Solar Panels + Waeco

Hi Nick,

I run a 80W Kyocera with a 40L Engel and a 1Amp Flouro for night. Only have room for a small 40amp hour 2nd battery in the Hilux. I find I can go 5 days without needing the alternator to charge the battery.

One thing is dont skimp on the Solar regulator. Make sure you get one that varies the charge depending on the level of the battery. Cant remember the name of the unit I purchased however, if I run the battery low, it produces a different charge compared to the normal trickle charge to keep the battery topped up.

I found the dimensions of the Kyocera cell much better than the BP. Fits on the Hilix roof no probs and allows the 8ft Mal to sit next to it.

Cheers,

Hi Nick
I use two panels giving me 96 watts I use a Solar Panel regulator for Jaycar STOCK-CODE: MP3126 I tried the small unit but it cut out at 13.7 volts which trickle the currect in but did not full charge the battery. The new one charge to 14.4 volts and cycles through to full charge the battery
Ray

Nick,
go for the 80 watt panel, shop around and try for Solarex (BP) if possible.
A good regulator is the 'Plasmatronic' 20 amp unit.
If you are only going to use the fridge when it is connected to the solar panel then you may not need a regulator at all as the power in and out will be similar numbers....

Regulators: The Stecca Solsum regulators impressed me as they are a 3 stage regulator and use pulse width modulation on the later stages to get more charge into the battery. The plasmatronics look fancier (monitor current in and out etc) but are more pricey. My advice is to get a 3-stage type, whatever the brand.

70W of solar panel for $550 sounds good. Not sure how efficient they are ?

How many amp hour is your Waeco Urban P/P and will you run the vehicle at all whilst camping or be completely stationary ?

2 x 40W BP cells, a 105AH battery and running my vehicle for 30 minutes a day kept my 60L Evakool freezer/fridge going fine for 7 days on Straddie over easter last year. Ambient temps were around 26 deg.

Home Power magazine on the web may have studies into how efficient the Kyocera panels are (check backissues on PDF on their website)

Keepikool in Darwin's website recommend 2x80w to run a fridge setup indefinitely, but that is allowing for tropical conditions and the occasional cloudy day.

Ring Battery World Shepparton on (03) 5831 3176, the owner of this store is an expert on Solar power.

Click to Batteryworld Solar webpage

If u have only a 70w or 80w solar panel i suggest you don't need a regulator if you have a decent sized battery. I have two BP 40W panels hinged together, charge at about 4.4amps at the battery. I also have them connected thru a stecca solsum - cheap, approved by the world bank for development projects in dirt poor countries so robust as, and a genuine 3 stage digital charger. But the thing is i think it was a waste of money, when i go away and put the panel on the battery with the fridge going there is no way it is ever going to over charge it, but i am just losing a bit more current by putting it through the regulator.

So what i mean is if you are going to permanently mount your panels on the roof and connect them to a dual battery, sure, you will need a regulator or you will one day cook your battery. But if you are attaching panels to a battery when the waeco is going to be in non-stop use for 5 days, you are never going to get to a stage on an 80ah battery where you will need to trickle charge it.

I note you said you camp in 30 - 35 ambient temperatures, me to as camp live in Qld south east, and in those temperatures waecos do a lot of cycling, they calm down at night time but your panels are not charging at night time. So you are in permanent catch up to top up the battery, so your regulator will never got to the third or probably even the second stage of charging.

that's my 5c and i am not an electrician.

Thanks for the replies,food for thought.The Urban P/P is only 24Ahr I believe.Also the fridge will be running non stop hooked to the solar panel,dont want to run the vehicle at all when stopped camping.Again Thanks All