Just got a solar panel

[Gasy]

Treated me self as got glastonbury coming up and we do 8/9 days with no hook up electric
Kids managed to flatten me leisure battery over weekend in caravan
Going to wire this so I can use it for the bongo or the caravan
£120 deliverd
100w
I will let you know how it performs

[mikeonb4c]

I'll be interested to hear how you get on with that.

[Bob]

Looks like a meaty bit of kit.

As Mike says, do let us know how it goes.

[Gasy]

Well it's up and running
In me front room kicking out 12.9 v partly shaded in me front room
Ever so easy to wire as they put them special connectors on so carnt really go wrong
2x5m cables and 2x2m
Drops to 10v when sun goes in
Only got me fluke auto multi meter thing in at mo
Will get the proper fluke one in tomorrow see what am it can do
Says 6.6 I think


No it's not powering the tv

[kingbillybongo]

Just done mine as well, ( eBay. 130 delivered). 80 w. Used last weekend ,was brilliant.

[mikexgough]

Can't beat solar.....

[Gasy]

What do people have wired to the load supply from the charge controller ?
Or do you just connect the solar kit to the battery
There seems to be 2 different options goin on out there
So what do people on here do
How's yours wired
Just concernd about the 12v tv on a sunny day and the charge controller putting in more than 12v to the battery
.
Thanks in advance

[g8dhe]

Most only wire the controller direct to the battery because if you want to use the other metering facilities (depends on controller) then it needs to be the only source of charge and discharge. If you have a split charge relay in place then the controller won't know about the charge going in from that source, also if you already have loads connected to the battery unless you run them back to the load terminals on the controller it won't be able to account for the charge used in them - hence any %Charge, battery level etc. become totally irrelevant as it will only account for a part of the charge/discharge that runs thru it.

[Gasy]

Thank you
I don't fully understand that load supply / metering etc
So I will just use battery connection and power tv through a volt adjustable power lead hopefully that will keep supply close to 12v

[g8dhe]

If the TV is designed for vehicle use then it shouldn't any extra regulation, but if its only marked as 12v on the supply you can't be certain that it will handle the range of voltages unfortunately.

[Simon Jones]

What are you doing sat in the van watching telly on a fine sunny day? Get outside man .

Geoff makes a good point: your average LED / LCD TV is designed to run off a regulated 12v switched mode power supply giving a steady clean stable output. Plug it directly into the van electrics with the engine running could put over 14v into it which may be enough to ruin it. Ideally you want a DC-DC adapter which is a switched mode step up/down unit that will give a steady output regardless of whether the input rises (or drops) from the nominal 12v.

You can buy a nice ready made unit from RoadPro for around £40 as I recall, or buy a module for under a tenner which you add your own case and wiring to.

[Gasy]

The tv came with a 12v lead so hopefully

I have 2 leisure batterys in the caravan
Would it be a better idea to use one and charge the other one
Then swap over when the used one is flat( but I suppose you then run the risk of flattening both if cloudy )
Hmmmmm just going with the straight to the used battery , I think

Our tv seems to turn it self on and get left on as the kids pop in to use the loo
Amazing how many times I find it bleating away with no one in the van even when we on battery
Bless them

[Gasy]

Well just done 7 days off hook up at glastonbury festival
Arrived with 12.5v and left with over 13v
Never saw the caravan gauge drop below 12.5v which it used to do
We left lights on at night for kids
Had a car radio blaring out for hours each day
DVD players and phones galour were being charged each day

I'm well impressed
I have bought another charge controller £10 as a spare
But I would recommend these kits for £120
Strong heavy frame on them

What a festival it was this year who else went
Loads of bongos in camper van fields this year