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Eyeball
Member Since: 14 Jun 2011
Location: Essex
Posts: 81
  
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| Wind Turbine v's Solar Panels |
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Would like to have a system for topping up the battery. Given our weather the Turbine looks the obvious choice, however noise/vibration concerns me and moves me in the Solar panel direction. Anyone with experience they could share? D3 HSE 06 with all the bells and whistles 
New engine at 80k!
Intelligent FBH
Pulling Sterling Continental 630
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 2nd Jul 2013 8:44 pm |
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stephenw46
Member Since: 22 Jun 2011
Location: West Midlands
Posts: 1218
 
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Last year I sorted my friends boat out solar panels led lights every thing was fine but inthe winter engine needed to be run for three hours a week , unknowing to me he got a wind turbine his boat is now a burnt out wreck , make ur choice, hope I helps
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| 2nd Jul 2013 8:53 pm |
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Pelyma
Member Since: 06 Jan 2005
Location: Patching, Sussex
Posts: 15496
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I've been involved with a 6kw 15m wind turbine made by Proven. It has now been taken down and the pilot scheme cancelled. The maintenance costs are quite high and the yields low. It was right on the coast and should have plenty of wind. My impression of the turbines are that they are fine in remote areas, they are better set up to charge batteries rather than feed into the grid as too much power is lost due to the frequency of the electricity being wrong, I understand this isn't the case with the battery ones.
All in all it was an interesting project, we would have loved it to work but it just was not viable. DS3 TDV6 HSE - Silver with Alpaca (old one) Gone
DS3 TDV6 HSE- Silver with Alpaca (new one) Gone
D4 HSE Lux - Montalcino Red Gone
Porsche Cayenne V8 Diesel S
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| 2nd Jul 2013 9:24 pm |
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TB2
Member Since: 23 Dec 2012
Location: SE England
Posts: 26
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I cannot speak from personal experience, only pass on my own research and the views of fellow caravanners whom I know.
In my opinion, the solar panel would take precedence over a wind turbine.
Solar panels nowadays are much larger in wattage than they used to be and, as such, require less sunlight to maintain your battery charge level, subject to usage.
Security aspects aside, I would be happier using a ground based panel(s) that you could rotate during the day to maximise daytime sun hours ~ as opposed to a roof-mounted panel that, according to some reports, limit the daytime capture hours available to you.
Wind turbines often depend on a (don't laugh) certain type of wind. Neither too weak nor too strong and uninterrupted ie not dispersed by nearby trees, hedges, caravans etc. Again, in my humble opinion, I consider them far more suitable for fitting to seacraft than caravans/motorhomes.
We are looking at purchasing a folding solar panel in the region of 160w for our tourer. Hopefully that will provide more than enough charging capability for the amount of electricity we tend to use (a 110amp battery has lasted us 5 days without EHU, but we were quite frugal in power use and adhered to strict daily guidelines re lights/radio on etc. that was for two adults and two young children). Now that the 'young' children are not so 'young', and the temptation to take laptops for wi-fi access and Dvd play-back, 12v television as well as mobile telephone charging etc, I am sure that we will benefit from 'oversizing' on the panel in the first instance.
Tb2
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| 2nd Jul 2013 9:30 pm |
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petet
Member Since: 02 Dec 2007
Location: nottingham
Posts: 35
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Bought a 120W solar panel summer last year for those occasions when no electric hook up. Checked output in various conditions and although it would charge in daylight no matter what, understandably only when facing a bright shining sun did anywhere near the rated output arise. 12V charging current could drop as low as a couple of hundred milliamp in daylight and not seen more than about 6 amp in bright sunshine. When set up and turned to point at the sun all day, it did a very good job of charging the battery, but when left for a day in a 'nominal' position, the result was a bit more marginal with an evening of lighting/pump etc taking more out than we had put in. So overall found it useful, it does work, it doesn't make any noise to disturb the neighbours/countryside and it is not a lot of hassle. When using it, I keep a careful eye on the volts as a guide to battery state.
