MK111 Rear Hatch Solar Panels 300W

[Patrol Dude]

Angled similarly at the midday reading. I would have thought the single panel would have been a lot cooler!
Good stuff is that it is punching in around the 15Amps [emoji106]


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Patrol Dude
4.2TD

[Patrol Dude]

The dual batteries where down to 116amps this morning, when we got back to camp at 4:30 the batteries - 2 x 100amp where fully charged [emoji106]
Very happy [emoji41]


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Patrol Dude
4.2TD

[weonatvan]

I could always erect a tropical roof over my panels if they were to get too hot. Lol [emoji41]

Yesterday I went to clarify Jaycars' solar panel warrantee with the store manager as there is nothing mentioned in their catalogue about needing air gaps or any warning on how to 'not to' affix their panels to a surface and we found no evidence to the contrary suggesting that I may have an issue.

He told me that their 25 year warrantee also covers that their panels will produce no less than 80% of their nominated capacity at the end of this period.

It is also at the discretion of the manager to interpret what meets warrantee, so I now feel confident that if any one, or all of my panels fail for any reason other than physical damage over the next 5-10 years that they will be replaced. Forgot to ask whether this is calculated pro-rata. Only time will tell.   

So, now to buy more panels to bog directly onto my rear hatch. [emoji12]

Can anyone recommend a good quality 40amp regulator? My Redarc 20 amp won't cut it with another 300 watts. [emoji848]


"You don't know what you don't know"

Cheers dave

[Patrol Dude]

Excellent work Dave [emoji106][emoji106][emoji106] so what a total of 600 watts [emoji6][emoji41]
Dude you could run some really run serious stuff. Big doof doof, microwave, big screen TV [emoji12]


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Patrol Dude
4.2TD

[luke]

Can anyone recommend a good quality 40amp regulator? My Redarc 20 amp won't cut it with another 300 watts. [emoji848]

Hi Dave,
  Maybe not quite what you're looking for, but I'll throw my 2 cents in along with the rest 

  Not quite the 40A you are looking for (30A) but it will handle the 600 watts (it's  actually a 500w, but will take input of up to 600 as overdrive to still get the 30a under cloud/shade)

They are a little large, but suit us due to the dual input (alternator and solar) and I prefer the programmable types to cater for any changes. (And I like to play)   We've had one in the car for 18 months ? And one in the tvan for just shy of a year. So far no issues.

Enerdrive en3dc30 - 30A DC to DC Battery Charger

http://www.enerdrive.com.au/product/dc-to-dc-battery-charger/

- Luke

[weonatvan]

Excellent work Dave [emoji106][emoji106][emoji106] so what a total of 600 watts [emoji6][emoji41]
Dude you could run some really run serious stuff. Big doof doof, microwave, big screen TV [emoji12]


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Patrol Dude
4.2TD

Thanks.

Well, as we all know theoretical is not reality. In other words, in the middle of summer we all try and score a little shade over the van mid arvo, which will obviously impede solar output and I'd like to get away from carting a mobile unit around. [emoji848]

At the BRB we were in full sun (when it shone that is) and the 220w panels on the roof plus a bit of 140w mobile sun chasing keep my 40l Engels going at full stick which never got hotter than -15c. ❄️

In saying that, the roof panels were never at the ideal angle, which also raises my next issue, which happens to be a Southern Hemisphere thing. ☀️

You see, I like to park-up with the van facing south if possible so that the kitchen sees the sun first thing in the morning and the van provides a barrier for the kitchen in the arvo/evening. [emoji274][emoji41]

So if you can see where I'm coming from with my prospective panels on the rear hatch; they will be pointing at the Southern Cross. [emoji22][emoji940]⛅️[emoji941]

[weonatvan]

Hi Dave,
  Maybe not quite what you're looking for, but I'll throw my 2 cents in along with the rest 

  Not quite the 40A you are looking for (30A) but it will handle the 600 watts (it's  actually a 500w, but will take input of up to 600 as overdrive to still get the 30a under cloud/shade)

They are a little large, but suit us due to the dual input (alternator and solar) and I prefer the programmable types to cater for any changes. (And I like to play)   We've had one in the car for 18 months ? And one in the tvan for just shy of a year. So far no issues.

