Solar ... extra 'oomph' required ...

SMB said:
Not a big fan of the flexible panels minxy girl, when I bought the van I had two rigid 90w panels fitted five years ago and they are still like new. Three years ago I had a semi-flexible 50w panel fitted and it's now scuffed to bits. Also the only spots of corrosion on the roof are around this panel, I don't know if it's because there's no gap between the panel and roof unlike the rigid panels so the roof heats up but I wouldn't get another one.
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We had a 60w flexi on our previous PVC and it worked faultlessly and was still as good when we sold it as when I put it on, no problems with it at all. I don't know how a panel would get scuffed to bits though, ours never did and no corrosion either. As for airflow, due to the corrugated nature of the van roof the panels have airflow underneath and are often fitted to boats etc with no gap whatsoever. I thought long and hard about which panels to fit and couldn't see a reason NOT to go with semi-flexible ones so I did ... time will tell if it was the right decision this time round.
 
Minxy Girl said:
We had a 60w flexi on our previous PVC and it worked faultlessly and was still as good when we sold it as when I put it on, no problems with it at all. I don't know how a panel would get scuffed to bits though, ours never did and no corrosion either. As for airflow, due to the corrugated nature of the van roof the panels have airflow underneath and are often fitted to boats etc with no gap whatsoever. I thought long and hard about which panels to fit and couldn't see a reason NOT to go with semi-flexible ones so I did ... time will tell if it was the right decision this time round.
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To be honest I'm not sure how it got scuffed, it's more than just branches as far as I can tell, its almost like whatever protective surface is on it has been eroded. As for the corrosion also might be totally unconnected but its only around the edges of the panel, the rest of the roof is fine. I was advised when it was fitted not to stick it on the OHC because the heat could damage it but they said the normal roof would be fine. Still, there's no more room on my roof for any more panels so my existing setup will have to do! Saying that, I've always had enough power but have probably had hookup more often than not. I'm sure your setup will be similar (y)

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Just catching up on this thread. Thanks Minxy Girl for raising this one as it is exactly the problem we are experiencing with our new van with a compressor fridge. My own fault as I spent years advising people not to have one then turned hypocrite by getting one. We have a similar arrangement to you with 200 watt panels but more battery, which gives us a couple of days start before the drain starts. Not much space on top for more solar and dont really fancy a portable one. Last winter in Spain we could only get 5 days wild before resorting to either driving or recharge on EHU at campsite. We made the decision to spend longer on sites this winter, also due to those lovely peaceful spots you speak of have largely disappeared or have become too busy to bother with partly due to Apps like Park 4 The Night. Example, Palomares Beach, 5 or more years ago you would get maybe half a dozen vans on there, one day last winter there was over 80. Getting back to the main point we will be interested with the solution you go for and to hear how you have got on come the end of January. Hope all goes well for you. ( Before anyone says they manage ok so did we on our old van for 13 years on a 70 Watt panel and 120 amp battery, could survive for as long as we wanted. )
 
To be honest Neodave I've never been a fan of compressor fridges per se but unfortunately there's wasn't a for use as we wanted a Campscout, so unless we got an older used one, or ordered a new one and waited a long time for it to be delivered (and paid a heck of a lot more money) it was accept a compressor or no Campscout! Whilst it's lovely not having to worry about "is the fridge door catch on?" or "have we changed over to electric from gas?", I'd much rather have a 3-way gas fridge, AES preferably, but it just doesn't make sense to change our Thetford for one. I had hoped that Thetford's T1090, which was specifically designed with PVCs, in mind had been improved cooling etc wise than earlier designs, but it appears not so we'll see what happens ref getting it replaced and take it from there.
 
