Im looking to get a solar panel would a 40watt be enough to keep battery charged up. im useing a site with no elec hook ups im running fridge on gas and will only be useing 12v for lighting and watching tv im the evenings and water pump, i have seen various folding and fit on the roof panels with controllers and would just like a little advice please looking forward to hearing your replies
It depends on the amount of power you consume using the lights and TV. If you have led's and a fairly recent TV with led backlighting you will probably be ok in the summer months but if the weather is grotty for a week and especially out of season you need a bit more than 40W. 80W is a good compromise and if you get a mppt controller you will squeeze a bit more out of the panel. Lots of debate about roof mounted or free standing panels but I favour the free standing option as I can ensure it is pointing towards the sun for optimal efficiency and I can leave it at home if I know I am going to be on ehu rather than dragging it about and reducing the usable payload of the caravan. Another advantage is you can easily add another panel in the future should you need it (out of season in low light levels) or use it on another caravan if you should change it in the future.
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i agree about the free standing think thats the line i will take, i have been looking at a lot of differant panels i have found a 80 watt plus 10 amp controller for around £162 in best eco shop i dont know how to copy a link to it but you may be able to find it and let me know what you think whats a mppt controller
Sounds a bit expensive. You should be able to get an 80W panel for about £80 - £90 (were about £60 a few weeks ago but there is now an anti dumping levy on the importation of them from China). If you get a bare panel with the MC4 connectors on the cables and a blocking diode you can easily make up a simple stand out of scrap and save a pile of cash which you could then use on a quality charge controller. There are effectively two type PWM an MPPT - the latter is more efficient but more expensive. 10A controller is ok for up to about a 120W panel but if you plan to go above that it is probably worth putting in a 20A controller to start with.
------------- 'A sure cure for sea-sickness is to sit under a tree'
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Topic: Portable Solar Panels
