Wizard
SupporterAdmittedly I should think a single 100watt solar panel is enough for all my touring needs under normal circumstances. I run a 50L national luna twin weekender (so it has a fridge and freezer in one) which is fairly frugal. The 100watt solar is connected through the MPPT of my CTEK and that is hooked up to a 90Ah gel battery.
The thing is though. I have been testing this setup, stationary, in the backyard to see what it does under different circumstances. Under cloudy but hot conditions the battery does run down eventually but it goes down very slowly. When driving the smartpass pushes a lot of power into the battery all at once, if it is drained enough to accept a high charge but like trout I have been eyeballing an AC to bring some relief during extreme conditions (45c in india for example...)
I had to start somewhere in my research and the first thing that came up of course is generating power, let alone storing it.
Thus far it seems that:
- decent brand panels seem to fare a lot better in terms of aging, though 5 years is about what you can expect from them.
- prevent bending, they are meant to be bent into a shape once and not for permanent bending
- keep em cool (enough) to do their job (and prevent premature wear)
all those are acceptable for me, except the bending part. I would like to be able to move one or two into the sun if needed so that requires some more thought.
-P
OldBushie
SupporterIn cooler weather a 100w panel MAY run a smaller fridge But once you get above 30C the fridge will draw more power than a 100w panel can produce, At 45C the fridge will shut itself down pretty fast because the battery is severely depleted which isn't good for the lifespan of the battery.
As far as trying to run an AC in 45C temps with only 100w input, Forget that idea.
You only get one shot at life, Aim well
2004 D2 "S" V8 auto, with a few Mods gone
2007 79 Series Landcruiser V8 Ute, With a few Mods.
4.6m Quintrex boat
20' Jayco Expanda caravan gone
Wizard
SupporterTrout mate
I know, an AC with 100watts is AT MOST 300 watts of cooling power... Nah. I guess I'll make a new topic about AC in the relevant forum. However, at very high temps the fridge still works a charm (can't touch the metal casing since it is too hot) but the solar panel can keep up. I unfortunately have no datalogger screenshots but to my surprise the NL is really very good at this sort of work. It runs at around 3-4 amps when running, it just needs to kick in more often but I still had a net gain with an internal temp (of the closed vehicle) of over 50c. Sure, my battery was nearly charged (around 96% so it could not accept a high charge current but I still got it to 100% by the end of the day. Pretty happy with that!
In any case, I guess flexible solars are a go if you: have enough space to mount them (cooling) and do not bend them more than once. Here is hoping...
Cheers,
-P
Our Jawa caravan came new with 300 watts of flexible solar panels on the roof, but I see Jawa has now moved to standard glass panels instead.
Reason seems to be the flexible panels were stuck on the roof and so there was no airflow for cooling in hot weather, which reduced their lifespan.
Ours are still working fine, but if the performance drops off we'll go glass.
The replacement cost is not just the panels, but the wiring also has to be changed.
Meanwhile we carry both a 200 watt folding glass panel and a generator, rarely used, as backups.
OldBushie
As I posted before - i removed 400w of high end flexible panels and fitted 2x 115w Victron rigids.
I'm producing more than I was before hand, and quicker.
Especially when its warm.
OldBushie
SupporterWhy would you have to replace the existing wiring as you would only be replacing the panels Not the entire system?Originally Posted by DiscoMick
You only get one shot at life, Aim well
2004 D2 "S" V8 auto, with a few Mods gone
2007 79 Series Landcruiser V8 Ute, With a few Mods.
4.6m Quintrex boat
20' Jayco Expanda caravan gone
Master
SubscriberIm sure that all the panels mentioned work fine but are rather expensive. I have been running a 230 watt panel for 2 years which charges two 100amp hour lithium, which in turn run two Engels one as a full time freezer and the other as a fridge. Obviously with the correct controller. The panel cost me the princely sum of $20. Old house panels are cheap as chips and as long as you check them with a multi meter you have no issues. I also provide a stand off with rubber bushes. Panel is mounted to my 130 fiberglass canopy. Baz
Wizard
SupporterInteresting observation today…..
We’ve had a sudden change of location….Broome to Perth over a couple of days….
The semi flex panels are performing much better down here in the cooler weather.
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