Talking of compressor fridges... It's an old one but have you seen Sterling Powers videos on youtube running through some various amp draw tests from different makes and model types... Quite eye opening for some
 
Thanks Andy ... I nearly lost the will to live watching that but I THINK I got the gist of it. :D

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haha yea it's not very well presented but the calculations and results are there :)
 
Yes seen the you tube video and whilst it was probably technically correct it didn't take practicality into account. At least within my understanding. Mr Sterling wasn't trying to sell something was he!!
 
I think he was basically saying that if you were putting in a combi/inverter thingy then don't waste your money on a specific 12v fridge at over 4 times (or more) cost but buy a mains one instead.
 
Minxy Girl said:
To be honest Neodave I've never been a fan of compressor fridges per se but unfortunately there's wasn't a for use as we wanted a Campscout, so unless we got an older used one, or ordered a new one and waited a long time for it to be delivered (and paid a heck of a lot more money) it was accept a compressor or no Campscout! Whilst it's lovely not having to worry about "is the fridge door catch on?" or "have we changed over to electric from gas?", I'd much rather have a 3-way gas fridge, AES preferably, but it just doesn't make sense to change our Thetford for one. I had hoped that Thetford's T1090, which was specifically designed with PVCs, in mind had been improved cooling etc wise than earlier designs, but it appears not so we'll see what happens ref getting it replaced and take it from there.
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[Think I am making a bit of a cock up here will have to use the forum more often. Trying to reply to Minxy Girl. Re We had similar experience, we wanted a Vantage Camper and for their own good reasons they will not fit gas fridges. We decided like Minxy to go for it anyway. We thought we would be ok in ignorance, with 200 watt panel and extra batteries but really we needed extra solar. You live and learn. QUOTE="Neodave, post: 3044903, member: 42738"][/QUOTE]
 
Neodave said:
[Think I am making a bit of a cock up here will have to use the forum more often. Trying to reply to Minxy Girl. Re We had similar experience, we wanted a Vantage Camper and for their own good reasons they will not fit gas fridges. We decided like Minxy to go for it anyway. We thought we would be ok in ignorance, with 200 watt panel and extra batteries but really we needed extra solar. You live and learn. QUOTE="Neodave, post: 3044903, member: 42738"]
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Press quote button on the right of the post you want to quote, start typing where the cursor is flashing i.e after the text already there in brackets.. then press post reply.. Simples (y)
 
Minxy Girl said:
To be honest Neodave I've never been a fan of compressor fridges per se but unfortunately there's wasn't a for use as we wanted a Campscout, so unless we got an older used one, or ordered a new one and waited a long time for it to be delivered (and paid a heck of a lot more money) it was accept a compressor or no Campscout! Whilst it's lovely not having to worry about "is the fridge door catch on?" or "have we changed over to electric from gas?", I'd much rather have a 3-way gas fridge, AES preferably, but it just doesn't make sense to change our Thetford for one. I had hoped that Thetford's T1090, which was specifically designed with PVCs, in mind had been improved cooling etc wise than earlier designs, but it appears not so we'll see what happens ref getting it replaced and take it from there.
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We also bought Campscout with compressor fridge but were not worried about it as we had an Isotherm Compressor fridge in our previous camper. No problems running with 2x90w solar although mid winter and freezing in Scotland 2 nights were maximum before needing to move. The fridge/freezer never defrosted because camper would be below 16°. The Thetford 1090 unfortunately is different and not a patch on the Isotherm. Would have changed but dimensions make it difficult.
 
Neodave said:
[Think I am making a bit of a cock up here will have to use the forum more often. Trying to reply to Minxy Girl. Re We had similar experience, we wanted a Vantage Camper and for their own good reasons they will not fit gas fridges. We decided like Minxy to go for it anyway. We thought we would be ok in ignorance, with 200 watt panel and extra batteries but really we needed extra solar. You live and learn.
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We have a Vantage with the Isotherm fridge, 2 x 90W batteries and 200W solar. I changed the Votronic PWM controller that Vantage fit for a Votronic MPP controller which made a noticeable difference to solar input.

