solar panel？？？

[fishead]

hi
i am new to the the solar panel ,fridge plus dual batteries game .
i have been on a bit of a learning curve with it all . king of miss the simplicity of a good ice box . but the cold drinks and food with no mess is good .
my ??? is if i am driving and my 2 batteries are fully charged. can i have my solar panel say sitting on the roof getting charged itself and use the stored charge in it , say 24 hours later .
thank you for any info

[LandyAndy]

Hi Fishead
Solar panels dont actually store energy,only produce it.You could actually get a 3rd battery and connect it to the panels.Probably one of those sealed gell types(incase it falls over) which you could use as a portable battery and use it around the camp to run a fluro light or even the fridge etc.
Andrew

[fishead]

thanks landy andy. 　

[weeds]

as landyandy said solar panel do not store power

i have one installed on my defender, if i did it all over again i would do it different.

i thought solar panels would help the alternator out while i was driving however the solar panel regulator switches off when the engine starts, although it act as a wind wind break for the roof rack which is one of the reason i fitted. i will be changing the hinges over to ones that slide apart so that when i'm camping and want to park the defender under shade i can remove the solar panel and put in the sun

if i was to do again i would consider the 80W BP portabe (2x40W panels that fold up in a case) and put it out each time i'm camping

i went for a regulator that sits in the console with little LED's that tell me what the solar panel is doing, I would not do this again, just go the regulator that sits in the bax on the back of the panel, i have now fitted an amp guage in the console this tells me as much as the LEDs do along with how many amp the batteries are taking

throw any question you have back at me, i'm no expert but i understand the whole setup a little more now that it is fitted and i have had time to play around with a mulitmeter, it can get confusing listening to the guys in the shop and reading stuff on the net