I am looking to add a solar panel to my caravan for the following uses-Trickle charging of the battery when I am not on site and daily battery charging for when I am. I will be using the onboard 12volt lighting system for, I would guess a couple of hours per night. I would also like to run a 12v TV/DVD Combi unit and would like a solar Panel that could recharge the previous days usage-I appreciate that weather conditions can have an effect on recharge rates-all comments gratefully received!
2007-04-01 00:05:31 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Its fairly easy to work out.
First work out how long you want each 12v thing on for each day.
Then work out the watt/hours - multiply the watts by number of hours used.
Add all your watt/hours together to give you total watt/hours.
In the UK we get about 8 hours usable light for solar panels. so devide your total watt hours by 8, to give you a guide to the power of solar panel you need. Always go up to the next nearest avaialble size.
For larger size panels you will need a regulator device. - good dealers give good advice. And contary to previous answers you can charge lead acid batteries via solar panels.
2007-04-01 00:36:10 · answer #1 · answered by lost in the wilderness 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
About a 130 watt panel with a deep cycle 100 amp hour battery will get you through if you're careful about how much juice you use. If you're worried about rainy days, you should probably double the size of the panel and the battery.
Don't listen to whoever said 12 volt lights use very little. It would take a 10 square foot panel just to run 2 60 watts bulbs, and that doesn't include recharging the battery from night usage. You can get a little Sunsaver solar controller that's very easy to use and will keep the battery properly charged for about $65.
2007-04-01 08:30:01 · answer #2 · answered by Nomadd 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hmm solar the world should all be that way.
With my past experiance in solar they are only very trickle.
The bigger the panel the bigger trickle.
Solar also requires dry cell batterys which can be very expensive.But it does depend on the size of the panel that your talkin about.
12volt lights use very very little but a tv is a different story maybe its 12v too ? in not you can certainly get them.Used wisely in could work but just remember it takes a lot longer to charge than drain even if your charging from 240volts
Try talking to someone that deals in solar panels but i think you will get a shock on the size you need to do the job
2007-04-01 07:25:15 · answer #3 · answered by shelley 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As last answer you would need a VERY large panel, its the TV that is the problem , I have gone for a week on justthe battery on the camper, BUT put a TV on and its gone in a few hours as will a fridge, So I have a radio and enjoy the break from TV !!,
2007-04-01 07:36:06 · answer #4 · answered by classiccommer 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