Solar panel

 
 
 
 
 
 
glastry
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Solar panel

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Posted: 19.11.2017  ·  #1
Just realised that I am guilty of the unfinished topic. --sorry
In the end we had a new solar panel fitted!
A 255w panel and along with the Victronic regulator ,the result has been excellent.
At home in Ireland,to date we have not needed hook up,and when away In the "sunshine",it runs the fridge.
The regulator seems to have been as important as the panel,and adds greatly to the ability to keep the battery's
Well charged
.


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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 19.11.2017  ·  #2
Quote by glastry

Just realised that I am guilty of the unfinished topic. --sorry
In the end we had a new solar panel fitted
At home in Ireland,to date we have not needed hook up,and when away In the "sunshine",it runs the fridge.

.


I didn't realize a solar panel would run the fridge. That's good to know,Would it take a lot out of the battery?


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fridge on solar

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Posted: 19.11.2017  ·  #3
in short -yes it would take a lot out of any battery---
but the punchline here is that a 250 w panel in a country with lots of sun,
easily produces enough to run the fridge in daytime,and keep the batterys up.
we turn the fridge of at night at present,but hope to buy a better fridge that will
run all the time.
cold beers x 6 per day seems about right


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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 19.11.2017  ·  #4
Quote by glastry

in short -yes it would take a lot out of any battery---
but the punchline here is that a 250 w panel in a country with lots of sun,
easily produces enough to run the fridge in daytime,and keep the batterys up.
we turn the fridge of at night at present,but hope to buy a better fridge that will
run all the time.
cold beers x 6 per day seems about right


What kind of fridge do you have, they usually run off gas when there is no leccy.


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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 19.11.2017  ·  #5
Not sure what type of fridge this is as any that I have had would not operate on 12v unless the vehicle was running,at all other times it either run on gas or electricity.


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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 19.11.2017  ·  #6
Why don't you switch the gas off, then see if the fridge is still working. If it is, then the solar panels are operating it.


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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 19.11.2017  ·  #7
Quote by Annieo

Why don't you switch the gas off, then see if the fridge is still working. If it is, then the solar panels are operating it.



No fridge that I am aware of will work on 12v only when the vehicle is switched off due to the draw in current as it would drain a battery in a very short time.
Switch the gas off and the fridge will stop working unless there is electricity connection.


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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 19.11.2017  ·  #8
In my Mercedes Lwb Conversion i have a Compressor Fridge which runs on 12volt at all times if van on ehu the fridge will run still off the batteries but the battery charger on Ehu will top the Batteries up.Was away for 6 weeks fridge NEVER missed a Beat most New Small Van Conversions are now fitted with Compressor Fridges


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fridge on 12cv

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Posted: 19.11.2017  ·  #9
Quote by ntg

Quote by Annieo

Why don't you switch the gas off, then see if the fridge is still working. If it is, then the solar panels are operating it.



No fridge that I am aware of will work on 12v only when the vehicle is switched off due to the draw in current as it would drain a battery in a very short time.
Switch the gas off and the fridge will stop working unless there is electricity connection.


so do you think that my fridge is not working?


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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 19.11.2017  ·  #10
Quote by glastry

Quote by ntg

Quote by Annieo

Why don't you switch the gas off, then see if the fridge is still working. If it is, then the solar panels are operating it.



No fridge that I am aware of will work on 12v only when the vehicle is switched off due to the draw in current as it would drain a battery in a very short time.
Switch the gas off and the fridge will stop working unless there is electricity connection.


so do you think that my fridge is not working?



I never said that,but in 30 years of caravanning and motorhoming I have never had one that worked on 12v only when parked up so some info would be greatly appreciated on your setup.


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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 19.11.2017  ·  #11
IF your Fridge is a 3 way Fridge Gas, 12v and EHU as most fridges are they are not wired to Run 12vt when engine not running.Mine being just a Compressor Fridge with no Gas Supply is wired to Run 12volt after engine goes off.


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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 19.11.2017  ·  #12
Thanks Barry very reasonable explanation when it is explained like that, unlike other posts who take the sarcastic response.


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No harm intended

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Posted: 20.11.2017  ·  #13
Sorry you chose to take offence, didn't I think that an Antrim man and from
Portglenone would see the funny side!
So again,no harm was intended. Plain sorry.
I was just thinking though ,if yous still have the three sets of toilet facility's
And the 6 parking bays ,would it be a hoot to maybe sell off one or two of them and get a bit of your 1.5 million back?
See ,I knew I could make you laugh!
Have a gay day now, maybe Portaferry would buy one - if the price was right!


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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 20.11.2017  ·  #14
All is well that ends well glastry :-)


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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 21.01.2021  ·  #15
I know this is an old forum but wanted to clarify that yes it is possible to run the fridge from the solar.
The AES (Automatic Energy Selector), available in some modern Electrolux/Dometic fridges, switches from gas operation to 12 V operation in case of excess solar power.
Some of the Votronic MPPT regulators have an AES Terminal to enable the automation.
Regards,
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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 21.01.2021  ·  #16
Hi karemart74. I think that needs more clarifying. Are you talking about running an absorption fridge from a solar panel? If so, that is not feasible. A compressor fridge is possible through. But they don’t run on gas.


