Solar Test Results Uni Solar 64 Watt

Blue

In the past I would have said no. That was because I was running an 80L Waeco and for that to have any chance it was essential to have the car in the shade and the panel in the sun.

Now that the new fridge is permanently mounted in the car I'm thinking I'll bung the panel on the roof and run the fridge full time.

Jim.

Jim,
you say; ""I have a volt meter attached to the battery and the voltage is very slowly creeping up which tells me the panel is just keeping ahead of the fridge""

Can I ask what the battery voltage is slowly creeping up from ?
and to what voltage it gets to ??

What the volt meter is measuring is only the "charging" voltage from the solar REGULATOR (or panel, if no regulator used) and as soon as the panel is 'disconected' the voltage will return to it's 'rested' state voltage.

On my 'rig pics' it can clearly be seen my fridge/freezer draws a hearty 7.8 Amps when running ( or ~2.8ah ) and the battery does remain constantly @ 13.8 Volts while still being 'trickle' charged by the solar system with the fridge running.

Blue,

Go and visit an aluminium screen door manufacturer. The framing for screen doors has little interlocking fittings and is easy to put together. Cheap as chips too.

Call me on 0411 874406.

Jim.

I think you will find no Solar panel will charge any battery when you are actually driving, even in full and perfect sunny conditions...

Even when you pull into a shopping centre car park, for the time you are actually shopping, the Solar panel will probably NOT charge the battery that much either, because it's been charged by the Alternator on the way from where you were, to the shops and hopefully it's fully charged, unless it's only a wet cell battery.

For solar to be successful "long term", you must charge the battery system more in a 24 hour period than you draw from it, anything less is only a compromise, however still much better than nothing at all.

blue one,
obviously you don't understand what I've posted to suggest it's "gibberish"

just come right out and say what it is that you don't understand and I will endeavour to explain it for you in small simple words !!

Blueone , what part of the solar setup cant you get thru your brain ? Mainey is telling you simply that a solar panel mounted on a moving vehicle will NOT put any significant charge into the battery , the vehicle charging system is already replacing all power usage while the motor is running ,

Easy to see that school holidays have started ,, pray tell us all with your profound wisdom and knowledge why /when and howfor the alt will only do 80% and the panels in a MOVING vehicle do the rest or at any other time for that matter ,,

Axel,
Don't wast your time with blue, his reply "AnswerID: 272179" and also "AnswerID: 276699 " shows his complete lack of any technical knowledge on things 12 Volt and Solar.

Yes, as you say, skools out :-) :-)

From memory, the open circuit Voltage of a 80% State of Charge wetcell battery is just under 12.5 Volts, probably ~12.45v to 12.48v or thereabouts.

If I owned a vehicle that only charged my 12 Volt (wetcell) battery (which is 12.66 Volts when 100% charged) to only 80% State of Charge, I would complain vehemently to the vehicle manufacturer that they are using inefficient charging methods.

Yes, as blue states, (and also my original post too) the solar system will "make up the rest" - IF REQUIRED ! ! !

BUT -->

most often there is no "rest" to make up !!!

Reason being->

The SOLAR system will be charging the AUX battery BEFORE the drive to the shops anyway, and therefore the battery WILL allready be FULLY CHARGED.

The Solar panel/s will NOT charge the battery while driving to the shops, because the Alternator _IS_ "maintaining" the allready FULLY CHARGED battery while travelling.

As is said skools out - or should that be 'skools still in' for some :-)

As I said Blue, if you don't understand something, just ask for assistance !!

What drugs are you on?

Alt to charge 100% HA HA

Blue, obviously you don't yet understand the written English word.

No-where in this thread have I stated an Alternator WILL charge a battery 100%

Please read my post again .... relevant section copy/pasted for you below.

"Even when you pull into a shopping centre car park, for the time you are actually shopping, the Solar panel will probably not charge the battery that much either, because it's been charged by the Alternator on the way from where you were, to the shops and -HOPEFULLY- it's fully charged, unless it's only a wet cell battery"

Blue, I stated the following-> "and HOPEFULLY it's fully charged, unless it's only a wet cell battery"

What that means in English is:
We HOPE, MAYBE, POSSIBLY or there is a strong CHANCE that the battery COULD be fully charged !!

It definitely does NOT state the battery WILL be fully charged, only that the desire, wish or HOPE that the battery is fully charged.

Blue, as I said, ASK QUESTIONS if you want to learn, or post ANSWERS for those who do ask questions, assuming of course you know the correct answers, and by reading your original posts I don't think that's very likely :-)

Mainey...

Blue,
Yes, I'm sure most reasonable people watching this thread are "Laughing their A*** off" too :-))

Man you just gotta get over the fact you can't read or associate the written word with the obvious meaning, 'maybe' or is it 'hopefully' you will watch and learn 'cause I'm dam sure your not here to impart any reasonable knowledge based on your questions and your attitude so far.
But, 'maybe' or is it 'hopefully' you will still have a nice day :-))



Blue,
just a quick question, if you bought a 'brand new' 4x4 and the Alternator could 0NLY PARTIALLY charge the battery, as you have claimed, to just 80% of it's RECOMMENDED capacity, what would you do ??

{ I gotta watch this thread, as I'm waiting for a reply to my post id 537486 above...what's your excuse }

just a thought if solar panels did a better job at charging than an alternator wouldnt they fit them instead??