We had 5 weeks in the Outer Hebrides in August/September all without EHU apart from two nights at Huisinis hardstandings where hook-ups were included and it seemed rude not to use them. The lowest our batteries ever got was 73% charged as recorded on the Victron BMV, but we did get a fair amount of sun between the showers and were doing a fair bit of driving around too.

Just got back from the Yorkshire Dales. 10 nights, again only one night on EHU. 5 nights without moving the van at all so totally reliant on solar. The van having fully LED lighting also helps as power draw is minimal.

I've mentioned before that the Isotherm fridge performs really well in my experience. In summer, the compressor runs for about 20 minutes every hour (10 minutes every half hour to be more precise). Last week in the Dales, with lower temperatures I timed it again and it was only running for 4-5 minutes in every half hour or so. The point being that although you get less solar input in the colder half of the year, the fridge also draws less power - to an extent.

Relying totally on solar is very weather dependent though. Left the fridge running overnight when we got home as didn't want to unpack until the following day, so the batteries are currently less than fully charged, but with heavy cloud and rain all day yesterday there was virtually no input from solar at all. Even another 200W of panels won't change that!

My opinion - fit a battery monitor so that you can monitor state of charge and consumption in real time. Consumption needs careful monitoring and management if you want to extend time off EHU, but it can be done. It might mean forsaking TV for reading books, managing the amount of lighting in use during the evenings, etc. If you are a heavy power user and can't do without gizmos, forget it; but if you can prioritise and ration consumption, you might be surprised how far it might take you.
 
HandyAndy said:
Press quote button on the right of the post you want to quote, start typing where the cursor is flashing i.e after the text already there in brackets.. then press post reply.. Simples (y)
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Thanks Andy think I have got it now.

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Deneb said:
We have a Vantage with the Isotherm fridge, 2 x 90W batteries and 200W solar. I changed the Votronic PWM controller that Vantage fit for a Votronic MPP controller which made a noticeable difference to solar input.

We had 5 weeks in the Outer Hebrides in August/September all without EHU apart from two nights at Huisinis hardstandings where hook-ups were included and it seemed rude not to use them. The lowest our batteries ever got was 73% charged as recorded on the Victron BMV, but we did get a fair amount of sun between the showers and were doing a fair bit of driving around too.

Just got back from the Yorkshire Dales. 10 nights, again only one night on EHU. 5 nights without moving the van at all so totally reliant on solar. The van having fully LED lighting also helps as power draw is minimal.

I've mentioned before that the Isotherm fridge performs really well in my experience. In summer, the compressor runs for about 20 minutes every hour (10 minutes every half hour to be more precise). Last week in the Dales, with lower temperatures I timed it again and it was only running for 4-5 minutes in every half hour or so. The point being that although you get less solar input in the colder half of the year, the fridge also draws less power - to an extent.

Relying totally on solar is very weather dependent though. Left the fridge running overnight when we got home as didn't want to unpack until the following day, so the batteries are currently less than fully charged, but with heavy cloud and rain all day yesterday there was virtually no input from solar at all. Even another 200W of panels won't change that!

My opinion - fit a battery monitor so that you can monitor state of charge and consumption in real time. Consumption needs careful monitoring and management if you want to extend time off EHU, but it can be done. It might mean forsaking TV for reading books, managing the amount of lighting in use during the evenings, etc. If you are a heavy power user and can't do without gizmos, forget it; but if you can prioritise and ration consumption, you might be surprised how far it might take you.
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Yes, we have the isotherm fridge but not the normal Vantage one. We wanted more freezer capacity so went for a larger Isotherm CR Big with separate freezer more in line with our past 3 way. Yes we did understand the increased battery drain. We can manage a week on a Rally in good summer sunshine and longer days but cloud and shorter days even winter in Spain it is very limiting without a regular dose of EHU or doing unnecessary driving. Two months touring in Europe May/June did not cause too much of a problem as we were driving more often, the problem there was the heat being over 30C for long periods.

