solar

[monkeyboysee]

hi all,

couple of questions if anyone can shed light on them:

what size panel would i need to charge up the leisure battery if we end up camping "remote" uie without hookup?

where to get from?
i have installed a 12v cig socket from the leisure battery via my Zig unit. will it charge via that, or should i wire the 12v cig socket direct to the leisure battery with a fuse?

cheers

[Hacksawbob]

Not done it my self but. I would be tempted to wire dedicated wiring so I know what's what. zig units are inefficient beasts at the best of times! size bigger is better with the only restriction being the space to install it and what you can afford. there is a charge regulator that should be between the solar panel and the battery rather than connecting it directly, this will take care of over charging on sunny days (as if!) and prevent reverse discharging.

[lloydy]

there is a lot of places solar is good, but on a camper my personal opinion is that no matter how big the panel you fit. All it will ever do is tickle your batteries. You will spend well over a grand for a proper installation. A second leisure battery will cost you £80 the most and double your available energy. If you wild camp a lot, you might want to look at quick ways to recharge your batteries. I mainly wildcamp and have two leisure batteries and a sterling charger (which isn't cheap, but a lot cheaper than solar)
And as said, Zig units are pretty poo at charging batteries, no better than a split charge relay

[elsid]

an 80 watt solar panel will cost around £100 and will generate around 6 amps on a good day so will need to be connected through a control panel, around £10, to avoid cooking your battery. These are very popular in the caravan world and people who caravan all year round say they are brilliant. I spoke to one guy who has one hooked up to his campervan battery with an inverter and cooks on a George Forman grill even in the winter! They are quite large and are usually free standing so they can be moved around for the best effect, caravaners usually chain them to the A frame of the van. There are some very thin flexible ones out now that you can stick to the roof but they are more expensive.
Sid

[LeeME3]

there is a lot of places solar is good, but on a camper my personal opinion is that no matter how big the panel you fit. All it will ever do is tickle your batteries. You will spend well over a grand for a proper installation. A second leisure battery will cost you £80 the most and double your available energy. If you wild camp a lot, you might want to look at quick ways to recharge your batteries. I mainly wildcamp and have two leisure batteries and a sterling charger (which isn't cheap, but a lot cheaper than solar)
And as said, Zig units are pretty poo at charging batteries, no better than a split charge relay

I just got one of these as a second leisure battery - superb value, quick delivery and an excellent price!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004 ... 02_s00_i00" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ghost123uk]

I have a 40 watt one that will give around 3 amps in bright direct sun but I was disappointed at how fast it's power drops when the sky is even a bit cloudy. A summer day with 100% cloud drops it to virtually nothing (around 1 to 2 hundred milliamps (1 or 2 tenths of an Amp) = pretty useless. How often do we go away these days and can rely on clear skies and strong sunshine ?

[lloydy]

Which is why i posted what i did, much better off getting a second battery

And on those few hot cloudless days, do you really want your van out in it, or mwould you rather park it in the shade of a tree?

[ghost123uk]

Quite right

Now what would be better is a waterwheel driven alternator, running off the copious amount of rain water that usually flows off the vans gutters when we go camping

[jamesc76]

My 48watt panel will charge my battery up in a cloudy day by lunchtime, and thats blasting the stereo /propex etc till the late night!!! Modern panels dont need sunlight they need day light, unlike older ones !

[monkeyboysee]

where did you get that from, how much was it?

cheers

[lloydy]

My 48watt panel will charge my battery up in a cloudy day by lunchtime, and thats blasting the stereo /propex etc till the late night!!! Modern panels dont need sunlight they need day light, unlike older ones !

correct, new ones dont need sunlight to work, but it does to give you your 48 watts. Don't get me wrong, i like solar (i work on it every day) But there is no way i would rely on it to recharge my batteries if i camped without elec hook up. As a battery maintainer, yes..

[ghost123uk]

My 48watt panel will charge my battery up in a cloudy day by lunchtime, and thats blasting the stereo /propex etc till the late night!!!

That must be magic !

[jamesc76]

I think mine works the way it does because I have a decent 110 amp hour battery that is well maintained, as the solar panel is permanently conected to ,