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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 22.01.2021  ·  #17
Quote by karemart74

I know this is an old forum but wanted to clarify that yes it is possible to run the fridge from the solar.
The AES (Automatic Energy Selector), available in some modern Electrolux/Dometic fridges, switches from gas operation to 12 V operation in case of excess solar power.
Some of the Votronic MPPT regulators have an AES Terminal to enable the automation.
Regards,
Karen


It's certainly possible but it's not like running it from the alternator where there is constantly available power.

What would happen in reality is that you would be repeatedly switching between gas and solar. If you want to conserve gas, it might just be easier to change the selector on the fridge to 12v for an hour or two early in the day leaving time for the solar panels to charge the batteries fully, later in the day. You need to be careful though, the fridge will drain your leisure battery to a dangerously low level.


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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 26.01.2021  ·  #18
Quote by The Rambler

Hi karemart74. I think that needs more clarifying. Are you talking about running an absorption fridge from a solar panel? If so, that is not feasible. A compressor fridge is possible through. But they don’t run on gas.


Hello Rambler,
I was talking about 3 way absorption fridges such as the one below.
https://www.dometic.com/en-au/…56-_-30963
regards,
Karen


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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 26.01.2021  ·  #19
Quote by karemart74

Quote by The Rambler

Hi karemart74. I think that needs more clarifying. Are you talking about running an absorption fridge from a solar panel? If so, that is not feasible. A compressor fridge is possible through. But they don’t run on gas.


Hello Rambler,
I was talking about 3 way absorption fridges such as the one below.
https://www.dometic.com/en-au/…56-_-30963
regards,
Karen


I see what you’re saying Karen. That automatic switching is really designed to switch between gas and alternator power. When you park up and stop the engine, the gas kicks in, and when you start the engine back up the alternator 12 Volts switches in. I personally wouldn’t try configure it to switch between gas and Solar powered battery with no engine running, for the reasons BM mentions above. And if for any reason the switch stayed stuck on battery. You would flatten it in a couple of hours.

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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 26.01.2021  ·  #20
There is an S connection on some/ mine that you can utilise the power from the solar.


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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 26.01.2021  ·  #21
Quote by Daffysparks

There is an S connection on some/ mine that you can utilise the power from the solar.


I think mine has that too but I wouldn't use it


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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 26.01.2021  ·  #22
You could use a voltage sensing relay, I actually have one here in front of me for another project, per the datasheet it switches on when the voltage gets up to 13.3v and will shut off when the voltage drops below 12.8v, in theory this would protect the battery from being excessively discharged.

In practice I know with my own fridge, if you run it on DC with the engine off and even with 10A coming from the Solar Panels (which I think is the max current the fridge will take), the measured voltage under that load will start to slowly fall, it immediately jumps back up when you switch the fridge back to gas, but it's going to cause havoc with the relay switching in and out.


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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 26.01.2021  ·  #23
The solar controller that I have, has a similar facility. You can set the drop out and pull in voltages for the load

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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 26.01.2021  ·  #24
While at the LeMans 24 in 2019 the gas burner of my fridge (AES fridge/freezer) packed up.
To keep the beers, and the rest, cool I conected the mains plug of the fridge to the inverter.
I had 2X110ah batteries and 200w of solar plus good sunshine and that kept the fridge going until I got the gas burner fixed.
Running off mains the fridge will cut in and out as necessary unlike if connected to 12v when it draws continuously.

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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 26.01.2021  ·  #25
Why do you say it runs continuously on 12 volts. Is there no thermostatic control on the 12 volt element


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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 26.01.2021  ·  #26
Quote by Daffysparks

Why do you say it runs continuously on 12 volts. Is there no thermostatic control on the 12 volt element


No. Thermostat control on 230v & gas only.
12v is a simple direct connection, it's only for shorterm use while engine is running.
Mains and gas are longterm continuous use, so thermostatically controlled to avoid overcooling.


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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 26.01.2021  ·  #27
I’m pretty sure mine is not like that. Must look up the drawings


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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 26.01.2021  ·  #28
Quote by Daffysparks

I’m pretty sure mine is not like that. Must look up the drawings


You might be right. But remember the constant switching on and off of a 15 or 16 amp DC current is best avoided, which is probably why it's not thermostatically controlled.


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Re: Solar panel

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Posted: 26.01.2021  ·  #29
Yeah, mine has thermostat control on 12 volt. Was thinking so, especially as Solar is first choice on AES system. Personally can see no problem with switching 15 to 16 amps on DC. Mine is a 12.5 amp draw. Switching through relay, obviously


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Posted: 26.01.2021  ·  #30
Quote by Daffysparks

Yeah, mine has thermostat control on 12 volt. Was thinking so, especially as Solar is first choice on AES system. Personally can see no problem with switching 15 to 16 amps on DC. Mine is a 12.5 amp draw. Switching through relay, obviously

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