Looking for advice from those who know. The van we are ordering comes with one 120watt solar panel and 2 x 100AH batteries. We are aiming at being on the road indefinitely and free camping as much as possible. All we are powering with this is lighting which is LED 12volt, fridge which is 12 volt compressor type, TV and DVD / sound system which are all 12 volt. I'm guessing the water supply to the shower and toilet would have a 12volt pump. We are looking at getting a generator for topping up batteries if needed or if we run the microwave, A/C or washing machine which are on a 240v system. We would use gas for cooking and heating hot water. (If I can't get the wife to chop wood and light a fire.)
Am I correct in thinking this is enough to keep our electrical needs going indefinitely or until something breaks?
120 amp solar panels will give you around 6 amps per hour in direct sunlight. Mounted on a roof, you would be lucky to put in much more than 30 amps in a day with good sunlight. a compressor fridge will draw around 70 amps per day and more in very hot weather, especially if it is opened often. With TV, DVD, lights , water pump etc, you would be lucky to last 48 hours with out a 240 volt source. Most 12 volt fridges have a cut out when the battery voltage drops to around 50 percent so in effect you only have around 100 amps of usable power. Have you also considered the size of the gennie you require if you need to run your aircon and battery charger at the same time . Be aware it would be near on impossible to run the micro wave and air con together on generator power.
We're running a large compressor fridge, 4 fans, laptop,IPad & phone chargers, lights, pumps & all the usual bits & pieces including a toaster & split air-con on the inverter. We have 580w of solar & about 580ah of battery's & never plug in unless we're parked up in the shed at home. We charge while driving & the solar tops it off and so far this trip (6weeks) we have only gone under 80% charge once, that was today parked up near Cooper Pedy & had a midday sleep with the aircon on.
We know that more solar is required according to all the calculations but with a bit of common sense we have never run low.
Spent a week in Albany parked up & it was raining & overcast the whole time, still had full battery's at the end of every day as the fridge wasn't working as hard as is now in 39 degrees.
We have a very small genny that was only used to give the aircon a run when I toasted the inverter the other day, always good to have a back up plan.
Many people will quote specs of power consumption but the best way to measure your use is by using it, we had a 7 day test run at home before we left just to check everything was OK & with the heat we were surprised how little we used, I did the set up calculations based on maximum usage, we never even get close.
__________________
The government cannot give anything to anybody that the Government does not first take from somebody else.
One of the things I have noticed with solar supplied by a van manufacturer is that they really do not know what it is all about, on the road, free camping most of the time. We have 200w of solar on the roof, looking at getting another maybe 120w added. We aren't in a hurry, but the batteries (2 x 120) are almost five years old, and when the time comes to replace them, we will look at maybe bigger batteries, or another battery (though I have heard of the new Lead Crystal ones being excellent as you can use 100% of the power). That is when we will decide on more solar.
We have never run out, but being on the road full time, the weather is not always good to us, and we do conserve then. We have a 200kva genny for backup.
We are in a motorhome, and have also put a small 10w solar panel that feeds direct to the engine, have definitely noticed the difference there.
But as I was saying originally, van sales people know very little about free camping and the power needs of free campers, they need to be more informed!
__________________
jules "Love is good for the human being!!" (Ben, aged 10)
