Solar panel reviews?

[deedee80]

ok so i have been looking at these stumbled on the by accident, as im a bit of a tech phob and bongo virgin i would not know where to start or if they are any good to begin with? the inside of my bongo is not converted as i have a awning and enjoy the tent part of camping, so in a long winded approach to getting to the question, is this any good or sould i just use my hook up?

[g8dhe]

You might find this site helpful http://www.solarcampersolutions.co.uk/i ... -no-parent

[deedee80]

thank you xxxxx

[ELZE]

well not sure about Bongo panels? but I have one for the boat. It's only about 300mm x 600mm. it charges the leisure batteries x 2 on a trickle charge when I am moored up. works a treat.

[briwy]

pm Dodgey on here, he does a bolt on kit, do a search, plenty of info.
Basically they work well provided you get a decent sized one.

[Dodgey]

With a lot of testing I have found that 80watts is enough to cope with a compressor fridge and general day to day use in good sun. I now provide 100watt panels in my kits to give a bit of spare capacity and to allow for our unpredictable weather.

As long as it is not constantly grey and overcast, and you have a leisure battery in good health, 100w of solar power will totally remove the need for a hookup.

There are of course a couple of caveats. You won't be running a heater with solar. Anything that uses LOTS of electricity will catch you out. Things like heaters, kettles, hair straighteners etc etc. The latter can be run through an inverter, as they are not on for long, but not a heater.

All the usual stuff like radio, phone / tablet chargers, lights etc are very low current and will run quite happily without overtaking the solar.

[bongojoe]

Bought one of Dodgey's 100w kits a couple of months ago. Just back from an eight day Bongo adventure with no hookups and leisure battery still fully charged. Longest period without the engine running was four full days. With clear skies it was constantly putting out 4A or more, with overcast skies and the sun on the wrong side of the van, probably 1-1.5A.

We kept the fridge running around the clock (turned up to max., I like coooold beer!), charged two iPhones at least once every 24 hours, charged a camera battery (with mains charger via inverter), LED lights on for at least a couple of hours each evening, disco lights on while the wee one went to sleep, stereo on for an hour or two evening and morning.

In short, it's great. With a bit of care and enough hours of daylight, I think you could be self-sufficient indefinitely.

[cavey]

I've just bought one of these kits. Seems the perfect size. Will let you know how I get on when it's fitted......

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290934526150? ... 1439.l2649

[cavey]

I've just bought one of these kits. Seems the perfect size. Will let you know how I get on when it's fitted......

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290934526150? ... 1439.l2649

Well I fitted it this evening in less than two hours. It fits really well with the supplied brackets. Perfect dimensions between the roof rack mounts. I didn't use the supplied entry gland (which would have meant drilling the roof) but just went through the same grommet as the AFT cables at the rear offside under the roof. The supplied cable was just about long enough.

Yet to see how it performs as it was dark when I finished but before plumbing into the charge controller, I was getting 3v off it at dusk!

I used the load output from the charge controller to supply the removable kitchen unit, while the rest of the interior lights and cig sockets come straight from the battery. The theory here is that the controller cuts the load output at 11 ish volts so if the fridge drains the battery that low, it'll turn off meaning we still get lighting. The proof will be in the camping, hopefully this weekend

Cheers, Dave.

[cavey]

I've just bought one of these kits. Seems the perfect size. Will let you know how I get on when it's fitted......

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290934526150? ... 1439.l2649

Well I fitted it this evening in less than two hours. It fits really well with the supplied brackets. Perfect dimensions between the roof rack mounts. I didn't use the supplied entry gland (which would have meant drilling the roof) but just went through the same grommet as the AFT cables at the rear offside under the roof. The supplied cable was just about long enough.

Yet to see how it performs as it was dark when I finished but before plumbing into the charge controller, I was getting 3v off it at dusk!

I used the load output from the charge controller to supply the removable kitchen unit, while the rest of the interior lights and cig sockets come straight from the battery. The theory here is that the controller cuts the load output at 11 ish volts so if the fridge drains the battery that low, it'll turn off meaning we still get lighting. The proof will be in the camping, hopefully this weekend

Cheers, Dave.

Well, just had three nights at Eweleaze and the panel worked great. The fridge (electric coolbox actually, @ 4-5 Amps) stayed on all day and switched off when the voltage dropped, which left plenty of juice for the lighting over night. The only mod I will make is to wire the water pump for the sink from the non-switched supply as this cuts out with the fridge, doh!

Conclusion - I recommend this panel kit. It's a bargain IMO.

Cheers,

Dave

[cookan]

I saw a guy in France the other week with a couple of wafer thin panels stuck to his VW roof..very cool indeed...he said they provided all the power he needed (in france at least) and clearly didn't raise the roof height. He went for this option as he couldn't fit his VW in the garage otherwise..plus they molded to the contours of the roof. The make was Buttner (german)..the only drawback being it cost him close to EUR 1000 !!

http://www.autotec.ie/Buttner_Products/Buttner%20..pdf


Ant.

[Bob]

Depends if you're looking to charge a big leisure battery and run lots of stuff off it, or just keep Bongy's battery topped up after running interior light, charging phone etc.

A small £15 panel will do the latter, much more needed for running a fridge, but you can run a gas fridge in the awning.

[Dodgey]

Indeed. Minor charging of interior lights and phone charging makes such a little impact that it's even questionable if you need any charging at all (as long as you have a leisure battery) unless you plan to go away for over 2 weeks with no power. But once you factor in music, TV, and particularly, a fridge, you need power. 80 Watts minimum for a compressor fridge.

I love the fact I run my fridge 24/7 and watch tv etc and camp wherever it suits me at the time. I've never used my hooked up.

This is my Bongo at a 5 star hotel car park at the Dartmouth Regatta last week - it's impossible to park in the harbour and my Mother was staying at the hotel so me and my GF slept in the car park - we moved it from outside the front door of the hotel when a space became free. I keep the roof down in these circumstances



Now I could get away with being parked up for 2 ish days with the fridge on etc on the leisure battery but I was there for 3 days and it's nice to see each morning that the battery is back over 12.6 volts by 9am ish . (I have flat panels on my roof hence you can hardly see them)