Not really thought about one of these but some people we know do a lot of Rallies with no Electric so they have one but they are about to upgrade as they have an old one.
We have not done any sites yet with no Electric so i am wondering whether we should buy one . The prices vary and not sure what size would be best for us we have a 2 berth van.
In the new Towsure catalogue there is a helpful guide to solar panels.
I have a small 2 berth van with no gadgets (just 2 12v LED strip lights) and I use a 13w suitcase solar panel - this is more than enough to keep my battery topped up when I rally.
This issue can vary depending on your expected demand, ie if you intend to use TV etc., plus consumption rating of 12v equipment such as lighting. You'll benefit greatly by considering an upgrade of lighting from halogen to LED lamps to reduce consumption. In fact with a good battery and reduced use, you could potentially find a charged battery will run for a weekend without issue.
For very low use such as Helen's above then a 13w would suffice to keep the battery topped-up, but I'd be tempted to invest in a larger panel to cover you for future eventualities. A 45w system should suffice for medium duty use.
There's been loads of threads on the topic of solar panel use; take a look through the topic search results here and a list of solar threads on the equipment forum can be found here.
I have got a fixed 80kw solar panel, and go away every weekend without ehu, use oyster, shower, tv all lights etc, and never had any problems in 2 years, i also i have 2 batteries rigged up as well though.
we do lots of rallies and have just upgraded from a 13 watt suitcase solar panel to a 60watt panel. We managed to keep the battery topped up over a 5 day rally at Easter, where we used 12v/LED lights, water pump and 12v tv. We're that happy with our setup that we begrudge paying normal campsite charges as we're only paying £5 a night and some of our local cl/cs sites are charging £15 and they're only offering hookup and toilet. Our van is also a 2 berth. We got our panel from a guy off Ebay for £110 which included a 5amp regulator and 5m cable
------------- -x- Diane -x-
May 13 - Cala Gogo, St Cyprien (didn't go, hubby too ill to travel)
May 14 Ranc Davaine
August 14 Les Sablons
August 13 - Camping Playa Brava, Pals
Quote: Originally posted by yorkslee on 22/4/2012
I have got a fixed 80kw solar panel, and go away every weekend without ehu, use oyster, shower, tv all lights etc, and never had any problems in 2 years, i also i have 2 batteries rigged up as well though.
I hope you mean 80 watt or are you selling back to the grid when you go camping
Ive got a 80W panel which I mount on the roof of my cardinal, we go away for a week at a time in the school holiday to Camping and caravanning club THS which don't usually have 240v we use lights TV/sat and propex heater the battery always easily lasts the week the panel can be seen on the photo below.
I may be wrong, but my advice would be to purchase the largest (in terms of wattage) panel you can a) afford and b) fit comfortably in/on your unit. Bear in mind that if you were to buy, for example, a 30w panel then, under 'perfect' conditions this may return perhaps 1.5 amps/hour. (Perfect conditions may be approximately 2hrs before and after midday/sun at its zenith, after and before this the conversion rate decreases as the sun is less high in the sky etc or you have notb tracked the sun during the day; as well as sunshine, no clouds, rain etc). Realistically you may only be achieving 1amp/hr or less.
If you could stretch to a 60w panel, you could achieve 3 amp/hrs reducing to 1 - 1.5amp/hrs in less than ideal conditions. Just a consideration.
My biggest problem at the moment is determining which company's products are worth their sales pitch. Panels vary dramatically in price, but can ther build quality/ components really be that different from each other?
On the other hand, if the panel only lasts 10 years as opposed to the 25 yr 'guarantee' that companys offer and it cost you £200 to buy it, it works out at £20 per year which is about 4 or 5 nights EHU free camping. Anything over that and you're in the money!
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Solar Panels
or are you selling back to the grid when you go camping
