Projecta 120W folding solar panel SPP120K

[PhilandKaren]

Hi there. As a caravan "newbie" in the prep stage of going on our first voyage we're trying to get our head around what we're going to need powerwise for intermittent free camping (2 or 3 days a week). We have a new Paramount Commander van with a 120W fixed solar panel and a single van batttery. We're thinking of getting a second van battery plus a portable solar panel. The panel we are looking at is the Projecta 120W folding solar panel model SPP120K. Does anyone have:
a) some general advice on whether we're on the right track?
b) any experience with the Projecta unit we're looking at?

Thanks. Phil

[PeterD]

Projecta equipment is generally OK so their equipment would be OK to purchase.

Phil, a few questions to assist us, do you have a compressor fridge? If not then you probably do not need more battery. In fact if you double your battery size I suggest you double your on board solar capacity. What is the battery controller in the van?

You did not provide a link for your intended purchase. Does it have an inbuilt controller and what type if it has. I would suggest scrapping of the controller on any portable panel and feeding the panel into the controller in your van (if it's not an MPPT type.) The controllers on portable panels are generally an el-cheapo type that only have a fixed out put voltage.

There is nothing special about portable panels. They are just regular panels hinged together with a cheap controller and often the power leads are too light for the job. Have you considered purchasing a couple of similar panels and hinging them together. Purchase some heavier cable than you would get with the portable panels. Add a pair of connectors that you can connect the panels to the van and the regulator already in there?

[PhilandKaren]

Hi Peter. Thanks for your reply; really appreciate your thoughts. The link to the actual solar panel we're looking at is:

http://www.anacondastores.com/camping-h ... solarpanel

If the link doesn't work just Google: Projecta 120W folding solar panel SPP120K Anaconda. It's on a half price special for $299 at Anaconda till the 25th of this month and as such seems like great value as I've found them online for up to $799 elsewhere. It's the latest model with the black frame and 3 stage controller as well as having the monocrystalline solar cells. I actually rang Projecta Tech Dept in Victoria this morning to verify that it isn't old stock and they confirmed it is their latest model and said it was a really good price.

The main reason that we want a portable panel is that we would probably want to park the van in the shade in really hot conditions and the portable panel would give us that flexibility. I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to 12V electrics and at present wouldn't have the confidence to patch together individual panels with new leads etc.
Re the solar controllers my limited understanding is that once the portable panel is connected to the van battery the vans solar controller will take over. Is that correct?
When you mention connecting the panels to the van with a pair of connectors do you mean with an Anderson Plug?

Re the van setup::
1) the frig is a Thetford 184 litre 3 way
2) there is a ProStar - 30 Solar Charge Controller and an Electro Parts Battery Protector BP-400/500/600
3) I'm not sure of the battery specs

Trust that's enough info to complete the picture. Thanks again for your inrterest.

Cheers

Phil

[PeterD]

The link to the actual solar panel we're looking at is:
http://www.anacondastores.com/camping-h ... solarpanel

. snip .
Re the solar controllers my limited understanding is that once the portable panel is connected to the van battery the vans solar controller will take over. Is that correct?

They are vague about their "Deluxe 3 Stage Solar controller" in that they don't give a model number or specifications. You can parallel connect a number of chargers or controllers. When your battery is fairly flat they will all contribute the battery charging because the terminal voltage of the batteries will be lower. As the battery terminal voltage rises with the charging you will get to a point where the output of one or more of the chargers commences to taper off its charging current. From what you said previously it appears that the external panels regulator has the higher absorption set voltage. If so the in van controller will be the first to switch to float voltage and the external controller will finish off the charging. To answer your question directly, with both panels are connected neither will take over when the battery charge is low, when the battery is coming up to full charge the controller with the higher set voltage will take over and finish the job off.

When you mention connecting the panels to the van with a pair of connectors do you mean with an Anderson Plug?

I mean any suitable plug/socket set up. Anderson connectors are just one of the suitable types but you can use any other suitable type if you wish.

Re the van setup::
1) the frig is a Thetford 184 litre 3 way
2) there is a ProStar - 30 Solar Charge Controller and an Electro Parts Battery Protector BP-400/500/600
3) I'm not sure of the battery specs

I see you have an absorption type fridge. If you are only using lights, car radio and TV off your battery and only have a bit of occasional phone charging then will get away with the one battery will do. I only have one 110 Ah battery for similar use. If you double your battery size you really should double the on board solar charging to match. Try one battery for a year or so to see if you really want two.

