Solar panels - enough to charge the aux battery

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JF Lux
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Solar panels - enough to charge the aux battery

Post by JF Lux » Sun Aug 23, 2015 3:33 pm

As per the title...anyone have enough knowledge/ideas/pointers for what would be needed as a solar panel set-up so there is enough to keep the aux (and I suppose main) battery topped up even when the Engel is running?

Preference is to have something that folds away and can be stored and comes out when needed (ie. throw on the roofrack; or option of a cable to have the panel in the sun whilst the vehicle is parked under cover). Want something with enough oomph so it really does charge the batteries.

I currently have a piddly little thing and it does not work...Finding that even 30 hours is taking the aux battery way down when the ambient temp is high (which means the fridge is having to constantly work).

Ideas? Recommendations? :thumbright:


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Re: Solar panels - enough to charge the aux battery

Post by Bodsy » Sun Aug 23, 2015 5:32 pm

There was an 80w foldable panel, that would be fine. Will have a look amongst my old links. There's also flexible rollout panels 120w S.Africa favours them. :thumbright:


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Re: Solar panels - enough to charge the aux battery

Post by Bodsy » Sun Aug 23, 2015 5:47 pm

http://www.bushpower.co.za/products.asp?pid=682" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

About £300 though.


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Re: Solar panels - enough to charge the aux battery

Post by JF Lux » Sun Aug 23, 2015 6:30 pm

whereas I don't mind spending a bit of money...300 quid is way more that "a bit"... :lol:


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Re: Solar panels - enough to charge the aux battery

Post by Kingmav66 » Sun Aug 23, 2015 8:09 pm

John, spend what you saved on the wine :lol:



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Re: Solar panels - enough to charge the aux battery

Post by anglefire » Sun Aug 23, 2015 9:34 pm

Loads on Ebay for under £200. No idea what they are like though!


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Re: Solar panels - enough to charge the aux battery

Post by JF Lux » Sun Aug 23, 2015 11:01 pm

anglefire wrote:Loads on Ebay for under £200. No idea what they are like though!
What I'm not sure about is what wattage and ampage I should be looking at and if I need any regulator or charge controller... :?


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Re: Solar panels - enough to charge the aux battery

Post by Bodsy » Sun Aug 23, 2015 11:33 pm

You need to aim for 80w or thereabouts, /12v = 6.6amps (100% efficient)
You'd probably look at 5amps really.
Depending on which one you get, it will either have a charge controller with it, or you will need to get a charge controller. Do not connect to the battery without a charge controller at all at that power.

The engel will be about 2.6-4amp peak although a large proportion of the time, it won't be pulling anywhere near that power.

Chris Tyler had a 100w panel on his trailer and it always kept his two fridges and batteries topped up.

The cheapest way is to get a single 100w hard panel fixed to your prospeed, or the same, but put another panel of aluminium that folds over to protect the front for storage etc.
you can run a reasonable length of cable from the car to some small Anderson connectors to have the panel wherever you wanted.

I paid about £80 for a 250w panel and about £30 for a charge controller. These will be going on my shed when the roof is on. :thumbright:


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Re: Solar panels - enough to charge the aux battery

Post by Beanie » Mon Aug 24, 2015 9:04 pm

I leave mine on the rack permanently :whistle:

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80W panel, supplying just shy of 4 Amps on a clear day via a MPPT controller and connected to my split charge set up and yellow top

Gets it to 13+V with ease

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