FITTED SOLAR FOR MOTORHOMES & CAMPERVANS PHONE 0191 6452345 OR WHATSAPP 07479351951
What is the best solar panel kit for my camper or motorhome
Choose the best off grid solar panel and solar kit to fit your budget, your requirements and your lifestyle.
The three main components of all modern solar systems
Solar Panels
Leisure Batteries
Solar Chargers
- A larger, high wattage solar panel will convert more daylight into electricity at a much faster rate and will quickly charge a leisure battery.
- Solar Panel Sizes . Our PV solar panels range from 50 watts up to 545 watts as a single solar panel (Solar panels can also be connected in parallel and in series to increase the voltage, amps and
- A larger, high wattage solar panel will convert more daylight into electricity at a much faster rate and will quickly charge a leisure battery.
- Solar Panel Sizes . Our PV solar panels range from 50 watts up to 545 watts as a single solar panel (Solar panels can also be connected in parallel and in series to increase the voltage, amps and watts output by many times). The DC electrical energy generated from the PV solar panel is sent to the solar controller, which regulates the voltage and charging speed to the leisure battery or solar energy storage battery.
- Solar Panel Types. The two most common types of PV solar panel are Monocrystalline (MONO) where the silicon is made from a pure seed crystal where the resulting wafer is considered to be a very efficient semiconductor. Polycrystalline (POLY) created using a more 'industrial' process where the silicon is made in bulk. It's slightly less efficient than a mono solar panel and needs slightly more surface area to produce the same amount of electricity as a mono panel.
- Busbars (BB) are the silver strips running over the solar panel cells to carry the energy generated from the cells to the storage battery.
- Solar Panel Efficiency. As solar panels grew in power, the two busbars (2BB) on older style panels were found to create an inefficient shadow on their own cells and tended to overheat and cause uneven, inefficient solar power generation and poor battery charging. Thinner 'multiple busbar' solar panels were developed for larger solar panels which helped to spread the generated heat evenly over the whole solar panel. More modern PV solar panels have multiple (4BB to 12BB) thin silver 'guitar string' busbars' reduce busbar shading and can carry more of the energy through a cooler running PV solar panel making them much more efficient.
- Half Cell Technology. Most modern PV solar panels use 'half cut' or 'half cell' technology. The silicone wafers are halved to help with panel cooling and energy delivery and the solar panel wired completely differently to aid solar panel shading inefficiencies.
- The higher watts output your solar panel produces, the faster your leisure or energy storage battery will be re-charged.
Solar Chargers
Leisure Batteries
Solar Chargers
- The solar Charge Controller regulates and converts the high voltage electricity from the solar panel into low voltage electricity to charge the leisure battery.
- Charge Controllers are connected between the solar panel and leisure battery. They regulate the flow of high voltage electricity (Usually around 18 to 55 volts on a leisure vehicl
- The solar Charge Controller regulates and converts the high voltage electricity from the solar panel into low voltage electricity to charge the leisure battery.
- Charge Controllers are connected between the solar panel and leisure battery. They regulate the flow of high voltage electricity (Usually around 18 to 55 volts on a leisure vehicle) from the PV solar panel. The Charge Controller can be set to charge and maintain one or more leisure batteries at 13.3 to 14.8 volts (for a 12 volt system), settings depend on the leisure battery type and the manufacturers recommended settings.
- There are two main types of solar charge controller.
- PWM Solar Charge Controllers. The first type is the reliable and well proven PWM (Pulse width modulation) solar charge controller. Great for use with wet lead acid, sealed lead acid, AGM and GEL batteries. PWM controllers aren't suitable for charging Lithium batteries because the internal Lithium battery BMS (Battery management system) doesn't work efficiently with the fast pulsing effect the PWM charger produces on bright light days. In bright light, PWM charge controllers work at around 75 to 80% efficiency. They regulate the incoming volts from the solar panel and pulse charge your energy storage and leisure battery. On bright light days, the surplus, excess voltage produced by the solar panel isn't used and is held on standby until the battery requires it.
- MPPT Solar Charge Controllers. The second type is the newer, more efficient MPPT (Maximum power point tracking) solar charge controller. The MPPT is usually much larger and heavier than the PWM. It's suitable for use with all battery types including wet and sealed lead acid, AGM, GEL, Lithium Ion, Lithium LiFePO4 battery charging and many other lithium battery flavours . On low light days an MPPT controller will work much the same as a PWM controller. On bright light days MPPT solar controllers work at around 90 to 95% efficiency. MPPT solar charge controllers work by converting the surplus, excess voltage produced by the solar panel into higher amps and allow energy storage and leisure batteries to charge much faster.
- The more efficient the solar charge controller, the faster your leisure battery will be charged.
Leisure Batteries
Leisure Batteries
Leisure Batteries
- The leisure battery stores the electrical energy your solar panel has produced.
- Lead Acid Batteries The most common, reliable, well proven and most readily available leisure battery is the 'deep discharge' sealed lead acid battery, which is a family of the lead acid Gel battery and the AGM (Absorbed glass mat) lead acid battery. If looked
- The leisure battery stores the electrical energy your solar panel has produced.
- Lead Acid Batteries The most common, reliable, well proven and most readily available leisure battery is the 'deep discharge' sealed lead acid battery, which is a family of the lead acid Gel battery and the AGM (Absorbed glass mat) lead acid battery. If looked after, lead acid batteries can last many years and can easily be disposed of and recycled when they are past their best.
- Lithium LiFePo4 leisure batteries The latest 'second generation' longer life, and much safer Lithium LiFePo4 batteries (Lithium Iron Phosphate) are becoming very popular in campervans and motorhomes. Lithium Lifepo4 batteries are usually just over half the weight of an equivalent sealed lead acid leisure battery meaning you can store more useable energy in a lighter package (especially if you're nearing your gross vehicle weight).
- Lithium LiFePo4 batteries can be safely and quickly re-charged at a much faster rate of up to 80 amps per hour (*depending on the Li battery BMS charge rate). Lead acid, gel and AGM batteries have maximum charge input of only 25% of the battery amp hour rating, so will charge at a slower rate.
- LiFePo4 lithium leisure batteries can also be left partly charged without damaging them and can also be recharged many thousands of times. If treated well, LifeP04 Lithium batteries can outperform and outlive traditional lead acid batteries by many years.