Solar Panels

G'day Stephen, i bought 2 x 80bp panels, regulator and 10metres of cable for $1700 at Jaycar in Frankston.
cheers, Lance

Lots of Info here, Have a look in the for sale section.
groups.msn.com/Caravanforum/general.msnw

Regards
japmel

G'day Stephen, we bought a 65w solar panel yesterday for $650, this is to go with another 65w that I'd bought 5 months ago. Supplier is Australian RV Accessories, Ferntree Gully.
We use two 65watt panels to charge our two 100amp gel batteries, these are Remco
They have a lot of most things us campers, 4x4's, caravaners need.

The guys at Battery World Boronia are very knowledgeable and helped me a lot when I was setting myself up with a dual battery system and also helped with my solar system. Talk to Chris

andy

ps I have no, I repeat no financial or other interest with any of these guys, they just give very good advice and are more than willing to help.

Hi stephen f

I have 2x 80w bp panels and a steca regulator charging 2 x 100amp agms @ 24 volt in my campervan.

for information
google solar panels and regulators
google should identify a lot of ozi dealers - many of them have very useful advice on sizing and setting up your system

you could try ebay for the purchase - you can even get some Chinese panels - up to you really

for advice and or purchase try
12 volt shop
conergy
jaycar
whitworths
bias boats
and others identified by google

hope this helps

Just so Derek doesn't have to do his own self-promotion I bought his 100 watt bifold panels with regulator and that has met all my power needs. It kept me going when I had no alternator for a week on my last trip.

try here

I found him to provide good after sales service. I had problems with the regulator but it was easily fixed after advice from Derek.

Hi Stephen,

Before you buy anything, either find a solar charging calculator spreadsheet on the net or talk to a reputable dealer about sizing something for your system. Take into consideration future mods as well such as adding other electrical loads.

I wrote about my own experience - www.mcs.net.au/~grungle/solar.html

Regards
David

Just would like to say thanks to all that replied to my question.

Steve,

I just bought a 85w Kyocera solar panel from Tasman energy (do a google) for $690 and $50 freight to Sydney (arrived on Thurs). I bought a 20 amp Australian made regulator from Jaycar today for $75.

Total output (best performance) is 5 amp. I plan to use it to top up my DC battery that runs a 80l trailblazer Fridge.

Have plenty of experience with the Trailblazer on large trips (3 - 4 week duration) and find that normal operation gives me 3.5 to 4 days operation (SA or QLD summer temps) with my 120 amp hr battery. To extend to 4 days I need to look after the fridge (ie reduced opening, limited warm beer into fridge and shade).

I hope to extend operation with the solar panel to 6 days on my up and coming Kangaroo Island venture,

cheers,

Mark

Stephen, you want to talk to an "unbiased salesperson" good luck lol.
Unfortunately, you will only be told what they sell is 'best' and the opposition products are not as good as they sell, if that was true there would be only one brand available, best of luck.

First you have to know how many Amps you have to replace into the battery bank, use the various free charts available to do this.

Google 'Solar panels' in Australia, and look at the technical specifications, don't look at the beautiful pictures as these pics won't make them work any better, they just show how good the photographer is and how clear the web site can show them lol.

Google 'Solar Regulator' in Australia, again only go for the specifications, forget the pics.
Choose a Solar regulator that has the ability to perform as a 3 x stage battery charger, eg; ‘trickle’ charge, ‘bulk’ charge and ‘equalizing’ charge or words of similar meanings, not a cheap ‘single’ charge regulator, as they only work as a single charge battery charger does - inefficiently.

In "my own opinion" the quality Brands are, in no special order;

Kyocera, Sharp and Sunpower, for Solar panels.
These brands offer various quality panels and you should get the panel with the most “efficient” rating, yes it will be dearer but it will be more efficient.

Some panels work only in direct sunlight – some also in clouds and in very low light these panels are more efficient because you get the power for many more hours per day, not only in the peak hours the sun is directly on the panel, so you get more Amps into the battery per day.

The low priced budget panels will not out-perform these brands, their actual “technical specifications” will confirm this for you.

Plasmatronics and Steca, for Solar regulators.

A Solar Regulator with a clear and easy to understand LCD screen is useful in showing you what actual power is being produced by the solar panel, what power is going to the battery and what is being used by the ‘accessories’ on a daily or instant basis.

hope this assists.....

Just to add another one to the mix, I have bought my battery, solar panel and solar regulator from Energy Matters in South Melbourne. I found them to be the cheapest when I bought my AGM battery, and they actually have a shop, which is a bit of a novelity in this internet world.

Grinner