solar panel sizes

Mike

For the most part they will only be running the fridge. It will only be for when we are parked up for any length of time as the car will charge as we go. i guess there probably would be the odd light/battery charger running off them from time to time but not to any extreme.
Cheers

Now with link LOL!
Site Link

This spreadsheet looks complex but its straighforward if you give yourself a bit of time to understand it. It's all there. If your not familiar with spreadsheets get someone to give you a hand.

Let us know how you get on.

Cheers

jdwynn

Thanks for that. Unfortunately i seem to be having some trouble opening the spreadsheet. It's a bit of a tragedy as i've had to ask for help off the the lovely lady of the house.will keep trying however as it looks like a good read.
Thanks


Dan

Hi Josh
Can you tell me what amphour rating you 6 volt batteries are.I have 2x 225ah 6volt batts and 2x 75watt panels going to a 30amp 3 stage controller.I am concerned my batteries maybe a little large for this system as I have not fitted it into the camper at this stage.
Thanks Guy

Hi guy,
We have 2 supreme 235 ah batteries with a projector 12 volt auto computer protector controller. This runs our fridge/freezer and fluro lights. The batteries last about 4 days before needing charging even with the fridge set half to freezer. The panel will bring back from a fairly low charge with good sun very quickly. On cloudy days it holds it own but does not put a whole lot back in. Will generally hold at whatever percentage of charge it is plugged in at. Goes up a little and down over night. Started with Trojan which were fantastic, until they died after nearly 2 yrs of continuous hard use. Put century batteries in which were crap and faulty from the start. The guys who built our trailer now use these supreme batteries. They recon they are the bees nees.

Josh

Hi Josh,
I am using trojans for this set up.I would think you would get more out of your batteries.Do you know how many amps the fridge is using and do you keep the panel connected all the time while camping.Also do you use any other form of charging.Sorry for all the questions and hope you dont mind me asking. Thanks Guy

Hi guy,
Don't mind the questions all, that's how we learn and that's what I love about this forum. I thought we might have got more out of the batteries to but after talking to a few battery guys none were surprised with what we have done with them. 18 months full time use varying temps from -4 to 50 degrees.
Our fridge uses about 1.5-2 amps/hr according to the evacool website at 32 deg ambient temp. Run as half fridge half freezer. It will freeze fresh meat etc. Have not checked it my self. The fluros draw about 1amp/hr.
If we are staying for more than 2 days we connect the solar panel other wise don't bother. The trailer batteries charge off the car via an anderson plug while driving. We find this setup works very well.
Make sure any wire you use for charging from solar panel or car is heavy duty. A few auto elecs have said ours is heavier than it needs to be but I have met others with similar set ups that have current lose and don't charge as quickly with thinner wire. For the extra couple of bucks to go next size up can save hassle of not being able to keep charged. We spent 3 months in Tassie first up camping with no power the whole time and had no problem with charging at all. If we get heaps of rain and batts getting low we connect the car and run for half hour to get them up a bit.
Hope this helps. If I can work out how to do it I will post a photo of the set up.

Josh

Hi Josh,
Batteries and solar tend to be a bit of an unknown quantity and a bit of trial and error.Thanks for your information and it all helps with learning and understanding it all.
Thanks Guy

Mainey

Wow, that's impressive. Particularly like the hi clone quip in your profile. Good to see there are a few people out there giving them a fair go. My father has two in his jeep and he is also satisfied with them. Thanks to all for the info its been a great push in the right direction.

Dan