Maplin Solar panel

[robinmclaren]

solar panels work

I am and have always been a electrician and say forget all the calculations and assumptions on what can charge what and if it will or will not work , the proof is in the pudding , we have 2 large solar panels , 2 leisure batteries , just been away for 16 days with no hook up, fridge and hot water on gas , used lcd colour tv, satellite system, lighting etc all direct from 12v with no restrictions on use, 600w( peak 1500w ) invertor on in morning for my wifes hair dryer / straightners and left on most days to charge toy cars, cordless hoover, gameboy, laptop , etc, power never faded out
motorhome is in storage when not being used and both leisure batteries and engine battery always fully charged from panels when we collect it back
just replacing invertor with a newer 1000w ( peak 2000w ) model quoted as 85-90% efficient , i read a lot about inverters being more efficient than running direct 12v appliances but i do not agree

 

[45eEver]

How large are your panels please Robin?

 

[Niner Zulu]

I have a relatively small van, and run everything off the 12v system.

Apart from the vehicle battery (12v80ah), I have a leisure battery which is rated at 12v80ah, but being "gel" is more like a 12v90ah.

The solar panel is a 75W and is wired to a regulator and then direct to the leisure battery.

The vehicle system allows for the vehicle battery to be kept in prime condition, by trickle charging it from the leisure battery, and of course the leisure from the solar panel, except at night.

In summer, in Scotland, during the day I can have the vehicle fitted CD player on all the time, have a couple of showers, and make use of all the other electrical (12v) appliences including a toaster through an invertor, and still have a fully charged leaisure battery at the end of the day (when the sun goes down).

During the hours of darkness (after sundown to sunrise), I can have 5 hours of TV or CD or 8 hours radio, plus lights* (reasonable to read use), and have fully recharged batteries by 10 am.

A few years ago I bought a generator, for winter use / emergencies, but have only used it once in anger !

My van is 10 years old and I have only just replaced the vehicle battery for the first time, this because, my dashboard told me that it wasn't being charged, once the new one was fitted, I had the same problem, so it wasn't the battery at fault ! I put down the longevity of the batteries to the constant trickle charge from the solar panel.

(The fault turned out to be a chaffing and shorting out of the lead from the alternator).

I reckon that over 10 years my panel has returned the cost laid out at least in .........

Battery life
Hook up charges
Lack of stress in the knowledge that I have power wherever and whenever !

I swear by it :thumb:

Wind power, another thing ......
You need to be in a gale to produce any power (actually a windspeed of over 3mph).
For it not to disturb your sleep, the mast has to be seperate from the vehicle (vibration and sometimes noise).
However, there is a lot of room for development, and I would reconsider "wind" as a "backup", when it becomes more efficient for the outlay.

* I have fitted SMD Bulbs all round, these are similar to LED, but produce better light at less drain to the battery (about one tenth of the power of a halogen for the same amout of light).

 

[Hippyjake]

i have these solar panels

Greetings all

I have these solar pannels!!!

the ones here are meant to be 15 watts each x 4 = 60 watt

but a while back they were selling the same size cells on there own but they were rated at 12 watt. (poorer quality hence lower out put)

i have 6 of these 12 watt pannels making 72 watts rated output.

open circuit voltage is about 22v per pannel.

on a good day i have measured about 4 amps going into my battery, but my pannels are not mounted at the correct angle. I can get more if i prop them up a bit higher but i need them to be flat on the roof.

i use a 12v 60 ah battery and the cheap charge regulator from maplins.

Its a very basic setup but i used it every day to charge my phone, sony psp, AAA, AA, C, D, batterys, ect... i have a small 7 inch free view tv that runs on 12v. It draws just under an amp so i can watch the tv during the day and still have 3 amps going to the battery (in the sun of course) I also have two 4 watt strip lights meant for caravans that draw 0.6 of an amp each. I also got a 120w 12v laptop charger/power supply that plugs into the fag lighter socket, its quite thursty on the juice and pulls about 2.5 - 3.5 amps depending on what the laptop is doing. if its just charging the battery its 2.5 if its on and charging the battery its 3.5 amps.

With the use i put it to i havnt needed to charge the battery but i dont really hammer the system. I use it mainly for the lights and rechargable batterys.

Maplin also sell 12v LED halogen bulb replacements, 18 white LED's per bulb. four of these only draw 150mAh! they are great for reading lights above your bed or desk!
not cheap though at about £10 each but they are really bright for LED's and last yonks!
I can leave these on all day and all night and not have to worry of course i turn them off when not needed because i might want the extra power

Dont expect to much from the panels and you will always have a charged battery.

Also they are very big! but they work well under clouds, the same output crystalene (my spelling sucks) type are a little smaller but cost more and dont work as well in cloudy conditions I hear.

Have fun with it, I did

 

[robinmclaren]

panel size

i guess we have about 260w of panels , i know the one i purchased was 120w and the one already fitted is considrably larger , all running through 1 regulator ( upgraded from original unit ) which to be fair i dont monitor as usually out of van in day so power is used in morning and evening , i know batteries generally drop to about 3/4 power by late evening with lights , tv, sat , etc , but are always on full power by the time we get up in the morning, invertor is genrally left on in the day to recharge all our mains equiptment and we run on 12v only at night , i will be replacing the leisure batteries soon as were on van when we got it and i think are not far off being shot , but all works well and i think far better than running a generator as we pick quiet spots to stay in and enjoy it staying that way otherwise may as well park in a lorry park

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[Snowbird]

Hi all,May as well throw my two pennyworth in,I bought 3 of the big yellow leasure batteries 2nd hand off ebay 18 months ago,the ones that come out of banks,building societies etc,I run 3 X 70 watt solars flat on the roof,through a good quality regulator.We have NEVER ran the genny or had hookups since to charge batteries,and that includes periods of up to 6 months away at a time.Dont know how it works or why but it does.Hope this gives some practical help to the never ending solar debate.Regards,Dave&Ans.