Solar power

[R&Js Bertha]

Anyone looked into solar power for charging leisure battery.
Found a couple of websites which have a small panel which can give 7hrs of light - used in sheds/stables etc.
Wondering if this would be suitable for a van - especially if travelling to our 'European friends'.

[FunkyDuck]

Have been looking at similar things, and a solar powered LED light for the back. Lots out there but not sure how good they are..

[jamesc76]

I have a 48watt panel on my roof permanently fitted, and via a solar controller charges the battery great! Got mine from Maplins, bit like this,

http://www.maplin.co.uk/43w-solar-panel-kit-97377

[KINGPRAWN]

I have a 48watt panel on my roof permanently fitted, and via a solar controller charges the battery great! Got mine from Maplins, bit like this,

http://www.maplin.co.uk/43w-solar-panel-kit-97377

£350........woooooow!!!!!

[jamesc76]

you can get um cheaper, that was just an heads up, if you get those poxy 10w ones they will not actually have enough in them to charge the battery only keep it topped up!

[NicBeeee]

Hi

I only use a 28w panel, bought it from ebay along with a charge controller. I have attached it to a diseqc satellite motor and made up a circuit board to enable the panel to track the sun. This enables more watts per m2 as it is always perpendicular to the sun. At sunset the panel resets itself to facing east ready for morning sunrise. It also fits neatly onto my rear bike rack, this is good as it now has more than one use ie clothes hanger. The 28w panel keeps the leisure battery topped up, however I have got minimum electrical goods and LED lighting. I am more than happy with it so far and it is still in its infancy, certainly gets some funny looks though.

[pmoc_2001]

Hi

I only use a 28w panel, bought it from ebay along with a charge controller. I have attached it to a diseqc satellite motor and made up a circuit board to enable the panel to track the sun. This enables more watts per m2 as it is always perpendicular to the sun. At sunset the panel resets itself to facing east ready for morning sunrise. It also fits neatly onto my rear bike rack, this is good as it now has more than one use ie clothes hanger. The 28w panel keeps the leisure battery topped up, however I have got minimum electrical goods and LED lighting. I am more than happy with it so far and it is still in its infancy, certainly gets some funny looks though.

Solar tracking -that is cool! I would love to build something like that. At the moment I am toying with the idea of covering my high-top with flexible solar panels.
http://www.aireandsun.co.uk/index.php?c ... r%20Panels

[pmoc_2001]

A cool little device for monitoring your camper vitals such as water/ waste, battery charge, solar tracking, gas etc.

I have one and they are very easy to get to grips with and program and a big and helpful user community.

http://www.practicalarduino.com/project ... pth-sensor

[Plasticman]

Hi

I only use a 28w panel, bought it from ebay along with a charge controller. I have attached it to a diseqc satellite motor and made up a circuit board to enable the panel to track the sun. This enables more watts per m2 as it is always perpendicular to the sun. At sunset the panel resets itself to facing east ready for morning sunrise. It also fits neatly onto my rear bike rack, this is good as it now has more than one use ie clothes hanger. The 28w panel keeps the leisure battery topped up, however I have got minimum electrical goods and LED lighting. I am more than happy with it so far and it is still in its infancy, certainly gets some funny looks though.

I think we need some elaboration here, and loads more info, pickies etc
mike

[ronsrecord]

yep - want to see some pics too! I envisage some sort of James Bond laser tracking device!!!

this company looks good:

http://midsummerenergy.co.uk/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[NicBeeee]

Hi

Stuck at work all over the weekend (not that I am using the internet whilst working) but I will be able to send some pics early next week, Not quite a James Bond affair, the way to track the sun is more simpler than it sounds. You just need a couple of photo sensors encapsulated into a waterproof box. Attach this to the panel, Place a shadow board in between them and when the sun (well the Earth) moves the shadow board creates a shadow over the East sensor. As the west sensor is still in full sunshine a differential is created, this trips a relay in the circuit board to move the motor until both sensors are again equal. The particular circuit board from MTM scientific http://www.mtmscientific.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; that I used has a cut out to stop the panel from continually searching for the sun in cloudy weather, useful for good old blighty. It also fits neatly inside the technomate diseqc motor. Sometimes you are able to pick these diseqc motors up cheap as they can have problems with electronic circuitry, however you do not need this so you can rip it all out, I managed to get mine for 99p. The benefit of using these motors is that they can run off 12V and are designed for external use so no worries with waterproofing. They also come with an adjustable bracket that can alter the longitudinal angle so no need for an over complicated double axis tracker system.

[Plasticman]

This is good work , need it writing up with pickies and putting in't wiki
mike

[NicBeeee]

Hi Mike

This is good work , need it writing up with pickies and putting in't wiki

Happy to oblige, could take some time though as I will need to dismantle things Haynes style to take pics on how to build it. Fairly simple thing really, however I am stupidly busy at the moment with work cover etc, should be able to post a pic of the finished item this week though. My van is painted like a bugati varon and I like to tell the wind up merchants I work with that it is a rear brake spoiler. If you need any other info in the mean time just give me a shout.

Nic

[NicBeeee]

Just took some pics of my tracking system, tried to post them straight to the page but to be honest, I havent got a clue how to.

http://s1083.photobucket.com/albums/j389/Glacierland/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cheers Nic