Solar panel charger for leisure battery
I'm looking for a solar panel charging kit to keep my leisure battery topped up. Can anyone recommend a product that works and won't stop working after a few weeks please? Something like this, but some of these panel kits seem suspiciously cheap -
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I have just had a victron 175w panel and a bluesmart 75/15 mppt controler installed on my motorhome. Working a treat
https://www.sunstore.co.uk/product/175w-12v-mppt-solar-battery-charger-vehicle-kit/
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I’ve always been happy with Photonic Universe
Buyer beware on Amazon - maybe knocked up by a 10 year old in Mumbai sweatshop!
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Cost me £590 fitted. I was recommend the 175 w as it is good even in low light. Mine also has a battery maintainer for the starting battery. The guy that fitted mine explained it like this. even when you have a solar panel all 12v dc appliances still run from the battery the solar panel replaces the energy that is drawn out the battery.
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No, nothing like. Work on best case scenario of 65Ah for a UK based 100w panel in completely ideal circumstances e.g. mid june, sunny day, south coast, panel perfectly aligned. In reality you’ll get a fraction of that e.g. mid winter in Scotland will get you a max of about 5Ah per day. Go for at least a 150w panel.
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pretty much what my fitter told me as well
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Andy, if all you want to do is keep a caravan leisure battery topped up over winter, you can simply buy a portable kit with a couple of crocodile clips for the battery. The solar panel will work behind glass/perspex but less efficiently.
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You asked a couple questions…. if all you want to do is trickle a charge a battery something like the product you highlighted will do the job. As for reliability, who knows? Buy cheap, but twice?
The second question was about power output and running appliances which is a different ball game as I’ve tried to illustrate.
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A 20w panel should be adequate to keep you battery topped up. I use a 10w one to keep a 12v electric fence battery charged but without a controller and I have not found that to be a problem. Better to have a controller though, much less chance of damaging the battery. I also have a similar set up as SQ on my motorhome but it is a 120w panel also supplied by Sunstore. Its been toatally reliable these past 6 years.
peedee
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If all you want to do is "maintain" the battery and not "charge" it, then a 20-40w panel propped up in a south facing window will do the job. The Amazon one mentioned is pretty much par for the course for that type of thing.
A serious solar setup is going to cost a whole lot more. I've got 3 x100W semi flex panels wired in series through a 30A MPPT controller but a setup like that and you won't get a lot of change out of £700. Of course, with a caravan, payload is a constant concern although semi-flex panels are lighter than framed ones. Lots of info in this thread https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/club-together/discussions/welcome-hobby-talk/tips-for-making-caravanning-touring-cheaper/how-to-survive-a-non-240v-ehu-site/
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Agree with all the above...
where do you store you're van?...
if in storage, can you bring the battery home or does it need to run a tracker?
if at home, just use EHU occasionally to top up.
when in the van, are you ever off grid, no EHU? If not, no need to go overboard with large panels, these small panel kits will be ok for a top up if placed in a south facing window.
like CY, Ive got 300w on the roof, MPPT controller, 2 x 92ah batteries but I go off grid and need to charge Ebike batteries while away. Different requirement, different set up.
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Recently had a caravan stolen by folk from a certain demographic. The far where I store the van have offered me a spot in one of their barns - it’s quite light and airy and not in any way dark or claustrophobic
Will a 80 watt solar panel as fitted by Bailey Caravans function in the winter months in barn storage? Anyone got any experience of this in the circumstances above?
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Not if you are undercover I would have thought. If you had an array of say 4 x 100W wired in series, you might get sufficient to maintain a battery but even then you would still not get any significant output. The panel is effectively in permanent deep shade.
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