Solar Panels

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Solar Panels
Topic Started: Jan 5 2009, 10:18 AM (128 Views)
olley	Jan 5 2009, 10:18 AM Post #1
Posts: 468 Group: Administrator Member #6 Joined: December 30, 2005	I have been wanting to fit solar panels for sometime but the cost has put me of, so when 2x120watt were advertised on MHFacts s/h for around half price with the 45amp morningstar controller thrown in I grabbed them. :) Fitting of any solar panel is fairly straightforward, screw or glue them to the roof, (I'm belt and braces so did both) wiring needs to be considered carefully because of voltage drop, I opted for 15mm2, as another poster said "you only buy the wires once, but voltage drop is for life" in hindsight as my wires are 10m long I should have used 25mm2 <_< Also water tightness, you will be drilling holes in your roof so make sure you don't let the water in. In theory a 120watt panel should deliver 10amps at 12v, but unless you are on the equator with the sun directly overhead, never will. In practice anything over 6amps is good going, and thats midday in summer, with figures of 2-3amps midday in winter, and if it clouds over forget it. So far the most I have seen on a summers day is around 80-90amps fed back in to the batteries. At full price its an expensive way to generate power compared to a small genny, with payback for the casual user like me; maybe never, even fulltimers I expect would need a few years to get their money back. But what I like is its "fit and forget" no moving parts and an expected life span in excess of 20 years. Olley
	Winnebago 30' 8.1 petrol Wyrd bid ful araed


Road Runner	Jan 5 2009, 10:29 AM Post #2
Moderator Posts: 1,076 Group: Members Member #65 Joined: August 16, 2006	You make me sick being so DIY/clued up Ian
	John (Road Runner) A gem of a small but RV friendly campsite in Wales www.cwmcuttan.com


johnsandywhite	Jan 5 2009, 10:30 AM Post #3
Posts: 1,127 Group: Members Member #11 Joined: January 25, 2006	Being Full-timers and ex-Wild campers. We have always had Solar power and extra batteries. Now we have had 2 years on a camp site. You perhaps think they are redundant? Not so. We have to pay for electricity by the kw. That CAN turn out to be VERY expensive as some on camp have already found out. In 2 years we have paid around Ł60 for on site electricity. Most of that was to see what it would cost to run the Reefer on Electric compared to LPG. Some were paying as much as Ł170 a month (silly sods). I suppose if you are on a camp site that included the electric? It WOULD be as olley says.
	Been there and done that, but never stop learning. We are not dreaming. We are doing it for real.


Tarphenry	Sep 4 2009, 07:31 PM Post #4
Posts: 5 Group: Members Member #554 Joined: September 1, 2009	Hi just a note about solar and its use for the full timer. After much research and many many phone calls we managed to find a supplier in manchester who was prepared to sit down and talk to me about panels the control system and storage requirement for our needs. after about an hour the conclusion was that 2x150 watt daylight panels connected through a 30 amp controller to 6 x110 batteries would be satisfactory for our needs. IT IS IMPORTANT TO STRESS THAT THE CONTROLLER NEEDS TO BE FITTED WITHIN 300mm OF THE BATTERIES AND IN THE SAME TEMPERATURE ZONE To do its job properly. We have so far managed 21 no sun days ,if you are carefull with usage of electricity. It is not a substtute fof 13 amp 240 volt mains but enables us to stay in some beautiful places without the need for mains.



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