Solar Panel Advice

[kex02611]

[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]my boyfriend and me are going to install a solar panel and we have no clue at all.
So we would appreciate any advice on which solar panel in general, brand, what else we do need (controller, converter, battery, etc. …) and if we can drill into the top of our van or if we better go with a panel we can glue onto the roof ???[/font]
[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]** in general:
We will just run our fridge independently from the engine battery - and we would like to be able to charge our laptops and phones as well - but there is nothing more to charge.[/font]
[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]consumption:
FRIDGE (DC@5/32°C: 0.69 kWh/24h || Input voltage (DC): 12/24 V || Rated input current (DC): 7.8 A || Input frequency: 50/60 Hz)[/font]
[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]2 X LAPTOP (Input voltage: 100 VAC–240 VAC || Output current (continuous): 6.67 A || Rated output voltage: 19.50 VDC || Input frequency: 50 Hz–60 Hz || Input current (maximum): 1.80 A)[/font]
[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]2 X SMARTPHONE (accu capacity each 2620 mAh)[/font]
[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]** which BRAND would you recommend[/font]
[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]** what ELSE do we need (controller, converter, battery, etc)[/font]
[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]** is it better to buy a KIT OR is it better to buy everything INDIVIDUALLY[/font]
[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]** how to INSTALL (can we easily drill into the roof?? or is it better to glue it onto??)[/font]
[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]THANKS SO MUCH IN ADVANCE!![/font]

 

[jonyjoe303]

Myself I would drill holes and bolt them on. I don't trust glue to hold them on at highway speeds. When i installed mine I just drill 4 holes and bolted them on. It not a big deal, just make sure you use rv putty tape and sealant, you shouldnt have any leaks. In 5 years never had any leaks from those 4 holes I drilled, but I had leaks from some of the roof vents I installed.

But you need to make sure about what is under the roof before you drill, in some areas there are support beams, that will be in the way, some areas have wires. 

As far as panels get the largest panel that will fit on your roof, the first panel I had was 120 watts, that was very underpower (only got 6 amps out of it), now I have a larger 240 watt panel ( I get over 12 amps out of it). With the fridge and laptops, you need at least 12 amps. If you can fit a 280 watt or bigger thats what I recommend. You can sometimes find good deals on craiglist on panels, I payed 200 dollars for my 240 watt panel. 

Charge controller for a small 21 volt panel get pwm controller, for a larger 36 volt panel get mppt controller. I use the ecoworthy 20 amp mppt (cost 100 dollars) on my 240 watt panel.

All you really need is the panel/controller/wires/connectors and I highly recommend you get a 90 volt 30 amp combo meter (about 20 dollar on ebay) and connect between the controller and the battery, Its a bright LED that will tell you how much amps your panel is putting out and tells you battery voltage all the time. If you know the voltage/amps you can tell if your system is working to its maximum efficiency.

Panel on roof


90 volt 30 amp combo meter


xt60 connectors, is all I use to connect everything in my van, they can handle up to 60 amps. In this picture you see the combo meter, and the ecoworthy mppt controller is to the right. Just by looking at the voltage 14.1 volts, the controller is bulk charging and the battery is not fully charge yet (max 14.4 volts/ float would be 13.7 volts or less) and the amps of 4 amps tells me its probably cloudy or sun going down, at noon on sunny day the amps would be almost 12 amps. Combo meter tells you alot.