Which solar is right for me?

[The Merle]

I think lithium will be an ideal solution once the costs start to reduce. They are still way to expensive.

I manage with 110w and my joker definitely uses more leisure bat power than my old Cali.
Been off hook up for over 16nights now, moving every couple of days and bats are reading full again.

 

[66tim99]

I manage with 110w and my joker definitely uses more leisure bat power than my old Cali.
Been off hook up for over 16nights now, moving every couple of days and bats are reading full again.

I wonder, if I was moving every couple of days, whether I'd need solar at all. Depends how far I drive of course, but on max charge my batteries charge quickly.

 

[soulstyledevon]

I wonder, if I was moving every couple of days, whether I'd need solar at all. Depends how far I drive of course, but on max charge my batteries charge quickly.

I’m with you. The longest I’ve ever stayed at the same campsite without moving was Lauterbrunnen, 4 days. Hence why I’m not a fan of things like awnings and covers.
Most stops are no more than two days and even then we use the van to travel around local areas if we can’t cycle.

The second panel is being removed tomorrow. If anyone thinks they could use (approx 1 year old) a second panel please PM and I’m happy to sell at a fair price.

Cheers all for the info

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Think I’m going to remove one tonight.
I need to mount a roof box to carry skiing equipment and the two panels space the cross bars too far apart.
I’m rarely more than a couple of days between stops, so thinking that between one panel and regular driving. The batteries should stay charged…

Can’t you just shift the roof bar feet up the rail slightly, (or is there no gap between the fixing points on the panels - our roof bar feet fit in the gaps between the panel fixings)

 

[soulstyledevon]

Can’t you just shift the roof bar feet up the rail slightly, (or is there no gap between the fixing points on the panels - our roof bar feet fit in the gaps between the panel fixings)

View attachment 90111

I could move the panels around and bars to fit.
But ultimately, it means at some point two panels will block one set of roof bars. Which means they won’t be easy to remove that set of bars, when I need the van to be under 2m.
I’m sure, just one panel will be enough. If I’m honest, the majority of times, there’s surfboards on the roof, which means the panels don’t generate any power anyway…

 

[Ch1pbutty]

I could move the panels around and bars to fit.
But ultimately, it means at some point two panels will block one set of roof bars. Which means they won’t be easy to remove that set of bars, when I need the van to be under 2m.
I’m sure, just one panel will be enough. If I’m honest, the majority of times, there’s surfboards on the roof, which means the panels don’t generate any power anyway…

Or….Keep the 2 panels. Sell your Thule bars, Switch your roofbars to Whispbars. The small base plate in the photo remains on the roof permanently when bars are removed. The roof bar feet then sit on the base plate, hand screw into place & then locking cover - takes just over a minute to fit / remove both bars.

 

[soulstyledevon]

Or….Keep the 2 panels. Sell your Thule bars, Switch your roofbars to Whispbars. The small base plate in the photo remains on the roof permanently when bars are removed. The roof bar feet then sit on the base plate, hand screw into place & then locking cover - takes just over a minute to fit / remove both bars.

The foot is no higher than the solar frame/panel…?
Which foot do you need…?

 

[Ch1pbutty]

The foot is no higher than the solar frame/panel…?
Which foot do you need…?

Smartfoot sits on top of the slim T-track adaptor (T-track adaptor has an inbuilt thread). Red thumbscrew sits inside the Smartfoot and secures smartfoot to the T-track adaptor (side of smartfoot comes off when unlocked with key to give access to the red thumbscrew).

(Will take a photo of mine tomorrow as above makes it sound much more complicated!)

 

[The Merle]

I wonder, if I was moving every couple of days, whether I'd need solar at all. Depends how far I drive of course, but on max charge my batteries charge quickly.

I never had solar on my old Cali always managed 4days off grid and then a good drive.
It just depends if you are going to do more colder nights and whether you leave your heating on all night.
Having 100w would be handy and if you do find an amazing spot and don’t want to drive anywhere than it will give you that option of staying longer.

 

[soulstyledevon]

To quote some little foxes.
2 become 1

 

[Roger Donoghue]

Blimey I got 53w today from my 2x 55w sunpower solars. They do have a very good rating though. What make are yours?

Output / performance depends equally on demand as it does on sun.

If the battery/ies are approaching full, the solar regulator will wind down to as little as a few watts for a float charge. The regulatots only produce wattage when there is a demand.

I've found panel performance pretty much equal give or take a few 0.1% across the board within the same class. i.e. thin panels all perform near identically per watt, and the same for framed panels (which perform aroound 10% better). The real differences are in build quality and longevity, which is what we've optimised in our panel choice - after trying a lot of different manufacturing methods.

To give you an example, the panels we have made use Mono 158 cells which perform at 22.42% efficiency. They also offer Sunpower cells (the gold standard) and they perform at 22.40% . So you can see, there is practically nothing in it, and , the best brand actually comes second.