We also changed the controller for a Votronic 250 MPPT recently and are still weighing up the difference, but changing weather patterns and daylight hours make it almost impossible at the moment. We dont use TV not even got one at home, but do use computer for a couple of hours most days and charge phones, tablets, and GPS units regularly. Without this it would spoil our daytime activities of walking and Geocaching. Winters in Spain can also be very cold at night even if it has been a nice warm day. It is not unusual to get temps. down to 3/4 C even on the coast and inland even less, so heating is needed as well as a good fleece.

The battery monitor seems a sensible idea and one I may take up at some stage.
So that is my experience and if I had the option it would still be a good 3 Way.

Thanks for your contribution and advice.
 
Deneb said:
We have a Vantage with the Isotherm fridge, 2 x 90W batteries and 200W solar. I changed the Votronic PWM controller that Vantage fit for a Votronic MPP controller which made a noticeable difference to solar input.

We had 5 weeks in the Outer Hebrides in August/September all without EHU apart from two nights at Huisinis hardstandings where hook-ups were included and it seemed rude not to use them. The lowest our batteries ever got was 73% charged as recorded on the Victron BMV, but we did get a fair amount of sun between the showers and were doing a fair bit of driving around too.

Just got back from the Yorkshire Dales. 10 nights, again only one night on EHU. 5 nights without moving the van at all so totally reliant on solar. The van having fully LED lighting also helps as power draw is minimal.

I've mentioned before that the Isotherm fridge performs really well in my experience. In summer, the compressor runs for about 20 minutes every hour (10 minutes every half hour to be more precise). Last week in the Dales, with lower temperatures I timed it again and it was only running for 4-5 minutes in every half hour or so. The point being that although you get less solar input in the colder half of the year, the fridge also draws less power - to an extent.

Relying totally on solar is very weather dependent though. Left the fridge running overnight when we got home as didn't want to unpack until the following day, so the batteries are currently less than fully charged, but with heavy cloud and rain all day yesterday there was virtually no input from solar at all. Even another 200W of panels won't change that!

My opinion - fit a battery monitor so that you can monitor state of charge and consumption in real time. Consumption needs careful monitoring and management if you want to extend time off EHU, but it can be done. It might mean forsaking TV for reading books, managing the amount of lighting in use during the evenings, etc. If you are a heavy power user and can't do without gizmos, forget it; but if you can prioritise and ration consumption, you might be surprised how far it might take you.
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I totally agree the Isotherm Compressor fridge was brilliant. It never defrosted even though 1 night our Webasto heating failed and the camper was well below 16°, the fridge was quiet. Only problem was it was too low in our Camper and getting down to find things in the fridge had become a real problem. As I say if we could fit one where the Thetford Mk1 was we would. Hoping the Thetford Mk2 works well.
Regarding batteries we have had no problems with 1x100w 1x120w solar plus 2 x 95 batteries in the Globecar but winter and shorter daylight hours in Scotland will always be a problem for more than a night or 2 in one place, something we accept and tend to have EHU if staying in one place. During the summer we did 6 nights on an THS and although batteries were at 75% on an evening, phone charging and some tv, they were fully charged by morning.
 
Neodave said:
We dont use TV not even got one at home, but do use computer for a couple of hours most days and charge phones, tablets, and GPS units regularly. Without this it would spoil our daytime activities of walking and Geocaching.
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I must be old fashioned, as I still use those folding paper things and a compass ;)

I can see why my usage pattern might not work as well for you though!
 
Deneb said:
I must be old fashioned, as I still use those folding paper things and a compass ;)

I can see why my usage pattern might not work as well for you though!
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No you are not old fashioned. I too still use maps and compass in Britain thanks to the brilliant OS maps. Unfortunately, where we walk in Spain and other places maps like those do not exist and in the main it is wild walking and GPS. Even OS have not started putting Geocaches on their maps, thank goodness. :)
 

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