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Now, the setup in my van is 2 x 110a batteries, some newly installed LED strips for lighting and a fridge (it runs on gas but has an electric fan). Effectively I need it for occasional lighting and my laptop (which I will be taking from a 120w inverter). As it was I was getting 3-4 days from a fully charged single battery. I now have two, which I've not actually tested yet, but I am looking at a possible fortnight of free camping (at a couple of festivals).
I have read a few of the other threads, as well as the information on the guides section, but I'm still not sure if I am going to get enough electricity from these things to return the value. I will be mostly touring France, Italy and Eastern Europe but in general I will be more Southerly than 47' latitude.
I am also unsure whether, if I decide to go with the panel, to stick the bugger to the roof permanently or have it loose so I can point it towards the sun throughout the day.
Any opinions, experiences of running a 100w panel, or advice from other eBay buyers more than appreciated.
Don't know a lot about solar panels I'm afraid but as an Ebay account holder, with more than 450 sales and purchases, I would not have a problem buying from him. (his record looks legit.)
Location: Brimington, Chesterfield, Derbyshire and Acharavi, Greece
Status: Offline
It looks a lot like the one I purchased a while ago and recently sold, The box and connectors are the same on the back, Mine cost me considerably more than that though.
It was e very good one as well.
______________________________________________________________ Travel Safe
Les
I can give no info on this particular panel but you have a very tall m/home like my Burstner. This is one reason why my panel is not fixed to the roof (I have already decapitated my TV aerial)
I wildcamp a lot outside of the summer months and I have proved that the panel can give double the output when angled towards the sun as opposed to being horizontal. In the summer months (or summer days if you live in the UK ) there is no real difference.
______________________________________________________________ Diplomacy is overrated.
"The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage". Thucydides 460 - 404 BC
.. I would not have a problem buying from him. (his record looks legit.)
Yeh, I think I'm safe buying from them, even though the website on the image doesn't exist (not bothered searching NIC records to see if it ever did).
SaddleTramp wrote:
Mine cost me considerably more than that though.
It's going to be a case of you get what you pay for. I can't believe that the lower priced ones are equal or better than the pricier versions out there. That said, it is a monocrystaline, so in theory it should be similar in power output.
747 wrote:
I have already decapitated my TV aerial
I am quite tempted to do the same. It's not connected up and I don't use it anyway, but it adds an extra 20cm at least to the height. That said it's not the largest vehicle coming in at just over 3m high.
747 wrote:
I wildcamp a lot outside of the summer months and I have proved that the panel can give double the output when angled towards the sun as opposed to being horizontal. In the summer months (or summer days if you live in the UK ) there is no real difference.
Now this I am interested in. What panel(s) did you have and what sort of power were you pulling? I am hoping to manage a fortnight with a fully charged battery plus topping up with this 100w panel. Obviously it all depends on weather and location but any rough ball park figures you can give me could help.
Certainly interesting about angled vs horizontal. I think the only worry I have about it not being fixed is that I can't leave it charging on it's own, and b*gger off somewhere. I would need to keep an eye on it all the time, even if I was to padlock it to the side of the van.
Although I don't know why they would be using a gmail email address - maybe to give a bit of distance.
My 100W panel has been giving an average of 2.5amps/hour during the 10am to 5pm sun up period over the past month. So I think something like this would extend your "wildness" indefinitely while the weather stays like it is now. In dim cloudy conditions I get about 0.5a/hour in daylight.
I've ordered them, did it yesterday. We'll see how well they perform. If they aren't that good I'm sure they will retain their saleable value after a few months.
I now need to work out something to use as a stand in order to tilt them towards the sunshine.
I ordered a 20Amp MPPT charger off an ebayer called hlgreenpower on the 24th last month and it still hasn't arrived. They advertise as UK stock but when I asked politely where my charger was they responded.
"We delivered it on 27th, April by Yodel, the tracking number is
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, and it had arrived in LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT, UNITED KINGDOM on 3rd, May. Thanks."
Obviously NOT UK stock. And it didn't answer my question as to why it hadn't arrived at my address yet.
The reason I am telling you this is that they have exactly the same phrasing, domain name and images so appear to have multiple ebay accounts.
I wildcamp a lot outside of the summer months and I have proved that the panel can give double the output when angled towards the sun as opposed to being horizontal. In the summer months (or summer days if you live in the UK ) there is no real difference.
Now this I am interested in. What panel(s) did you have and what sort of power were you pulling? I am hoping to manage a fortnight with a fully charged battery plus topping up with this 100w panel. Obviously it all depends on weather and location but any rough ball park figures you can give me could help.
Certainly interesting about angled vs horizontal. I think the only worry I have about it not being fixed is that I can't leave it charging on it's own, and b*gger off somewhere. I would need to keep an eye on it all the time, even if I was to padlock it to the side of the van.[/quote]
I have a 90 watt panel and get the following performance from it.
In early March, bright and sunny morning, sun just coming up, I was getting (angled) 4.5 amps. By lunchtime, 5.5 amps. When laid flat on the ground, I got 2.1 amps and 3.9 amps by lunchtime. Remember that this was with 2 x 110 ah batteries that still had most of their charge.
Just lately (again with batteries in good condition and not deeply discharged) I have been getting a max of just over 6 amps and just over 4 amps when laid flat. By lunchtime in the UK, my batteries were topped up. The difference will be less as the sun gets higher and stays out longer in summertime.
The main factor is not to let your batteries get too low in the first instance.
I have no fears about my panel being nicked, even when wildcamping. If we are leaving the van for any length of time, I just slip it back into the frame (which I made for it) inside the garage.
______________________________________________________________ Diplomacy is overrated.
"The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage". Thucydides 460 - 404 BC
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Norway
) there is no real difference.
