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Home > Camping, Caravanning and Holidays > Fitting solar panels to my caravan
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James975



Member Since: 06 Oct 2019
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 35

Scotland 2014 Freelander 2 TD4 GS Manual Barolo Black
Fitting solar panels to my caravan

Hi I have a caravan that has no battery
I would like to fit a battery and solar panels
Any advice would be welcome
Cheers James

Post #408677 4th Jun 2021 6:53 pm
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Bobupndown



Member Since: 26 Dec 2014
Location: Upside down behind the TV!
Posts: 2622

United Kingdom 2014 Freelander 2 SD4 GS Auto Orkney Grey

Give us more details, is it a really old van with no 12v system or a modern van that just doesn't have a battery fitted? Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)

Post #408681 4th Jun 2021 7:16 pm
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James975



Member Since: 06 Oct 2019
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 35

Scotland 2014 Freelander 2 TD4 GS Manual Barolo Black

Its a t@b van German 2013
It's got a dometic 240 to 12v inverter
No battery fitted
I have a leisure battery from my old van
I've been looking at kits on eBay and amazon
I'm wanting to run the 12v sockets lights and water pump off the battery because I know they are 12v

Post #408682 4th Jun 2021 7:33 pm
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Wonderdust



Member Since: 23 Mar 2020
Location: Bucks
Posts: 136

United Kingdom 2013 Freelander 2 SD4 HSE Lux Auto Santorini Black

Have you tried searching other sites, here is one example

www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/helpan...lar-power/

Plenty of others about, lots of narrowboats use solar these days as well, might be worth searching at www.canalworld.net

Post #408684 4th Jun 2021 8:30 pm
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Lightwater



Member Since: 21 Aug 2014
Location: Sydney Northern Beaches
Posts: 4704

Ukraine 2013 Freelander 2 2.0T SE Auto Fuji White

I don't have a caravan, but have Victron MPPT 100/20 controller & two DC-DC chargers & gel batteries in the car.

If you are on the move every few days you could just have the car charge up the batteries. A DC- DC charger next to the battery will keep the voltage up.

If staying put longer then get solar. To get the morning sun as early as possible. Put 2 panels in series using a MPPT controller. Don't buy a cheap MPPT as they are often not an MPPT. You need to be able to put 2 to 3 panels in series.

Draw up a diagram of the caravan roof so you can place panels away from things that could cast a shadow in the morning. A tiny shadow & you end up with no power.

Do not skimp on wiring. The wiring is the hardest thing to do, so do it right the first time. Oversize wiring between key things. When calculating wire resistance it is the total length of + & - so if you have 6 metres between panels & controller, it is actually 12 metres.

Calculate solar at 150 watts per square metre, & this is for when the sun is directly overhead. You can sketch the morning sun on a piece of paper & see that you will only get a small percentage due to the angle. So you will need to oversize the panels.




Inclement weather further reduces solar input. The best charger is your car's engine, with good wiring & a large DD-DC (40amps) charger & wiring directly from the car's battery.

Get proper solar panel pads, there are a lot of rubbish ones out there which pretend to be the right plastic but do not stick properly. Use Sikaflex to bond them down. Do not use a solar panels that have plastic corners.

Draw up the layout of everything before you buy anything.



This is 7.8amps into my controller with 6 x 20 watt panels in parallel. I normally run 2 in series x 3 sets.

Click image to enlarge


Some Bluetooth info from my Victron controller. I have Projecta 20 watt panels. (I normally have around 122 to 127 watts, but this was an experiment with water cooling to squeeze every last watt out of the panels)
Click image to enlarge


Our 3 month 2019 trip didn't use the panels once as the longest we stayed put was 4 days. In theory we have 7 days with 104Ah as our fridge is extremely efficient after modifications.
Click image to enlarge


If you want to run air conditioning & induction cooking! (21 panels, so this would be 3 panels in series x 7 sets in parallel. Probably 1.68kW)


This may help with wiring up components.
https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/docum...ted-EN.pdf Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

Acoustic insulation ARB TPMS 3xARB air compressors After cooler Air tank On-board OCD pressure air/water cleaning Additional 50L fuel Carpet in doors ABE 2x1kg Waeco 28L modified fridge Battery 4x26ah Solar 120w Victron MPPT 100/20 DC-DC 18amps 175amp jumper plug Awning 6x255/60R18

Post #408689 4th Jun 2021 9:43 pm
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James975



Member Since: 06 Oct 2019
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 35

Scotland 2014 Freelander 2 TD4 GS Manual Barolo Black

Thank for your input
Cheers James

Post #408886 10th Jun 2021 10:08 am
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Lightwater



Member Since: 21 Aug 2014
Location: Sydney Northern Beaches
Posts: 4704

Ukraine 2013 Freelander 2 2.0T SE Auto Fuji White

I sent a PM. Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

Acoustic insulation ARB TPMS 3xARB air compressors After cooler Air tank On-board OCD pressure air/water cleaning Additional 50L fuel Carpet in doors ABE 2x1kg Waeco 28L modified fridge Battery 4x26ah Solar 120w Victron MPPT 100/20 DC-DC 18amps 175amp jumper plug Awning 6x255/60R18

Post #408891 10th Jun 2021 11:58 am
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Simon J



Member Since: 27 Jul 2019
Location: Norn Iron
Posts: 695

2008 Freelander 2 TD4 XS Auto Rimini Red

I fitted a solar panel to my trailer last year and got the bits from Photonic Universe ( www.photonicuniverse.com ) whom I found to be very helpful. It’s just a simple setup of a 20W panel connected to a basic PWM controller, so nowhere near as hardcore as the setup Lightwater has. However, for topping up the 22Ah AGM battery that powers my winch it's perfectly adequate. With a bigger leisure battery 20W probably wouldn’t be sufficient but doubling or perhaps trebling the solar panel wattage might be sufficient.

Post #409392 24th Jun 2021 8:40 pm
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