Solar power ?

[Velgreeno]

Hey all. Just wondered how many of you guys have solar power in you're buses and how effective are they and are they good ? Also what set up have you got ? I'm thinking about getting it in my bus maybe for battery, small fridge, phone, tablet etc etc. Cheers.

 

[ozziedog]

I’ve read quite a few threads on this very subject and the upshot seems to be that the solar won’t do all of those things for a longtime unless you have a multitude of them. It does however help keep the leisure battery topped up but usually not totally especially with a fridge in the equation. It does mean that you can stay off grid a bit longer, like instead of a day and a half or two and a half days, the solar panels will give you another day or so before you’re totally flat. There’s some real good info over on the LateBay.com and a lot of variations but still in bay windows, different panels, different fridges etc etc. Two decent leisure batteries takes some beating as well. I don’t have enough stuff to need more lecky but I’m toying with a compressor type fridge and a panel just for the fun of it. I use a cool box at the moment to keep my Stella icy icy cold.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,, another on my list of to dos :mrgreen:

 

[graysummers]

It’s a complete new idea for myself to adopt and as I’m living in a small town with a community of alternative energy thinkers (Centre for Alternative Technology, Machynlleth area) I will definitely tap into their experience and knowledge. Sitting for a week, or even maybe two, out there in isolation land in the VeeDub amongst the 2021 Welsh lakes, forests and hillsides would really need some serious thought. Travel further afield is out of the question isn’t it? Mind you. I live with the weather experience that is Wales..... or 🌧 or ️ ........ Maybe set up a Victor Frankenstein lightening catcher

 

[mike202]

I have used a solar panel for a few trips now. Since 2019, although not so much this year. I installed a Dometic crx50 fridge so I needed solar panel to keep the LB topped up. It’s worked well and I haven’t had any problems with the LB running out of juice on site.

I decided to replace the fold up panel with a permanently mounted panel on the roof rack as it suits my purpose better, and I don’t have to remember to put the folding one out when I move.

I’m looking forward to testing it out more next year and I may consider a hook up installation as a back up. [emoji1690]

 

[ozziedog]

Hi Mike, so how long have you managed to ‘’keep the juices flowing’’ as it were ? I understand these Dometic fridges actually use a lot less power too, are there any other considerations to rumble around the old brain box ? Plus is yours a solid one or a flexible one ? I’m led to believe they can fit nicely into the Westy roof rack too which is an obvious bonus for Westy owners, I’ve toyed with under the roof rack on my non Westy as a means to have it there, then flip it up once parked. I’m loving all the planning that I’m putting into this too :lol: some might call it heel dragging :lol:

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,I like the sound of planning betterer :mrgreen:

 

[67westy]

I've got a 100w on the westy roof rack and with lighting, charging devices and running a compressor fridge I get a week easy in the summer. We rarely camp longer but the battery shows over 80% full by the end of most days.

This year we were on a spot under a tree for camping and it still was fine all week. Down to around 60% some days though

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[mike202]

Hi Mike, so how long have you managed to ‘’keep the juices flowing’’ as it were ? I understand these Dometic fridges actually use a lot less power too, are there any other considerations to rumble around the old brain box ? Plus is yours a solid one or a flexible one ? I’m led to believe they can fit nicely into the Westy roof rack too which is an obvious bonus for Westy owners, I’ve toyed with under the roof rack on my non Westy as a means to have it there, then flip it up once parked. I’m loving all the planning that I’m putting into this too :lol: some might call it heel dragging :lol:

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,I like the sound of planning betterer :mrgreen:

Hi Ozzie, the longest so far with the fridge plus solar has been a week long trip to Norfolk in September 2019. I had the fold up panel then. I also have a Webasto heater, lighting and phone chargers running off the LB.

I don’t do winter camping in the bus which is when there could be problems with keeping it charged up, because the heater would be on more, lighting as well and of course the sun is so much weaker. If you have a electric hook up though, it would be fine of course.

For the three season stuff I do it’s been okay on its own. The only problem I’ve had with the the LB so far was when the fuse went in the split charger so the engine wasn’t charging the LB. this was before the fixed, rack mounted panel though. It’s a solid frame mounted 100watt panel. (Like Adam’s, 67westy)

Some people use flexible solar panels and they may well work fine although I have read that they can degrade more quickly because of a lack of ability to ventilate heat away as they are stuck to the pop top or roof.

The Modern compressor fridges use a lot less lecky than the old ones. I keep mine on the low setting. If I was in France again on holiday (if we’re ever allowed in again [emoji23]) I may need to bump it up a notch but then of course the sunnier it is the better the solar panel should work to keep the LB topped up!

Details of install on my thread in October this year. [emoji106]

 

[Velgreeno]

Hey all. Thanks for the replies. Food for thought most definitely. Really going to look into it. There's also something called sine wave im looking into too. I will have to look into it all.

 

[ENKssen]

I've got a 100w on the westy roof rack and with lighting, charging devices and running a compressor fridge I get a week easy in the summer. We rarely camp longer but the battery shows over 80% full by the end of most days.

What size leisure battery are you running? I was looking at a 175w panel, thinking that be a bit overkill now

 

[67westy]

I've got a 100w on the westy roof rack and with lighting, charging devices and running a compressor fridge I get a week easy in the summer. We rarely camp longer but the battery shows over 80% full by the end of most days.

What size leisure battery are you running? I was looking at a 175w panel, thinking that be a bit overkill now

110ah. I know there are plenty of people on the late bay running 200w of panels. The more you have the better chance you have of topping up on the overcast days or the shorter ones either end of the year. For my use I would typically do long weekends at the start and end of the year with week or more away during the summer months so the 100w seems to suit our usage

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