Enerdrive en3dc30 - 30A DC to DC Battery Charger

http://www.enerdrive.com.au/product/dc-to-dc-battery-charger/

- Luke

Ok, thanks for that Luke. I've got a feeling that a mate in the game mentioned this brand a few years ago, but seem to also recall him also saying they're $x-ee. But I don't mind paying for quality. [emoji106]


"You don't know what you don't know"

Cheers dave

[boobook]

Might be good to get hold of Boobook and see how long his panels last.

and

I have a similar set up to Boobooks infact he guided me through setting it up. With out jinxing my panels they have lasted two winters maybe they are getting enough air under them with the velcro attached?
Cheers

After about 3 - 3.5 years ( I think?) they are still working as well as day 1 - touch wood. As Graeme mentions, they are velcro'd on. There is a small gap behind the entire panel face, and a bigger breathing gap due to the pattern in the rear hatch from Track. Also they are stored away from the sun when travelling and only exposed when the hatch is up. So their "hot" time is a fraction of that for continually exposed panels.

The reason for the velcro is that I can park under the shade and use the panels as portable panels when it's hot. That way they get 100% free air around them. Actually I bought 2 additional 100w panels I store under the bed. So the way I use the panels depends on the situation and the order of setting up camp. (Beer then set up or setup then Beer.)

Generally if I am setting up for a few days, want to camp under shade and will really need the power, I remove the panels as above and park in the shade. Maybe add the ones from under the bed if it's cloudy or there are lots of trees. I try to park facing North.

If I'm on the move, camping for a day or 2, and there are clear days, I leave the panels on, park with the car facing NE so the panels get maximum morning sun ( best time to charge when it is cool and the battery will be at it's lowest in the morning). Hopefully the batteries are nearly charged and the panels are at an angle to the sun at the hottest part of the day.

I have about 500W, and while people sometimes laugh at me, it means I have choices to collect energy without taking the system to it's limit and compromising things
- Parking in the sun
- Moving panels all the time
- expecting the maximum out of every watt capacity.

Also as a side note, I have a 20A charger. While I would obviously like more, I think 20A is not too bad. If I generate more than 20A ( about 280W) then any excess is wasted. But that doesn't happen as much as you think it would. Sure when everything is cool and the battery is low it pumps out 20A ( it gets to about 22A), but when things warm up and the battery is getting more charged and there are a few clouds around, the output of the panels drop quite a bit, even if they are in free air and 17 - 18A is more typical as a best.

The main advantage of the 500W is to allow me to still collect about 80 - 100W when it is overcast or clouds are passing over.

[Phil G]

I'm glad to hear that none of you have had a flexible panel die like mine.
It was the typical 100W semi-flexible solar panel on Ebay and cost $180 in Dec 2015.  The company no longer sell that size.  8 squares x 4 squares, had a 3mm thick plastic backing and weighed 1.6kg.  I wanted it as a mobile option (like Tony) so it could be used for both car and Tvan.  I left it mounted on the mesh Landcruiser roofrack most of the time and could easily remove it.  I recently glued a 3mm ply backing to it to stiffen it up a little for portable use.
Problem started in May on our Kimberley trip - I frequently check output on the 30A solar controller and double check with a clampmeter and DMM.  Worked fine up the Tanami and through the Bungles but thought output was down at  ElQuestro and put it down to the 36 degree heat making the panel hot (it was too hot to touch).  On to Kununurra for 5 days where it was even hotter and the panel had zero output even when they were cool.  Tested it many many times with and without the controller and there was zero coming out of the panels and the short circuit voltage was down to about 14V.  The battery voltages were running low 12's and high 11's in the heat. The connections were all perfect.  Needed to use an 7A 240V charger to keep up with the 40L engel and 30L Waeco fridges.
I did some googling and found people had panels failing when there was no air gap behind so I assumed it was my fault and ditched the panel in Kununurra.
Its still possible it was a crap panel but I couldn't be bothered sending it back to Sydney and trying for warranty.

[luke]

I'm glad to hear that none of you have had a flexible panel die like mine.

We've been lucky so far (touch wood) with our 75w poly backed panels.

We actually had the tvan standard panel omitted from the build, and glued one of them straight onto the roof. The other two were then velcroed on to the rear hatch.

In addition, I ran a second cable to an Anderson plug on the front box so that I could plug in either our portable foldup 120w panel, or the 320w panels on the vehicle (giving us up to ~550w).

The panels on the hatch were intalled allowing them to be made removable in the future if required, however after travelling for six months, we rarely even needed to plug in the extra panels (did so twice), let alone think about removing the ones on the hatch.

