Hello everyone.

I am a new member here though I have been reading through the forum for some weeks now. 

I want to head out on the road indefinitely and take my art around Australia.  I have been attempting to work out what wattage of solar panels I will need and wondered if I could get some advice.

I am looking at running the following:

2 lights (40 watt bulbs) = 7 A/H  running for 4-5 hours per day
Radio (23 watts) = 2 A/H running for 12 hours per day
Laptop (90 watts) = 7.5 A/H running for 5 hours per day
Fridge (advice given at 3 A/H)  = 3 A/H running for 12 hours per day.

The fridge is based on it running at 50% due to the kompressor not running constantly and is a Waeco 64 ltr CR65. 

I have been looking through the Fridge and Solar site, which is excellent, but I am a bit lost with all the conversions etc.  According to my calculations I would need  around 120 Amps per day to run everything as I need.  I have read that you get 5 hrs per day charge time through the solar panels that means 24 Amps per hour which I worked out to 288 watts of solar panels for what I want to run but that seems excessive and I am not sure if I have calculated this right. 

I am hoping someone can help me with this on what wattage of solar panels I might need and the batteries to go with it. 

Happy to supply any further information if needed as I don't really have a clue.

Thanks for reading this and best of luck to all those on the road.

Valderi

Hi frank and welcome to the forum, I am experimenting with our vehicle (little blue) at the moment, have been for a few years now and having (1) a lot of fun (2) a lot of success, its not that hard really, I am trying for complete self containment for at least 7 days, its not as easy as one would think, now I am not an expert and I do not hold myself up as one there are plenty of very knowledgeble people on the forum that will in due time answer your question properly, as for me I am running almost the same sort of things as you as well as an 19" lcd t.v. , a satellite system, and had a sat. broadband modem, all I have is a secondary 100 amp hour battery with a solenoid isolater (for when I drive) and when I park for a few days I deploy an 80 watt  solar panel, (80 watt x 6 hours = 480 watts?) this system keeps my house battery above 80%, I keep an eye on it through a voltage meter, just came back from 2 weeks free camping and didnt have an ounce of problem,  if you want really good advice (top notch) go to the cmca website and go into the online store and buy the book entitled "motorhome electrics" by Collyn Rivers this, in my opinion, is the bible as far as  motorhome or camper electrics go, he does however waffle on a bit as do all very knowledgeble people, but he does know what he is on about, all you can do is what you are doing now, get information, the simpler the better, anyway lots of luck and enjoy the trip

P.S. should mention my lights are 12 volt very low wattage and my radio is a battery powered sanyo, batterys last about 12 months, energy conservation should be your first priority, my fridge is an engel 40 litre running at between 2 and 3 degrees, any lower than that and it is basically a freezer, it also has an insulating cover, it only runs about ten minutes in every 60 or 10% or 2.4 hrs in 24 hrs bit less in winter, bit more in summer, my 19" lcd has an inbuilt dvd player, it only runs about about 2 hrs a week ( cant stand telly when I'm out there) just turn it on occcasionaly, my main fridge is on gas as is my cooking appliance, I use the camp fire as much as I can thereby reducing the need for heating and cooking elsewhere, dont like cooking inside stinks the place up too much, basically inside is for sleeping only

-- Edited by dave06 at 18:54, 2008-07-26

-- Edited by dave06 at 15:51, 2008-07-27

Also Welcome,

As an old electrician and electronics tech I would advise you to dump the 40w globes and go for LED strips lights which draw next to nothing saving probably about 75 watts immediately and also buy a cheapy portable radio and turf the one that is drawing 23w.

Straight away you are saving close to 100 w of power and at 12 v that is equal to 8.35amps..

Go here for a look at LED lites...http://www.ledshoponline.com/


Grrr!!!

Well Valderi you can now see that everyone will have an opinion. Not every opinion will fit your situation however they (the opinions) will give you enough information to make your own decision as to what you may need. At the moment a portable cheap radio is 2 to 1 for the car radio. As far as the fluro's go I will tell you that I use a similar device made by NELSON. It is a folded fluro with a 240v inverter built into it and yes they (I have 5) give great light. I do have LED lighting and do use it for background find your way stuff but still prefer the fluro for cooking etc. One upside with LEDS is they do not seem to attract the bugs (I live in FNQ) so we do notice these things for what it is worth. The fluros DO ATTRACT the bugs....

As far as panels go, I said everyone has an opinion about them. I totally agree that whatever panel(s) you go for do it right 1st time as advised. I tend to go for about 30% more than what I would normally calculate my needs to be (that is MY opinion) but be sure to have a really good think about ALL your needs before you zip out and spend your hard earned on a panel(s).... There are "calculators" (to work out your size panel etc) out in cyber land if you feel you need that sort of help and there are many caravan and camping forums out there as well that you can interrogate for info but at the end of the day YOU need to make the decision based on the likes of US here on forums and your own investigations...

Ask many questions, use all the resources of the internet and other forums to glean every bit of info you can.

Good luck with your search but DO NOT take everyones word from forums as gospel. I know many who have and been disappointed.

Grrr!!!

-- Edited by Crazy Dog at 18:38, 2008-07-27

Thanks so much for the information so far and for the welcome.

I am pleased to see I was, sort of, on the right track and will keep reading and asking more questions so I am sure to be around for a while.

I am very keen on getting it right the 1st time as once I am set I intend to do a few short trips for fine tuning then off on the open road.  Got to get there first though and sorting the van and kitting it out is gonna take some time.

Again thanking everyone for your suggestions which I deeply appreciate.  You've all helped me in one way or another. 

Cheers and happy wandering.

Valderi

Hello Crazy Dog

Yeh well I'll be on the road for a while too soon, will have the Gennie all fired ready each night when free camping ,

ah ha a couple a stirrers eh!!! oh well to each his own, all trails are different, I just hope that ours cross one day

We would'nt do that would ya DOUG??

Grrr!!!

LOLOLOL.... the nevva ending discussion about gennies...

Nah.....I wouldn't do that, I'm just sit it out in the sun and admire it like a bloke would a new Kenworth

keep dreamin'