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13 Mar 2012 |

We are looking at using solar power for our van and are not sure what we need to use to give plenty of power.I have a 2.0I honda generator which can run the aircon with the fridge and 2 lights at once.our idea is to use solar with the same or better capasity, in some cases when we're near other people that are close by or in national parks where generators are not permitted. and use the generatorthe rest of the time, any ideas would be very much appreciated or any pitfalls to lookout for.we're just looking at something mid range in price. thanks.

Ian Hopkins, VIC

COMMENTS (3)
Comment by Unknown
posted 1 year ago
hi ian hopkins
just browsing and seen your question re solar power.
i have installed solar power in my caravan. do u need anymore comment
regards ron
Comment by Unknown
posted 1 year ago
Hi im stuck in hospital and my partner and kids have taken our 2nd hand caravan we just bought to a free camp site , it has solar power with two batteries before she left the van was plugged into 240 for the fridge to get cold then when she left turned it back to dc . last night she left the van connected to the car now with the van unplugged from the car she rang me to say she has no power now. I dont know what too tell her
Comment by Unknown
posted 1 year ago
Just a point to remember here, you can not run an A/C unit off a std battery pack that you would normally find in a caravan( 1-3 batteries).If your fridge is a 3 way one then once again you can't run it off solar & batteries when on the 12v setting. The heating element on the fridge on 12v does not run through a thermostat, therefore it NEVER switches off and draws a constant current of anything between 9 & 25 amps (depending on model). Lights are the easy part, firstly change the globes to LED if they are not already. Each LED globe on average draws 200 mAh whilst a std halogen globe draws 1 amp. Multiply the number of lights x the amps draw per light x the hours use. That is the amount of power that needs to be replenished back into the battery pack.
Hope this helps.
Andrew

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