Has anyone had any experience of the above? After years of trying to persuade the long-haired general into going camping, Covid has finally persuaded her that living in a tent is a good idea. However, given her electrical requirements, and the seemingly never-ending list of things that may need charging via USBs in the motor, I thought it might be a good idea to try to feed something back into the battery while we’re static.
Any info would be greatly appreciated. L322 TDV8 4.4 - current
L322 TD6 - sold
Disco 2 TD5 - sold
Suzuki Grand Vitara XL7 - sold
Mitsubishi Pajero 2.8 - part ex'd
Hyundai Santa Fe 2.0 td - sold
Mitsubishi Pajero 2.8 - sold

I've been considering it for my camper. Depending on your needs, an 80W panel gives you 5+ Amps on a decent day for most of the day. Let's say 40Ah which is not too bad. That could go a long way to keeping the battery charged.

Most come as a kit with a solar charge controller. This connects between panel and batteries / load and prevents the battery overcharging and also prevents the battery discharging via the solar panel when it's not producing electricity.

I think I've made up my mind to go with a standard charger as we'll need to be on EHU for the fridge to work so we will have mains power. But I'm very attracted to the idea of solar and it seems much simpler than I'd anticipated to retrofit. 2016 Skoda Octavia VRS Estate
<gone>2009 FF Vogue TDV8 Buckingham Blue</gone>
<gone>2015 BMW 520D SE (not my favourite car)</gone>
<gone>2009 D3 HSE Galway Green</gone>

Living in West Australia most of my camping is done in remote areas totally off-grid so a solar charge system is pretty much a requirement. The simple solution is to get a folding panel with a charge controller like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100W-Portable-M...Sw3bZcOMwx Fitting a second battery in the rear with a charge isolation relay is the next step. We are lucky here that used household solar panels can be picked up for A$20 which linked to a decent MPPT charge controller can keep you in power indefinitely





 2007 TDV8 VSE
2003 TD6 gone.
2002 P38a gone
1999 P38a gone
1997 p38a gone
1993 VSE gone
1992 VSE gone
1966 Series 2a with V8 conversion gone

Go camping to a site with electrical hook up.
I recommend the Red Shoot site in New Forest. Hook up, impeccably clean facilities and a brew pub next door  2011 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE Buckingham Blue with Ivory and clear glass = "Rory"
New Defender D300 90 on order so "Rory" will be going to a new home....!
1974 Series 3 Lightweight = "Millie"
My preferred specialist: www.glenrands.co.uk
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Thanks for your replies - seems as though a hook-up will keep SWMBO happy! 👍 L322 TDV8 4.4 - current
L322 TD6 - sold
Disco 2 TD5 - sold
Suzuki Grand Vitara XL7 - sold
Mitsubishi Pajero 2.8 - part ex'd
Hyundai Santa Fe 2.0 td - sold
Mitsubishi Pajero 2.8 - sold

I had to do the same. Hook up saved the day  2011 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE Buckingham Blue with Ivory and clear glass = "Rory"
New Defender D300 90 on order so "Rory" will be going to a new home....!
1974 Series 3 Lightweight = "Millie"
My preferred specialist: www.glenrands.co.uk
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JLR will wake up one day and realise the potential of the glass panel in the roof.
How easy would it be for them to factory fit a solar panel, particularly on hybrid cars where it could help extend the battery range by offering some top up charge.
How many cars drive to work early morning, park up all day then drive home. ??
Seems a no brainer to me.
Mike. G reg 2.5VM Vogue Portofino red 1991- 1999
V reg 2.5td P38 Rioja red 1999- 2006
53 reg td6 Vogue Oslo blue 2006- 2015
11 reg 4.4 TdV8 Vogue SE. Baltic blue 2015- date.
https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic56162...tty+affair

wayneg wrote:

used household solar panels can be picked up for A$20

Baltic Blue wrote:

JLR will wake up one day and realise the potential of the glass panel in the roof.
How easy would it be for them to factory fit a solar panel, particularly on hybrid cars where it could help extend the battery range by offering some top up charge.
How many cars drive to work early morning, park up all day then drive home. ??
Seems a no brainer to me.
Mike.

Brian Considine
Here in West Australia, the Government offers generous subsidies to have Solar fitted to your home up to 5kw inverter. They allow panels up to a total of 6.6kw before classing it as a commercial venture. Going back 10 years the cost of the components was such that the general system installed was 1kw, as time moved on and things got cheaper 3kw was the norm. Now people install the max capacity for a total outlay of around A$3000. It is a no brainer to upgrade your system, therefore, there are thousands of perfectly good panels being removed. I have not had an electric bill in 14 years living here and have made a decent income from the feed-in tariff. In the past 2 years since my last upgrade, I have generated and sold back over 25 megawatts of power. I also have a 275w panel on my garage roof linked to the MPPT controller in the picture I posted. This trickle charges 3 vehicles whenever they are parked at home. I Love Solar.

 2007 TDV8 VSE
2003 TD6 gone.
2002 P38a gone
1999 P38a gone
1997 p38a gone
1993 VSE gone
1992 VSE gone
1966 Series 2a with V8 conversion gone

^ Very impressive, unfortunately solar doesn't work in rain.

It does work in rain and cloud but obviously not as well, It does not work in the dark. 2007 TDV8 VSE
2003 TD6 gone.
2002 P38a gone
1999 P38a gone
1997 p38a gone
1993 VSE gone
1992 VSE gone
1966 Series 2a with V8 conversion gone

Thanks for explaining the situation in Australia.

We have a 4KWH system that does get up to around 3.8KWH during a sunny day.
Also, as part of the installation we have a Power Vault that helps towards nightime use.
Taking into account the capital outlay, Feed in Tariff & the sayings in electricity bills we broke even earlier this year.

4KWH is the maximum allowed on domestic properties without National Grid surveying the network in the area - it's not common knowledge that the grid could not cope with too much power being generated by domestic/small commercial Solar Panel installations.

Looking at the readings we expect that in the future we will consume a limited amount of "grid" power, but of course our bills will be minimal.

National Grid are looking at "hiring" Power Vault capacity during the night (when exhausted from solar generated power) to be released for the morning peak demand. The stumbling block currently seems to be metering & monitoring. 2003 Range Rover Vogue TD6

I have what is supposed to be a 160w folding solar panel for camping. I doubt the rating. On a sunny day (most days) the max I get out of my panels is about 7.5A - that's with a PWM controller - into my 2 x 45AH deep cycle AGM batteries in the RH rear corner (bigger batteries won't fit).

I built an MPPT controller a while back and will soon do some comparison testing. I have a MooshiMetyer wich is quite useful for that sort of thing.

At home I have two solar power systems, one a 3.04kW system installed 10 years ago and a 3.6kW system installed about 18 months ago. Fortunately, we don't get much rain and not a lot of cloud so they supply a lot of our needs. We do use a lot of power with the 12Kw reverse cycle ducted air conditioning which heats in winter, cools in summer (summer temps up to 49+ deg C). Ron B. VK2OTC
2004 L322 V8 Auto
2007 Yamaha XJR1300
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