Solar on a tintop

[ethelred the ready]

Stick a panel on the roof, buy a cheap split charger to keep both bats charged, never worry about power again. It is simple. Those above are just debating small technical details; interesting but not vital for most.

[CovKid]

Nah, not that bad Keith. I'm still of the "if it charges its good enough" brigade. My only remaining question is, how far could you actually get with battery not being charged by alternator (ie solar only) on a bright summers day before the battery gave out. Anyone ever calculated the drain on the battery from the engine running (plugs, dizzy etc). Failing that, perhaps we could all fit sails.

[kevtherev]

Blimey.....i used to think this solar stuff was as simple as pointing the van into the sun and comparing amps for the rest of the day whilst holding a beer.

Its all gone very technical.

Nah it's all about stoves that finally boil kettles after you've burnt a cwt of wood.
Now that will catch on

[keith]

Stove power......thats the future

[keith]

Nah, not that bad Keith. I'm still of the "if it charges its good enough" brigade. My only remaining question is, how far could you actually get with battery not being charged by alternator (ie solar only) on a bright summers day before the battery gave out. Anyone ever calculated the drain on the battery from the engine running (plugs, dizzy etc). Failing that, perhaps we could all fit sails.

Whatever keeps us busy....its all good stuff.

[IndigoSteve]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Think I'll go for a 100w flexi with dual controller and display to start with. I now have the lingo down pat from reading your posts. Awesome help. Cheers

[CovKid]

Yours a tintop too?

[busbuddy]

My only remaining question is, how far could you actually get with battery not being charged by alternator (ie solar only) on a bright summers day before the battery gave out.

with old vehicles you can get good distance out of them with no charging system at all as long as the battery is good, i once did 34 miles in the day (in a 70s car with a modern electric fuel pump) when the alternator pulley sheared off
modern stuff is a bit more voltage sensitive

[jeffdub]

mine's a tintop and when I eventually finish the rebuild I've got a flexibe solar panel to fit , did you drill through the roof to get the cables inside ralph ? that was the only concern with mine I did a trial fit and couldn't decide the best way as running them through the rear vents looked a bit odd

[CovKid]

Yep, right above the B-pillar. I did some soul searching but its only 10mm across and would be easy to restore if it came to it. It just saved a lot of hassle trying to work it over the gutter and however you do it, it has to go inside. At the last minute I coated that section of cable in builders silicone and pushed it home. Its double thickness there by the way.

Was doing some welding for my MOT at Merc Doctors today and despite a very overcast day, leisure was fully charged after 3 hours.

[jeffdub]

thanks ralph

[CovKid]

The only thing I would add is that inside the B-pillar theres an inner and outer skin and as I discovered (after faffing for an age trying to get the cable down there), you can easily end up going down the narrow gap between them rather than straight down the pillar and theres a partial obstruction about two foot down. It'll go down there ok but does need some fettling to get past obstruction before it does. If you look inside the B-pillar via the fresh air vent hole near seat belt mount, you can see/feel the end of this outer skin towards the outside. It won't assist with getting past obstruction but will give you an idea where cable might appear. I could give the dimensions for drilling if you get to that point but basically you follow the slight curve upwards of the B-pillar and drill right above it straight down through the roof. I didn't use a rubber grommet due to the two thicknesses of steel so just sealed it with silicone. It did the job and is watertight.

I did originally consider drilling beneath the solar panel so the cable vanished completely, and along an inner roof rib, but apart from having to remove headlining, that could prove to be a problem if you needed access in the future. The panel cable connectors loop outside the panel (again for access) facing rearwards and are held there with a couple of self adhesive cable clips like these (available in black or white), to stop them moving around:



The side edges of the panel (ie part visible when standing next to camper) were capped off with two short lengths of narrow cable conduit. I made sure that should any moisture work its way under panel, it can escape beneath the small gaps I left under standoffs I stuck down to support panel.

Time-wise its over four days since the standoffs need to set (36 hours) then you'll need some weight on edges of panel when you silicone that down, plus any filling you might need. I used bricks to hold edges down to be honest. Weekend perfect time to do that. You can use ducktape to hold some fiddly bits in place while silicone sets, but it does leave the adhesive behind when you remove it so expect some cleaning up. WD40 and a rag will remove adhesive residue including odd bits of silicone - eventually.

One tube of builders silicone is enough to do the whole job. Mind you, thats how I did it but there are other ways I should think.

Finally, here I am monitoring the solar controller which takes up one whole side of my camper (must do something about my hair):

[shepster]

How times change eh?

Not that long ago Solar panels were a complete waste of time and money and now a 10 page thread on your install, solar is king!

[ghost123uk]

Finally, here I am monitoring the solar controller which takes up one whole side of my camper (must do something about my hair):

- Brilliant -

[CovKid]

Notice the logbook, plotting things like solar eclipses and potential thunderclouds.

Unfortunately the bald patch was the result of stripping the wires from the panel with my teeth on a particularly sunny morning.

Never said solar was a waste of time, what pees me off is some goon at an event that talks of nothing else (especially wild amp claims) and his wife in the background who constantly rolls her eyes. If it lets me run my propex at night, thats all I care about. Life is too short and I detest being cold.