Solar panel and mains electric advice
We have just bought a caravan and have a solar panel installed and have been advised by the owner to have the caravan plugged in because the caravan will draw power from the solar panel before using the mains if we don’t use any mains sockets, is this true? As he charges by how much electricity is used, do we don’t want to pay for electricity we don’t need? He wants us to leave our mains cable plugged in so that someone doesn’t accidentally plug in our socket as obviously he knows who’s on which number to charge us the right amount of electric- if he’s made a mistake and we shouldn’t leave it plugged in what do you advise we do with the cable our end (sp it’s not in the rain etc) so we can still leave it plugged in his end?
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Don’t understand
are you talking about storage yard or on site
if in storage solar panel will keep battery charged
if on site mains lead will supply 13 amp sockets and charge the battery etc
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On mine I could leave it pushed a little way into the socket in the battery locker without making contact or I could switch off mains at control panel or trip/switch off at the mains breaker. Plenty of options. Does the site owner charge for EHU or just for electricity used?
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Don't understand what your really getting at RH. Do you have an inverter fitted and use the 240v sockets. Inverter's do draw power from the solar panel but again depends on your set up as to whether you would end up with a problem or not.
We don't have an inverter and never hook up at storage and battery is fine, even if we had to use the motor mover. We often use sites without EHU and still no problem as we use gas and can charge all our ancillaries, phone, cameras etc using 12 volt system.
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Leave it plugged in to the mains so you have it “reserved” but switch off the main isolator in the caravan. Assuming you are in the open then the solar panel will keep the battery topped up and you will use no power.
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The solar panel charges the leisure battery.
The mains plug charges the leisure battery, via a charger.
The caravan uses the battery for all 12v stuff, water pump, lights, etc.
The caravan uses the mains for heating, fridge, microwave, and charging.
If you are in the caravan then you will need it plugged in. If it is in storage or you are not living in the van then you do not need to have it plugged into the mains.
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Sorry guys I have been confusing, I was writing this in a rush - it’s while we’re on a seasonal pitch and the owner charges according to how much electricity is used rather than a base rate - and we would obviously rather use the free energy than pay for mains if we don’t need to but he said he’d rather we stayed plugged in to reserve the socket as he knows who’s plugged into each socket.... hope that makes more sense and he seemed to think it wouldn’t draw power from the mains if the solar panel is topping the battery up, the mains will only kick in if we use something on mains power or if the solar panel hasn’t charged the battery enough.
the idea of not plugging it in enough sounds like a great idea!
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If you are on a seasonal pitch, but aren’t living in the van full time, do you leave the fridge on, while away - it is best run on electricity for economy. Aside from the fridge, do you have any other mains powered equipment which you need to leave on? You don’t need to leave the battery charger on because the solar panel will take care of that, so switch it off on your control panel, while you are away. I can’t see any need for cables to be half plugged in. Leave it fully in and switch off all power on your internal controller unless you need the fridge or other equipment left on.
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