solar query

[scottatsea]

I finally got away for our maiden trip in our new dove outback after three months,camped on the beach at inskip.I had a 12v compressor fridge and radio and leds running off the 100ah battery in the camper with a 120w solar panel on the roof.Kept checking the solar input current on the 30a regulator and it was always around 0.9-1.9a which i thought was low.We had good sun between 8 and 3 oclock each day.On the 8th night the fridge went out on low voltage,thought it would last longer than that.Is this normal or should i get it checked out to try and get better service from the solar and battery,thanks in advance.

                         cheers Scott

[edz]

G,Day Scott .
No expert on solar, but given the low imputs I'd say to get 8 days out of the battery you did pretty well, on a heavy duty 700 cca truck / farm battery with a 40 W panel I get nearly 3 days with a 5o ltr Waeco running day / night  and no lights .. The low imputs sound like  they might be due to partial shading under the trees, depending where you camped at Inskip, also got to remember the panel laying flat on the roof doesnt get full sun all day..
Heres a good read on power set ups that might interest you http://www.pandanusparkinc.com/Solar%20Panels%20Guide.html

[HKB Electronics]

Somethings not right, if you were only putting in on average 1.5Ax7=10.5Ah then one
would not expect the battery to last 8 days. Assuming ie guessing around 48Ah use
by the fridge a day you would expect the fridge to stop after about three days, it would seem
there is a problem with the way your measuring the output from the panels.

Cheers
Leigh

[Green rv]

Hi,
Hbk could probably answer this but .9-1.9amp sounds like the amps left over while the fridge is running
hence lasting 8 days
did you check the output with the fridge/lights ect turned off

not sure
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[muzza01]

May I suggest you get one of these watt,volt, amp gauges. They are less than $20 and will tell you what is going in to your battery. I have this on my solar panel setup. I have a 240watt panel and 200 amps of power.


http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Digital-LCD-Watt-Meter-Battery-Balance-60V100A-DC-RC-Volt-Ammeter-Amp-Analyzer-/321507941717?pt=AU_B_I_Electrical_Test_Equipment&hash=item4adb5ddd55&_uhb=1

[scottatsea]

G,Day Scott .
No expert on solar, but given the low imputs I'd say to get 8 days out of the battery you did pretty well, on a heavy duty 700 cca truck / farm battery with a 40 W panel I get nearly 3 days with a 5o ltr Waeco running day / night  and no lights .. The low imputs sound like  they might be due to partial shading under the trees, depending where you camped at Inskip, also got to remember the panel laying flat on the roof doesnt get full sun all day..
Heres a good read on power set ups that might interest you http://www.pandanusparkinc.com/Solar%20Panels%20Guide.html

thanks for the link edz,that is a great read,cheers scott

Somethings not right, if you were only putting in on average 1.5Ax7=10.5Ah then one
would not expect the battery to last 8 days. Assuming ie guessing around 48Ah use
by the fridge a day you would expect the fridge to stop after about three days, it would seem
there is a problem with the way your measuring the output from the panels.

Cheers
Leigh
thanks Leigh,i was reading off the regulator in the camper,i have purchased a watt meter to get a more accurate reading,cheers scott

May I suggest you get one of these watt,volt, amp gauges. They are less than $20 and will tell you what is going in to your battery. I have this on my solar panel setup. I have a 240watt panel and 200 amps of power.


http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Digital-LCD-Watt-Meter-Battery-Balance-60V100A-DC-RC-Volt-Ammeter-Amp-Analyzer-/321507941717?pt=AU_B_I_Electrical_Test_Equipment&hash=item4adb5ddd55&_uhb=1


thanks muzza,i have one on the way,cheers scott

[Oldandslow]

May I suggest you get one of these watt,volt, amp gauges. They are less than $20 and will tell you what is going in to your battery. I have this on my solar panel setup. I have a 240watt panel and 200 amps of power.


http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Digital-LCD-Watt-Meter-Battery-Balance-60V100A-DC-RC-Volt-Ammeter-Amp-Analyzer-/321507941717?pt=AU_B_I_Electrical_Test_Equipment&hash=item4adb5ddd55&_uhb=1

Just a quick question Muzza about that meter. It has a load and a source side, if it is connected to the solar panel cable what is the load and what is the source? Normally the source would be the battery but with the power coming from the panels would that make them the source? Not too electrically savy and don't want to wire it up the wrong way. Cheers.

[oldmate]

nup thats it, the source is the panels and the load is the battery.

[Oldandslow]

Thanks Oldmate, I probably would have wired it the other way.

[muzza01]

nup thats it, the source is the panels and the load is the battery.

Yep