solar panel

hi fellas, i was wondering what size your solar panels are, and what you run off them, are you happy with them cheers

I've got a 120w kit from enerdrive and find it do be a good kit, the mppt regulator comes separate to the panel so I've mounted mine in a water proof case to protect it when were camping at the beach.i also have an 80w ( bare no regulator) that can also connect to the 120w regulator or depending where or what were doing I can connect it to my ctek 250 dual on the car to top up the dual batt in the car and run the 50l Waeco.
The 120w is usually connected to the camper with two 100 ah batts and a 80 ltr Waeco running off that.
Both panels plug in and out via Anderson plugs and I was impressed with the quality of the wires that came with the kit.

I dont run anything off my solar panel, I recharge my deep cycle battery with my 80watt BP solar panel, For general camping a fold up 100-120 panel and reg should be heaps.
An 80 watt panel will put back 4.5 amps an hour on a good day, no clouds. They wont work if raining, with LED lighting the norm anypanel up to 120 would be heaps anymore is overkill as you dont get the AH return for the size of the panel. Make sure you get a good reg. I have never ran out of battery yet, my panel is only 80 watt, and dont set it up much as led is saving my power usage
Fridge is a 40 ltr Engle used for food only.

Check warranty on panels , and efficiency period
Conclusion 80 to 120 watt foldable panel more than enough to suit your needs M2Cw

I have 2 x 125w BP solar panels mounted on the roof of my DX ute (ex Telstra) at a slight angle to allow for rain run off and a bit of a wind deflector.

The panels charge my dual batteries.

One panel is allocated to my 95lt Evakool Fridge/freezer, and the other panel is for my 'toys'

I've had everything that can be turned on, turned on, and have still maintained 100% battery during peak sun.

By full load, I've had on:
95lt Evakool fridge/freezer
Hot water system
Codan HF radio in scan mode
UHF CB
Car radio

I still have a few toys to add (1,000w inverter and a small DVD player) and some LED lighting, but I can't see a major battery drainage problem. I've got these ready to go, but don't have the knowledge to install them. Just saving up a bit of coin ATM. lol

I'm more than happy with my set up.

I know it means parking out in the sun, but I also have a 3 metre annex that I set up on the left hand side of my truck and a 5m awning that goes across the back, covering the length of the awning and the width of the truck. Shade isn't a problem! lol

When I take some pics, I'll post them up, here. I'm more than happy with my set up and don't believe I'll run out of 'power' any time soon.

Rossco

A mate bought a 120 w from eBay and it puts out half the amps mine will side by side so like 3d said do your research but at the end of the day your just going off the stats they give you not hard to fudge the figures .

Nice read guys; While we're on the subject, what are your thoughts on this system for the camper, to charge deep cycle batt 70Ah, LED lighting and boogie box.... and around an 80 lt fridge in the future ?????

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-120W-...item1e6c7b2985

BP was the leading panel to buy years ago, seems by what Threedogs and DX are saying not much has changed

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by threedogs

Conclusion 80 to 120 watt foldable panel more than enough to suit your needs M2Cw

---

TD, I do wish you wouldn't make such statements without first knowing what a person's needs are!
We are all different & thus have different needs.
Our usage patterns vary according to whether we are weekend or full time campers.
There is no right or wrong amount of solar/batteries to have other than what meets the individual's needs.

I consider firstly, without taking into account the short term vs long term users that the correct amount of power generation capability is that which will bring your battery(ies) back to full charge each day, whilst allowing you to meet your power needs. Some leeway can be allowed if the plan is for short term camping, as the partially depleted batter(ies) can be put on charge once back home. Not so for longer term travellers, unless willing to pay for caravan parks where 240v is available for recharging. For me such planned usage patterns defeats the purpose of having solar, which I see as as allowing for bush camping without the need for CP's.

The amount of battery storage required depends upon how much of a 'buffer' against poor solar weather you want/need. The more storage, the longer you can manage for in bad weather, but you do need to be able to 'put more in than you use' once the sun starts shining again.

We run two fridge freezers, one as a fridge, one as a freezer. We also have led lighting, computer charging, camera & phone battery charging, & 18v cordless tool battery charging. Music & videos. Our planned useage is for long term travel, so need to be able to recharge our 360ah batteries on a daily basis, without need to resorting to 240v. This we can do easily in summer anywhere in the country with our 425w of panels, but in the winter months when the number of available sun hours is 1/3rd of what it is in summer, we would need to be frugal with our power usage.

On average I believe what we have would give us about a weeks buffer against bad weather. At that point we would need to break camp & drive to allow our dc to dc battery charger to feed our batteries to prevent their early demise from remaining undercharged for too long. (ie. below 50% capacity).

Our single fixed panel (125w) in combination with arriving at a camp spot with well charged batteries from driving, is more than adequate to keep us going for a couple of nights. Longer stays are when the other 300w of portable panels are needed.

Over the past 5 sunny days we have been camped out in the bush, with all panels out. The freezer was set on minus 17 degrees & running for much of the very hot (guessing high 30’s) daylight hours, & cycling intermittently throughout the cooler night. The fridge was set on minus 2 degrees, & cycled on & off throughout. I used the computer a fair bit as we had a reasonable Telstra signal, and also used my Makita reciprocal saw several times for cutting firewood, & recharged it's battery.
Our 'house' batteries were fully charged & floating by between midday & 1pm each day.

I am not suggesting anyone needs my set up, & possibly if starting again may might consider one less 120ah battery, but I bet if I did, there would be weather sooner or later which would see me regret this....... But it would save 35kg weight.

Cuppa

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by megatexture

A mate bought a 120 w from eBay and it puts out half the amps mine will side by side

---

There have been some dodgy eBay dealers, but some good ones too. Checking out the physical size of the panels advertised is worth doing. If the sizes aren't given, look elsewhere. If two panels of the same physical dimensions show a great variance in their output, it could be that there is a problem with one of the panels, but is just as likely a result of the connecting cabling used. If too thin much will be lost as heat & the battery never sees what the panels are outputting.
Most, if not all eBay sellers of cheap panels, supply cables which need throwing out & replacing with much heavier. When looking at the sort of wattage we are talking about with individual solar panels, any cable loss is significant. My 300w of portable solar panels are connected to the regulator with 9 metres of 6b&s cable. (13mm2 copper in both negative & positive). Although low voltage & current, this is required to ensure that the regulator receives pretty much what the panels output.

One eBay seller I know that provides panels that meet the claims (because I & others I know have bought from them) are Bit Deals (Rich Solar brand). There are other good ones too, but I can't vouch from personal experience in buying their stuff.
It is not uncommon for folk to pay much higher prices than they need to, in the belief that doing so will be a guarantee of better quality, when in reality what they are getting is no different to the cheapies.
Beware of solar sellers who are closely related to used car salesmen & politicians - telling the punter what they want to hear.

Cuppa

Yea no doubt cuppa there is a definite difference in gauge of wires used, we are yet to do a full comparison but plan on testing every component to see where it is lacking.
I'm familiar with bit deals also as my wife's uncle has purchased from them many times as he lives in remote qld and relies on solar only and creek/rain water. Good value for dollar on there pannels