won't be enough in the UK from October to April.

Thanks this is good news, we are mainly warm weather campers and in the colder months we will have ECU

 

[bobandjanie]

We had a free standing panel with our caravan, keep turning and angle to get the most out of it.
We only had one 100ah battery. Bob.

 

[Riverbankannie]

Hi everyone now we have a caravan we will have to rely on solar when off grid (when we had the MO HO we drove it enough to change the batteries) if we run the fridge and, if needed, the heating on gas, will the 100W panel we got with the van do the job? We run a tv and charge 2 phones.

With 100w panel we can go easily 3 nights without EHU. Of course that’s running heating and fridge from gas so really you are just asking the hab battery to run the lights, tv and chargers. Hab battery need to be in good condition to start with though and charged through a good run or by EHU,

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[Chris51]

Whats best 2x 100amp lead batteries or one deep cycle 130amp AGM etc using a 80 watt solar panel?

 

[Lenny HB]

Whats best 2x 100amp lead batteries or one deep cycle 130amp AGM etc using a 80 watt solar panel?

Steer well clear of AGM's they are totally useless as a leisure battery.
A 140a/h Gel would be a good option if your charger supports Gel, it would give you more usable power than 2 x 100a/h flooded batteries.

 

[MyrtleGuru]

Hi everyone now we have a caravan we will have to rely on solar when off grid (when we had the MO HO we drove it enough to change the batteries) if we run the fridge and, if needed, the heating on gas, will the 100W panel we got with the van do the job? We run a tv and charge 2 phones.

It will depend on your battery capacity too, I suppose. Here is our set-up with a relatively modest solar panel. We have never run out of juice yet, spending up to 5 days static and using onboard shower/toilet (that's May to Sep UK, winter Spain/Portugal). I guess you can increase the solar power and reduce the battery capacity: would be nice to know the best solar to battery capacity ratio.

2 x 100Ah lead acid batteries
120W panel (flat-mounted)
Fridge: gas (controls obviously need 12V)
Hot water / heating: gas (fan and controls obviously need 12V)
Water pump + bog flush 12V.
Lights: all LED
TV, sound system, computers, phones, tablets, etc. all 12V
No inverter

 

[tonyidle]

would be nice to know the best solar to battery capacity ratio.

Impossible to quantify: as your location and the weather changes so does the amount of solar you need given your 'normal' usage. It's generally acknowledged that, weight aside, you can't have too much of either. Buy extra battery capacity first followed by as much solar as you can.

 

[MyrtleGuru]

Impossible to quantify: as your location and the weather changes so does the amount of solar you need given your 'normal' usage. It's generally acknowledged that, weight aside, you can't have too much of either. Buy extra battery capacity first followed by as much solar as you can.

Yes, that makes sense. I guess we do ok because we have 200Ah of battery even though the solar panel is only 120W.

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