160w ot 130w (1 Viewer)

[Manxcat]

Quick help please

We are getting our new van next week. When we signed for it a year and a bit ago we paid for a 160w solar panel. Now the dealer tells me a 160w panel won't fit but a 130w one will.

He claims the difference is minimal and we won't notice.

Is he right?

Thanks in advance

 

[dunnah01]

He claims the difference is minimal and we won't notice.

The reduction in price you mean

 

[68c]

Could they fit two smaller panels totalling more than 130W?

 

[funflair]

The difference in performance will be 30w or a little over 20% reduction, I don't know what controller they were fitting but if just PWM you could recoup most of the loss by having a MPPT instead.

 

[Emmit]

Ask him to show you why, in his view it would fit.
I doubt if any single panel under 200w wouldn't fit on the roof of any van (including PVC'S)

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[Manxcat]

Ask him to show you why, in his view it would fit.
I doubt if any single panel under 200w wouldn't fit on the roof of any van (including PVC'S)

Interesting. This is a Carthago compactline i138. I can't unfortunately go and see it as I am on the Isle of Man. We collect it next Friday.

 

[dawsey]

It sounds like maybe a little bit of laziness on the part of the dealer. Their tech has maybe selected a space on the roof, worked out the max size of panel that will go in there and then maybe run the cables and created a cable gland in preparation. Then (just a guess) maybe they have found that someone has messed up, measured incorrectly or not allowed for the mounting frame, or a mount would be on a seam etc - and thus it won’t fit, so they have selected the next size panel down.

If you want to know for sure, you can ask outright if this is the case, if they come clean, and it’s an honest mistake then there isn’t much you can do. It’s correct that there isn’t much difference and only in very borderline conditions might any difference be noted. 100, 120, 150, 180W, it’s all still quite low peak power. Some have suggested that an MPPT controller would make up the difference and that’s true - I would ask the dealer to make it right by fitting a more extensive MPPT controller as a gesture to make it correct. The cost to them will be a little bit offset by the reduced panel cost.

Perhaps more interesting, is the idea that you might not be able to fit more than 150 ish watts of solar on a van roof. This just isn’t true. My van is just 6m and has a 1000x600 central elevating skylight, a sat dish, an airing cupboard vent, an AC unit directly behind the skylight, and two further 400x400 elevating vents - one above kitchen and one above bathroom. What spare roof space there is very sparse and broken up. I was still able to fit 6 x 100W panels, all using the corner and side mount mouldings that glue to the roof and also take up space.

 

[raysalaugh]

Actually you will probably need a lot more than 160w panel to spend most time off EHU, on Craig Solar a 130w panel is 10cm narrower
and 15cm shorter than a 160w. Leaving the dealer to their own devices means they'll do what's best for them.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

Quick help please

We are getting our new van next week. When we signed for it a year and a bit ago we paid for a 160w solar panel. Now the dealer tells me a 160w panel won't fit but a 130w one will.

He claims the difference is minimal and we won't notice.

Is he right?

Thanks in advance

The make of the panel also dictates the size which can vary quite a lot by manufacturer

 

[Lenny HB]

Interesting. This is a Carthago compactline i138. I can't unfortunately go and see it as I am on the Isle of Man. We collect it next Friday.

On a 138 you can get a 100w panel each side of the rear rooflight, and probably a 200w across the front of the roof, not sure about the space in front of the rear rooflight.

I would get him to fit 2 x 100w at the rear.

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[RogerIvy]

Depending on the type of brackets maybe you could have a bigger panel.
The problem is that many brackets add about 14cm to the length of the panel.
But there are other options that allow you to fit panels without the brackets taking up valuable space.

Edit:
If you go to 1:45 of this video you’ll see the approach we take to use bigger (longer) panels when space is restricted.

 

[cyberyacht]

On a 138 you can get a 100w panel each side of the rear rooflight, and probably a 200w across the front of the roof, not sure about the space in front of the rear rooflight.

I would get him to fit 2 x 100w at the rear.

I have 2 x100w either side of rear roof light and another 100w immediately in front of it. I still have vacant real estate in front of the main skylight which could probably take a 300w panel so you could get a maximum of around 600w on a Carthago 138.

 

[dawsey]

Here’s what’s possible on an already crowded 6m Hymer - it makes cleaning the roof a bit tricky

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

There's not much left to clean .Shouldn't take you long at all.

 

[Lenny HB]

Fun cleaning all the green off under the panels.
I always mount mine so they can be easily removed to give the roof a good clean occasionally.

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[GoldenVision]

Dealers are definitely not the people to install most things - solar panels included. I know it's convenient, but there are many specialist installers who would do a much better job, and actually give you what you want, instead of what they want. And it would be considerably cheaper.

 

[Abgs]

We are getting our new van next week. When we signed for it a year and a bit ago we paid for a 160w solar panel. Now the dealer tells me a 160w panel won't fit but a 130w one will.

Hope you got your panel issue sorted.

My 138 already had a panel fitted when I acquired it at a year old, but I have no idea what the output it is. Seems to work OK and there is plenty of room for a couple more up there. I did replace the controller for a decent Victron mttp unit though.

I'm going to suck it and see if I need any more. So far the combination of not stopping for too long in any one place and a 280a Li Battery has worked fine for me.

 

[Red Sonja]

When we bought our van 13 years ago we fitted an 80watt solar panel. We have never fitted more. I use a CPAP machine and we can go 5 days in the winter off grid. We don't watch TV or use an inverter.