Halfords solar panel. Im confused and scared at this wizardry??

[MarkVw2017]

So off i went to camperjam (amazing btw) and panicked when i found out, no eletric hook up would be available, what the devil was i to do, so got a Halfords solar panel last minute thingy. Link below. So i plugged it in from Friday 1pm till Sunday 3pm and leisure battery kept on going keeping phones charged and eletric cool box cool. So my query is, what is all the maths & magic going on. So is 6w enough then? It cost £39. I really wish there was a "how.mich battery charge is left in leisure battery button" in beach without sticking multimetres in 12v sockets and even then, there just numbers to me. Any advice would be gratefully received

Battery Chargers | Halfords UK

www.halfords.com

 

[motacyclist]

The leisure battery would have lasted without the aid of the 6w charger. 6w is not enough, and that is the maximum in full sunlight so most of the time it would only be producing half that, enough to power one tungsten torch bulb! See if you can get your money back and have a meal out instead

 

[MarkVw2017]

The leisure battery would have lasted without the aid of the 6w charger. 6w is not enough, and that is the maximum in full sunlight so most of the time it would only be producing half that, enough to power one tungsten torch bulb! See if you can get your money back and have a meal out instead

Haha, i thought as much. So its useless then?. What's the maths your coming up with, this is where i get puddled and confused, its states 250ah on the box? Is that not enough to help a little? How long would the leisure battery last? The beach needs an idiot proof battery check button

 

[Loz]

6w will only cover the draw from the control panel.

 

[motacyclist]

Haha, i thought as much. So its useless then?. What's the maths your coming up with, this is where i get puddled and confused, its states 250ah on the box? Is that not enough to help a little? How long would the leisure battery last? The beach needs an idiot proof battery check button

Well the phone chargers won’t use much, your leisure battery could probably keep them charged up until next Christmas.

I don’t know what your fridge uses, but there is probably a plate on it with the information. I guess it will pull about 3 amps when the motor is running, and watts = volts x amps, so that is 12 volts x 3 amps = 36 watts. Even if it’s only pulling 1 amp that would be 12 watts, and the solar charger only produces a maximum of 6 watts so it won’t keep it charged up.

 

[WelshGas]

Haha, i thought as much. So its useless then?. What's the maths your coming up with, this is where i get puddled and confused, its states 250ah on the box? Is that not enough to help a little? How long would the leisure battery last? The beach needs an idiot proof battery check button

The 250ah just means it is suitable for Batteries of upto 250 amp hours capacity. The Beach has 1x 75 ah Battery and the Ocean/SE 150 ah total.
That Halfords Panel is 6watts capacity so under perfect conditions could, theoretically, produce about 0.4 amps to push back into the Leisure Battery. That charging current would barely keep pace with the current requirements of 1 of your LED lights in the Habitation area. You really need at least 100w if not 200w Solar Panels for an Extended Off Grid stay, in a Beach.

 

[MarkVw2017]

The 250ah just means it is suitable for Batteries of upto 250 amp hours capacity. The Beach has 1x 75 ah Battery and the Ocean/SE 150 ah total.
That Halfords Panel is 6watts capacity so under perfect conditions could, theoretically, produce about 0.4 amps to push back into the Leisure Battery. That charging current would barely keep pace with the current requirements of 1 of your LED lights in the Habitation area. You really need at least 100w if not 200w Solar Panels for an Extended Off Grid stay, in a Beach.

Thank you @WelshGas and @motacyclist . Its slowly dawning in my ive been well and truly dupped by the packaging. Hint to self, dont buy items you have no understanding of in a rush. Damn you fancy packaging, random numbers and the word campervan on it.

 

[CALI FATE]

hi mark - i have a Beach with 120 watt panel on the roof - i have been testing it with a fridge plugged in full time prior to heading off for an extended off grid holiday in north spain - it works well and i would be confident without hook up for ?? weeks

 

[WelshGas]

hi mark - i have a Beach with 120 watt panel on the roof - i have been testing it with a fridge plugged in full time prior to heading off for an extended off grid holiday in north spain - it works well and i would be confident without hook up for ?? weeks

Don’t forget we have been very lucky with the weather recently. Cloud cover and roof orientation and shadows can have a significant effect as well as time of year. But yes it would allow an extended stay off grid, but I’m not sure about ?? Weeks.

 

[kp64zl]

hi mark - i have a Beach with 120 watt panel on the roof - i have been testing it with a fridge plugged in full time prior to heading off for an extended off grid holiday in north spain - it works well and i would be confident without hook up for ?? weeks

I've got similar (but 2 panels) hoping that this will give sufficient additional flexibility for off-grid trips to the north of Scotland in the winter (need to run fridge, lighting, heating). test report coming in about 6 months time.

 

[MattBW]

Solar panels behind glass also lose half their power which really hinders them, so that will probably barely even get close to the 6w, For example I have a small 20w panel from ebay that sits on my dash, idea was to put enough into the battery to offset the GPS trackers whilst not in use. Even the 20w panel once behind glass barely hits 0.1amps per hour output. Can get upto about 6w max and maybe 10w if the panel is outside.

 

[Roger Donoghue]

A cali ocean should run for around 4 days with the fridge on and batteries in good order. Less if you are charging laptops and it's hot etc.

In my testing (with proper monitoring kit), you need around 80 w of solar to stay on top , in good weather, once your batteries are depleted. 6 w is enough for phone charging.

 

[Anthony1]

hi mark - i have a Beach with 120 watt panel on the roof - i have been testing it with a fridge plugged in full time prior to heading off for an extended off grid holiday in north spain - it works well and i would be confident without hook up for ?? weeks

How is it fitted to the roof and connected to the batteries/vehicle?

And where did you buy it?

Thank you

 

[Roger Donoghue]

Hi Anthony - it might be one of ours - it bolts ot the roof and connects directly to the rear battery in an Ocean (which means both batteries) or the underseat battery in the Beach.

 

[kp64zl]

Mine is from @Roger Donoghue and is brilliant- especially as he installed it for me!!!!

 

[Anthony1]

How is it fitted to the roof and connected to the batteries/vehicle?

And where did you buy it?

Thank you

is a DIY job or a specialists job?

 

[MarkVw2017]

I was so excited buying the solar panel, especially when i saw the word 'campervan' on the box' now it looks sad and loney (and dusty) in the corner. Damn u packaging!!!!

 

[kave]

I have @Roger Donoghue panels as well, so nice not having to faff with electric cables on site .
If I have thought about this I would never have spent 770€ on the 230V option but instead get the solar panels.

 

[WelshGas]

I have @Roger Donoghue panels as well, so nice not having to faff with electric cables on site .
If I have thought about this I would never have spent 770€ on the 230V option but instead get the solar panels.

They don’t work so well during the winter months. Really depends if you are a seasonal or all-year round camper.

 

[Roger Donoghue]

is a DIY job or a specialists job?

A very easy DIY fit - the kit is designed that way.

R