Pete
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| 2nd Jul 2013 10:19 pm |
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mr jones
Member Since: 26 May 2010
Location: manchester
Posts: 68
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I do a lot of very short journeys all year and although had no battery problems I guessed it was only a matter of time(original battery 5yrs old).
I bought a 50watt Bosch panel to fit semi - permanently on the roof with a controller inside mounted on the osr panel and wired into a c-tek socket. So far it seems to be working superbly maintaining voltage at 12.7 ish (used to be 12.2) even on days without much sun. I don't expect much later on in the year but I will monitor and report back if useful to anyone. I can always switch back to my c-tek as a back up.
The only addition I may make would be to make the panel able to be tilted/angled accordingly as long as I can make something smart and neat.
Cheers
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| 3rd Jul 2013 6:55 am |
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maplecottage
Member Since: 01 Feb 2011
Location: Norfolk
Posts: 3171
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Solar panel would be my recommendation.
If you get a wind turbine, please make sure you don't pitch up next to me 
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| 3rd Jul 2013 7:52 am |
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n1cktdv6
Member Since: 20 Mar 2007
Location: Warrington
Posts: 1161
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Neither.
For the money you invest in a solar panel or wind turbine you could happily get a decent 16A digital battery charger, kit the caravan with LED bulbs and have change for a beer...I have been through the scenario and bought a 80A solar panel but to be honest a 2nd battery, LED's and decent charger was the best route I thought.
 D4 HSE....Probably, but not quite decided yet.
3.6 TDV8 Vogue
XC90 SE Lux
A8 Quattro TDi
D3 SE
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| 3rd Jul 2013 11:56 am |
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DaveS
Member Since: 15 Aug 2009
Location: Weybridge
Posts: 241
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It depends where you want to go as a charger will not be much use if you spend a long time without access to mains electricity.
I have a solar panel and this seems to be able to keep the battery topped up very well. I have not bothered to change to LED lights but we do not usually watch television so our consumption is quite low. The panel permanently fixed on my caravan roof so I do not need to set anything up - it just works.
If you have a wind generator then you would need to set it up each time you stop. Personally we prefer sheltered locations out of the wind so it would not work well for us.
With regard to the fire risk mentioned earlier, wind generators are widely used on boats and are not known for causing fires.
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| 3rd Jul 2013 3:56 pm |
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Somerset Jem
Member Since: 07 Jul 2011
Location: Somerset
Posts: 435
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I've just got back from Glastonbury and when we have been before we've usually run out of battery by Saturday. This time I bought a 12 Watt solar panel from Maplins and it kept the battery topped up nicely each day, allowing us to charge 5 phones, use the pump for showers and taps and have a few lights on when we got back in the early hours. The battery never dropped below 3/4 charged over the 5 days which I was pretty pleased with. As a first trial I just laid it on the roof and croc clipped it to the battery but it has got mountings for permanent fixings which I might do before next year........if we get tickets! 
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| 3rd Jul 2013 8:07 pm |
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mal_NW
Member Since: 04 Mar 2008
Location: Garstang, Lancs
Posts: 937
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I put 2x100W BOSCH panels on my caravan, mainly for use without electric hook up as I wanted to go to Glasto but couldn't get tickets. 
Through the winter it kept my battery in good condition to power the camera/trackers on it.
I read up quite a bit and 200W is the minimum I'd go for and a second battery if you want to run TV etc (I have one 250ahr one)
It cost me around £450 to fit them myself and changed all my lamps for LED at around £3 each.
200W will give you maximum 140amps per day in summer and a lot less in winter.
Good read: http://www.fifthwheelownersclub.com/Forum/...4&t=65
To calculate roughly what size panel divide your battery AH capacity by how many days your battery lasts until it reaches just below 12v from full. eg, 110ah divided by 2 days until flat = 55 amps. For this example you will need a kit that will generate above 55ah per day Also a member of avforums.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmjr/
Ex disco 3 owner - http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic87659.html
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| 5th Jul 2013 4:29 pm |
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