 

[SamSara]

Does anyone have portable solar panels? How good and how do you attach them to the batteries? Thanks

 

[Roger Donoghue]

SamSara, they perform just as good as any other panels - you'll get the same performance per watt. Anything under around 80watts is fairly pointless. 60 helps, but it won't keep up with the fridge unless you have perfect weather every day.

You'll need a solar regulator to connect to your battery. And then you'll need to decide on a connnector type so you can unplug and replug the panel as and when needed.

Another user on here swears by his fold out portable panels. They work well for him.

The catch that most people don't like is you have to put them away when you go out, or they might get nicked. Plus, the ground is often not ideal as you have lots of shading opportunities.

Certailny works well.

 

[California_Ocean]

Do a power budget based on the way you use your van and then size your solar array to replace that power each day. My California Ocean estimated usage pattern looks like this ....



Note: The fridge runs 24/7 but cycles on and off controlled by the thermostat - I am assuming a 50% duty ratio.

So I want a solar setup that can produce this 0,7 kWh a day or thereabouts reliably.

There are rough calculators on the internet which can do this ... e.g.

MPPT Calculator - Victron Energy

Use our Online MPPT Calculator for PV sizing calculations.

mppt.victronenergy.com

So I'm self sufficient from around Feb/Mar to Sept/Oct - the array is overkill and I probably could have got away with 240W ... but don't forget to add alternator charging or electrical hook-up time to the budget if you move regularly or spend times at sites attached to power.

My advice to anyone considering solar is to make a power budget and play with the calculator and work out how much you need for your van with your usage pattern and electrical loads.

 

[Californication69]

Do a power budget based on the way you use your van and then size your solar array to replace that power each day. My California Ocean estimated usage pattern looks like this ....

View attachment 90566

Note: The fridge runs 24/7 but cycles on and off controlled by the thermostat - I am assuming a 50% duty ratio.

So I want a solar setup that can produce this 0,7 kWh a day or thereabouts reliably.

There are rough calculators on the internet which can do this ... e.g.

MPPT Calculator - Victron Energy

Use our Online MPPT Calculator for PV sizing calculations.

mppt.victronenergy.com

View attachment 90567

So I'm self sufficient from around Feb/Mar to Sept/Oct - the array is overkill and I probably could have got away with 240W ... but don't forget to add alternator charging or electrical hook-up time to the budget if you move regularly or spend times at sites attached to power.

My advice to anyone considering solar is to make a power budget and play with the calculator and work out how much you need for your van with your usage pattern and electrical loads.

Just wondered why my Venus OS gave me an alarm to say I’m below 11.9v
In shade for 4 days.
Running fridge, RPi & Venus OS, rear dashcam, HUAWEI cpe 5G on factory inverter.
Looked on Victron website calc and it says I’ll need 0.5kWh a day.
Venus OS says I’ve been getting 0.3kWh.
All very interesting !
Plugged it into EHU…
This is what happens in October with a south facing Garden, and California is sat on North facing drive..

 

[California_Ocean]

Just wondered why my Venus OS gave me an alarm to say I’m below 11.9v
In shade for 4 days.
Running fridge, RPi & Venus OS, rear dashcam, HUAWEI cpe 5G on factory inverter.
Looked on Victron website calc and it says I’ll need 0.5kWh a day.
Venus OS says I’ve been getting 0.3kWh.
All very interesting !
Plugged it into EHU…
This is what happens in October with a south facing Garden, and California is sat on North facing drive..

I don't know if you have one but these are very useful for working out how much your electrical loads use over an extended period - especially fridges or other items which don't draw a constant current.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07M5XD4G9/?tag=vwcalifornia-21

 

[Californication69]

I don't know if you have one but these are very useful for working out how much your electrical loads use over an extended period - especially fridges or other items which don't draw a constant current.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07M5XD4G9/?tag=vwcalifornia-21

There are so many connections for my power drawing items. I don’t have a single point of contact to run it from.
Where would you install it ?
From solar to MPPt.
MPPt to battery.
Battery to ?
Would be nice to have one item, that could see all power draw and link up to RPi, to store trends…

 

[California_Ocean]

There are so many connections for my power drawing items. I don’t have a single point of contact to run it from.
Where would you install it ?
From solar to MPPt.
MPPt to battery.
Battery to ?
Would be nice to have one item, that could see all power draw and link up to RPi, to store trends…

I attached one to work out my fridge consumption. I built various flying leads so it can just sit in series with whichever 12v consumer I want to measure.

 

[Little owl1963]

Do you need a regulator ??
From what info i can find says find rateing of battery an divide by 10
if power of solar panel lower , dont need one ??

What rateing figure of battery is needed ?? is it the 75 amp/ hr figure ??

if got 2 x solar panels at 100 w each total of 200w

so 75 divide by 10 equals 7.5 ??

is this right calulation ?

or is it best to fit regular anyway ??

 

[Roger Donoghue]

You absolutely need a regulator or you'll overcharge and blow up (literally) your batteries.

You can make the case for no regulator with little 7w dash mounted battery top up panels as they don't produce more than a trickle charge even on a good day.