Solar

[Bookend]

The next upgrade for us is going to be 200w of solar panels on the roof.

There are loads on eBay but is there anything to avoid or any particular thing to look for.

I'm wanting to get set up so we won't need hook up again.

After solar it will be a Gasit system and I think we will be about there

[zildjian]

buy as lightweight and flexible as you can, I'll post you some blanket-strength double sided tape to fit it with,
I've used it for maybe five years to hold a couple of panels (big proper ones) on my roof without drama

[lamp-it]

200W sounds a healthy amount, would that be into a single battery or would you look at doubling up on capacity?

[Bookend]

An additional battery would be fitted at the same time

[Bookend]

buy as lightweight and flexible as you can, I'll post you some blanket-strength double sided tape to fit it with,
I've used it for maybe five years to hold a couple of panels (big proper ones) on my roof without drama

Thanks Zildjian that would be great

[sabconsulting]

Consider getting a "max power point tracker" (MPPT) controller - they make the best use of the power coming from the panels at any time - better than PWM controllers, though more expensive. Or you could do what we did - get a cheapo Chinese PWM controller first to prove the concept, then once happy buy a MPPT.

Make sure you get good thick cables to run from the panels to the controller, and fit the controller close to the battery. I.e. don't just go with a cable rated to carry 20 amps - you want a much thicker cable to avoid voltage drop and subsequent power loss through the cable run. Plus keep that cable run as short as possible.

Here is what I did on my camper:

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fusea ... 777668.cfm

Steve.

[cthodgson]

I used bimblesolar and there kits seem to be the best value on the market using high grade panels. Loads of good advise from them too and really fast to respond by email.

Where is everyone fitting there second battery? I can't seem to work it out where to put one on the Skarosser EC6L

[zildjian]

Without a little DIY on the battery/water box you won't be able too, (with) you can,

I had to build a new front and top lid, move the front right up to the floor radiators to make room to slide two batteries in lengthways, you also need to just move the water pump thats screwed to bulkhead slightly but there's lot of slack in system.
difficulty level 5/10

there's a picture I'll find it

[zildjian]

In fact I'd forgotten to add I shortened the step at same time as there are only ever two of us sitting there and it created a bit more headroom, but you can see two batteries will (just) slot in & out now as I made the front panel a sliding panel downwards for ease of changing batteries.



even with the one battery I had to disassemble a seat to get it out every time

So the batt's are close together to minimise current loss

[cthodgson]

That's interesting Zildjian, I'd never thought of that... I was looking at moving them to the hole that the freezer addition left as we've never been able to decide what to put there, having the weight central is a bonus. I need room for a safe so that could go into our freezer hole as it's now affectionately referred to...

What size batteries have you managed to squeeze in?