Question without notice - why the Electro Parts Battery Protector BP-400/500/600? The ProStar has that function built into it. Does the ProStar measure all the current that is supplied to your house 12 V system? If it does you can get rid the battery protector. There is no point in having two battery protectors in the van, the second one is just adding to the phantom loads on your battery. If not all your house load currents are indicated on the ProStar meter it means that the ProStar has not been wired in correctly and you will have correct this before getting rid of the Electro Parts BP.

[Jeffie]

Phil,

I suggest you look at installing an extra panel on your van and forget the portable panels which are a pain as you are always moving them around chasing the sun.
An extra 120-150 watt panel will provide all the power you will need and you can park your rig anywhere you like, shade or no shade.
We have 2x 150 watts and a 100 amp battery and never run out of power ( used to have 2x100 amp batteries but one died and we found that just the 1 x 100 amp was sufficient for us)

P.S. We freecamp 95% of the time so spend weeks on end with nothing but the solar panels for our power.


Jeff.

[glanyard]

Phil,
Seeing as how you have a three way fridge make sure you run it on gas when free camping or when 240 volts is not available. Gas is the most efficient and economical.
Anaconda is the most expensive place to shop for anything dealing with camping and caravanning; try the internet.
glanyard

[PhilandKaren]

Hi to Peter D, Jeffie and Lanyard for your replies and apologies for my very late reply; been busy with work but that retirement day's getting closer and closer. Thanks very much for your info guys; really useful. I learn something every time I ask on the Forum. Re the double battery protectors Peter; I haven't had a chance to check out. I'm going to ring the Paramount factory tomorrow for an answer. However I've just got a follow up question:

Re Quote from Peter D: "I mean any suitable plug/socket set up. Anderson connectors are just one of the suitable types but you can use any other suitable type if you wish."

I ended up buying the Projecta 120 W portable panel so I just want to integrate it into the solar system the best, most efficient way possible. My 100AH battery is in a very tight spot which makes it inconvenient to use the crocodile clips that come with the portable panel. Also the leads that come with the panel don't look very heavy. Ideally I would like to be able to plug it into a separate Anderson Plug close to the battery but to be honest I don't know where to start. I've read that distance from the panel to the battery and also the gauge of the cable are very important in reducing current loss. I rang a caravan repair guy and he said to just replace the croc clips with an Anderson connector and plug it into the existing Anderson lead on the van. However this seems a long way from the battery. Any ideas? Cheers. Phil

[PeterD]

I ended up buying the Projecta 120 W portable panel so I just want to integrate it into the solar system the best, most efficient way possible. My 100AH battery is in a very tight spot which makes it inconvenient to use the crocodile clips that come with the portable panel. Also the leads that come with the panel don't look very heavy. Ideally I would like to be able to plug it into a separate Anderson Plug close to the battery but to be honest I don't know where to start. I've read that distance from the panel to the battery and also the gauge of the cable are very important in reducing current loss. I rang a caravan repair guy and he said to just replace the croc clips with an Anderson connector and plug it into the existing Anderson lead on the van. However this seems a long way from the battery. Any ideas? Cheers. Phil

Ideally it would be better to feed your portable panel through the ProStar - 30 Solar Charge Controller. To do that you need to run a pair of fairly heavy wires (6 or 8 mm2) from a socket to the input of the ProStar. Use a similar size cable from the panel to the new socket. This will have to bypass any controller you have on the panel, you can't have two controllers in series.

[PhilandKaren]

Hi Peter. Thanks for that advice. In your travelling experience what would be a practical length of the cables from the portable panel to the Anderson socket; a compromise, I guess, between reaching that sunny spot and not being so long there would be significant current loss. Also do you know of an auto electrician on the Central Coast who has lots of experience in wiring RV Solar? Cheers. Phil

[smurf]

Portable panels are nice but they can get feet and walk. I will never use them. stick some more on your roof no hassle and you will not lose them to lightfingered people. And as far as panel performance goes I still have a bunch of 80w solarex VMC panels now over twenty years old and still give the same performance. One difference with newer panels the connectors and their enclosures are far superior than what is currently on offer. Anything newer is not necessarily better. Match your usage to your input and storage, err on the conservative side and you can not go wrong. Happy camping.