Solar Gurus - your wisdom please!!
Submitted: Monday, Jun 27, 2011 at 12:35
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tg123
On my current Adventure camper I have 2 x 65W solar panels which are fixed but tiltable. When camping I orientate the camper so the panels face approx N and tilt them to an appropriate angle and have to date had power to burn.
My new Quantum will have 2 x 80W panels fixed flat to the roof. As they point straight up I assume the orientation of the camper doesn't matter as long as the panels are in the sun for as long as possible each day.
What I'd like to know is how efficient are they going to be. Assuming my current setup is as good as it gets in terms of maximising 'sun catching', what percentage of this 'sun catching' ability will my new set up have?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts
Cheers
TG
Reply By: Member Bushy 04(VIC) - Monday, Jun 27, 2011 at 14:08
Monday, Jun 27, 2011 at 14:08
tg I fitted 1x 100 ah agm battery in van boot and 2x 65w panels flat on the top of our pop top and it exceeded all expectations.
Was expecting to have to use a charger every 4-5 days, end result charger used once in 12 weeks due to being under a huge tree in
Kununurra.
My wife used solar for her c pap machine which seemed to draw very little,as
well as lights.
Bushy
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Reply By: MEMBER - Darian, SA - Monday, Jun 27, 2011 at 14:35
Monday, Jun 27, 2011 at 14:35
Yep - an issue to some extent - there's some info
here from a Mr C Rivers ........ on our Trakmaster van, a 140W panel is on the forward sloping face of the van - another is on the flat of the roof - where possible, I orientate the van due north - the front one picks up the sun early and then they both continue to collect all day. Because we usually go bush in winter when the sun stays low, this layout seems a bonus to me :-o).
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Follow Up By: MEMBER - Darian, SA - Monday, Jun 27, 2011 at 14:37
Monday, Jun 27, 2011 at 14:37
Uh oh - sorry for
invalid reply - I'm no guru :-o).
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Follow Up By: tg123 - Monday, Jun 27, 2011 at 16:13
Monday, Jun 27, 2011 at 16:13
Compared to me ANYONE who even knows what a solar panel looks like is a solar guru!!
Interesting article from Mr Rivers - it appears that having the panels laying flat is not as detrimental to their performance as I feared.
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Follow Up By: MEMBER - Darian, SA - Tuesday, Jun 28, 2011 at 09:25
Tuesday, Jun 28, 2011 at 09:25
Yep - I think the summary on angled panels might be something like........ marginal gain in summer, but worthwhile for winter (but only where convenient to engineer).
Bit off camping topic, but I saw a house installation in the southern suburbs of
Adelaide while walking yesterday - the 8 panels were angled ok, but all facing due west ! Probably near worthless for about 6 months of the year.
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Reply By: pepper2 - Monday, Jun 27, 2011 at 16:55
Monday, Jun 27, 2011 at 16:55
Panels are 85% efficient in horizontal position so you dont loose much by mounting them horizontally especially when they are not 100% when tilted and fixed as the sun mooves,
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