My system isn't as efficient as it could be either, as each panel has it's own blocking diode, resettable!e fuse, and isolation switch. The gear for the top panels is installed in the bulk head, with a separate dual pole isolator installed in the main electrical panel for the 320w external connection (which also means those leads aren't live in normal situations)

[Eelezy]

Wow you blokes I have no idea about the technical language in your posts so I am going to ask a verryyy basic question ir two about solar panels. In our set up we do not run a fridge in the tvan, so the basic panel on our mark three van will basically run the led lights and occasional pump without any issue. We are now looking at folding portable panels for keeping the second car battery charged. 4x4supercentre have 160 watt sets on sale around $230. I have also looked at the flexible folding units like the projecta units at about double the price. What are people opinions of these types of panels?http://www.projecta.com.au/Products/TravelFriendlySolarPanelKits
I also understand that i can't plug one of these units or any folding solar kit into the front anderson plug of the tvan cause it will have a separate requlator right? I guess there would be s imple way on the back of the solar panel kit to bypass the regulator so we could plug it into the tvan if really necessary, ie to run the fridge if the car battery failed?
Looking forward to your opinions.
Chris

[luke]

Hi Chris,
  Hope this helps.

I have also looked at the flexible folding units like the projecta units at about double the price. What are people opinions of these types of panels?

Horses for courses, with a bit of personal opinion thrown in.

If possible, the standard solar panels (glass with aluminium sides (like on houses)) are the go too.  They are cheap and prolific, so you've got a good chance of finding the right size, shape, and specs (VOC/ISC), even if you're on the road.  They are nice and rigid, no moving parts, pretty good efficiency, though the problem is that they can be bulky and heavy, so the other variations come in.

The thin types (both alum and poly backed) are big for marine use, as they can be curved to fit on yachts etc.  For our use, it also means they're slim enough to fit under a bed for example.

Next comes the foldup.  Again nice and versatile, and ideal as an extra or backup or to fit in a small space.  My main worry is that with all the moving bits, something will end up fatiguing and failing.  In my case, my foldup panel has an anderson plug only (no regulator) as I connect it in parallel with either my vehicle or Tvan systems.

At the end of the day, they all do the job, and are all widely used without too much drama.  So if you need something to be small and compact, go that way (and expect to pay for it), but if you don't, then why spend the money ?

(As a side note, the only reason's I replaced the standard Tvan panel is because I wanted my three main panels to match, and mine was also a little larger.)

I also understand that i can't plug one of these units or any folding solar kit into the front anderson plug of the tvan cause it will have a separate requlator right? I guess there would be s imple way on the back of the solar panel kit to bypass the regulator so we could plug it into the tvan if really necessary, ie to run the fridge if the car battery failed?

Regardless of the type of panel discussed above, they will either come with or without a regulator.  (Usually if it's a 'kit' it will have one)

With a regulator.

• should be used standalone. (i.e. don't charge a battery with two separate regulators at the same time
  (This generally also includes a running alternator or DC-DC charger)
• if the regulator's capacity is large enough, you may be able to connect other panels to it.
  (some come with a 'external connector' so you can connect two kits together)
• you can either remove or bypass the regulator to connect it to other systems

Without a regulator.

• for general use, you will need to connect it to a regulator, or connect it to an existing system
• emergency use, you may be able to go straight to the battery, however this depends on the setup, and should only be done under supervision.
  (don't just hook it up and walk away)

edit: one day I'll be able to spel good.

[weonatvan]

I try to park facing North.

If I'm on the move, camping for a day or 2, and there are clear days, I leave the panels on, park with the car facing NE so the panels get maximum morning sun ( best time to charge when it is cool and the battery will be at it's lowest in the morning).

So I can only assume that the afternoon sun belting in on the kitchen side is not an issue for you.

I like to think that (if there is a choice) my 'living' side of the van is on the best side in relation to the sun all day long, so it's the east side for me.

With the proposed panels on my hatch I may have to completely rethink my strategy. [emoji774][emoji776][emoji85][emoji86][emoji87][emoji102][emoji722][emoji30][emoji99]

I then thought I could hinge the panels at the base and use an adjustable prop at the top to tilt the panels the required amount depending on the time of year.

It could work but unfortunately they would then cast a shadow over the roof panels. [emoji849][emoji16]


"You don't know what you don't know"

Cheers dave

[boobook]

Dave I probably should that but it never seemed to bother me.

I tend to only consider the sun angles on the solar and the prevailing wind when setting up. Sometimes the view over rides everything though.

[weonatvan]

Dave I probably should that but it never seemed to bother me.

I tend to only consider the sun angles on the solar and the prevailing wind when setting up. Sometimes the view over rides everything though.

Fair nuff Tony. I may need to think like you. I get a little anal when it comes to facing the best direction, especially when houses and sheds are involved. lol