Welcome to Motorhomefacts, we are a thriving motorhome community (Largest in Europe). Why Not JOIN NOW and get instant access to more of the website. It costs nothing to join and only takes a few minutes. We have 200,000 different people visiting our site monthly and this amount of motorhomers in one place guarantees a fast response to any questions you may have. We also have unique facilities not found elsewhere such as our Online Logbook, stopover tracker, Motorhome directory with Ebay type feedback and the largest repository of motorhome campsites reviews found anywhere
We have recently bought a static caravan on a site which does not have mains electrics. Two 130 watt solar panals will be fitted to the van with a 700 watt inverter and three 210 amp hour batteries (quoting from the sales specs here).
Having never used solar aquired electrics, I was wondering what we will be able to use in the static. I noticed satellite dishes on some vans, so I assume tv's and decoders. The van is fitted with low energy lighting and cooking and heating is on gas. Will I be able to use a hairdryer? Is a small slow cooker pot an option? What about carpet cleaning ie a vacuum cleaner? Greatful for any help understanding the cans and can't do's with the solar set up we are having.
Hi the electric requirements you might need as mentioned I would supply at least 3KW inverter and with all the required batteries. Each 1KW which is required would need a battery to supply 100Amps as a rule of thumb, the hair dryer would consume around 1.5KW in some cases.... yes you can get away with 700Watt inverter but you will find many things lacking, so before you go down this route make sure you get good on site advice of your exact needs, and then carry on... its very difficialt to help with a unknown issue, may be a silent run generator would help you as well, have a chat with other owners and see what they do etc... sorry I can't be much more help
Ignore the SPAM! (Zeb Note. Previous spam post removed.)
That's a healthy solar set up. A lower wattage vac will work well as will a hairdryer. A slow cooker will be no problem at all.
Just remember that for the rated wattage you will only get 80% in full sun and in winter only 50% of that 80% x the number of sun hours.
The power coming in is dependent on how the panels are fitted, position of the sun to the static etc.
80% x 260w = 208w - winter sun = 104w or 8.6Ah of power in DIRECT sun, if on an oblique this will be lower.
From memory my slow cooker is 1.5Ah, my house hoover is something silly like 1200w. A good modern 12v TV uses about 2.5Ah to give you an idea. All of your appliances will have the power consumption on a label somewhere, but be aware that some appliances (microwaves for one) need double the power on start up.
With the inverter, buy the biggest you can afford with a pure sine wave, not modified which is cheaper.
______________________________________________________________ Satisfied now I´ve gotten rid of my Marquis supplied Autocruise- both were rubbish!
If this is in the UK you will end up with a generator for power in winter if you intend staying there then. There is no chance of a solar set up supplying your winter needs, it's not even close. In the south of Spain maybe it would work, Alan.
Unless you're running life support You'll be safe enough experimenting with what the set up is capable off as the inverter will have an overload alarm and thermal cut out. if you drain the batteries too much the regulator will switch off the load (inverter) not a long way below 11 volts. If this happens just turn off the inverter and the batteries should recover enough off load to easily power the low energy lighting. Then you'll need Sun for a full top up.
This is assuming that the lighting is fused direct of the batteries and not off the regulator load connection.
The reality is that a combination of external power sources are required in the UK in the winter.
In the summer you van expect to use very little power as a lot of time is spent outside, no lights, cooking and BBQ'ing outdoors, no heating, often no TV and it is sunny or light from early in the morning, well into the evening.
The winter is an exact opposite. Lights on as soon as you wake up, heating often left on overnight. Showering and cooking inside makes the use of extractors a must. It is dark until mid morning and gets dark again mid afternoon. The sun is low on the horizon so in essence doing very little.
To use solar to charge batteries in the winter to run an inverter set up is in my opinion is a non starter, but as Techno100 said unless it is life threatening it won’t hurt to try, but do consider the expense and if there is a finite budget don’t spend all of that budget on solar/inverters without a lot more thought.
Having said all of this we haven’t asked you where the static is! We have assumed that it is in the UK so if the static is down in Rome or Malta ignore everything that has been said about the efficiency of winter use solar panels LOL
Eddie
I asked Eddie, but even in a sunny country it will require more that 260w of solar to keep up with what sound almost like normal household demands for power, Alan.
I asked Eddie, but even in a sunny country it will require more that 260w of solar to keep up with what sound almost like normal household demands for power, Alan.
I agree Alan. My opening gambit was you need a selection of sources.
The reality is that solar in the winter, in the UK is pretty poor, but the trouble is that there are many people that sell solar panels suggesting all year around use.
Generator, Efoy, solar and wind should do it though
Given that it sounds like a holiday home? and not lived in full time and the heating and cooking is gas I would give it a go first before spending. 330 amps of battery is pretty good and if it takes a week in cloudy weather to top them up it doesn't matter if you've gone home.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You cannot download files in this forum
All times are GMT + 1 Hour Page 1 of 2Goto page 1, 2Next
France
Panels if bought from the right sellers are cheap and good quality and continue to fall in price.
