Solar Panel help please

[vinvan]

Hi Yall
Any one know what size solar panel i will need to keep my leisure battery toped up when camping, will be running the usual things, Interior lights(LED) water pump, Radio, CD, 12v TV, Waco CRX 50 fridge, want a free standing one, wont be drilling holes in the bus
any help will be much appreciated
PS my leisure battery is 100ah, i also have a split charge relay fitted

Thanks Vinvan

 

[creationblue]

I suppose the answer is get the biggest you can afford/carry. If you camp mainly in the summer then you'll use a lot less power than say spring/autumn and the sunlight will produce more electricity. I only have a 20w panel and along with a 110ahr battery it keeps my fridge going and the numerous phones/iPads charged, radio/tap ect going for a long weekend at least. I store mine in the roof cavity on my westy so that size will be the limiting factor when I upgrade. The fridge will take the most power and my waeco CDF-18 is super low power so that helps a lot. A controller is a must as the panel will give out 18volts on full song which won't do your LB a lot of good without one.

 

[creationblue]

It's worth pointing out that only half of any Leisure Battery's rated power is available, so if you were to try and work out your consumption (which is the way to properly work out your panel size) by adding the rating of the appliances you wish to run, 50amps worth is all you would get in real terms

 

[gas1man]

Waco 50 kills my Leisure batt in 1 and 1/2 days , but with the 100watt solar panel, if there is sun?
Then there is no problem, and keeps everything else working , I have to admit to disconnecting the
split charger when on site so I don't kill the starter batt.

J & P

 

[lil_azza]

Why would it kill the starter battery john?

 

[ozziedog]

I don`t think for some reason that his starter battery is remaining separated when he`s off grid, I recall something wasn`t quite right and he wanted to have a little play to sort something.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,, It`s called fun folks :mrgreen:

 

[gas1man]

I found the problem , turned out to be the Chinese radio that we have . It drains through or back and flattens everything .
Fixed the problem now and have a hidden switch under dash to isolate radio from power.(it's complicated)

J & P

 

[1dub]

I fitted an 80w panel on the luggage rack of our westy with a 20A controller it runs our CRX50 with no problems, the only holes I drilled were under the side of the plastic roof rack panel for the cables to the controller just make sure you use the right size grommets

 

[Davydomes]

Where did you get a 80w panel with 20a controller from. I have only seen 10a and 15a controllers at 80w. That looks a good system.

 

[1dub]

The panel was £62 and the controller was £12 I had to extend the cables which cost £10 (more than I needed) and the connectors were £1.79 all from ebay seller was Friendly-Green-Giant

 

[1dub]

Not bought as a kit

 

[Davydomes]

The panel was £62 and the controller was £12 I had to extend the cables which cost £10 (more than I needed) and the connectors were £1.79 all from ebay seller was Friendly-Green-Giant

Cheers!