Our 14.44-3 Solar Fit Up

[coled1970]

Just thought someone might be interested in our solar panel fit up on our recently purchased (second hand) 14.44-3 Expanda. Hopefully we wont have any issues when free camping now!

Solar Panels installed on roof and junction box for cables to pass through roof.

Just have to install insert in roof to secure cables before junction box.


New threaded insert installed in place of self tapping screws through floor to hold battery boxes in place. These are fully sealed so no water can enter from inside and do not penetrate through the floor so cannot be effected by water entering from the outside.


All eight installed and 2x dual battery switches installed to switch between solar charging of batteries or from the onboard Setec charger.


Battery Boxes in position and secured.



Batteries in boxes and wiring started. 1x 100AH & 1x 120AH AGM batteries.


Solar Regulator & wiring installed


Wiring Finished and boxes closed


Cover re-installed


Shelves re-installed into wardrobe. Finished.:happy:


Any questions just let me know. Cheers

 

[Burnsy]

Nice job mate, well done, just curious where did you run the cables between the pop top roof and the wardrobe?

Cheers
Burnsy

 

[coled1970]

Thanks Burnsy. There was wiring running from the wardrobe up through one of the sleeves in the white skirt which i imagine is for the lights in the roof so i ran it through with the sleeve with them.

If your not sure what i'm talking about let me know and i will get some pictures of where i ran them for you.

Cheers.

 

[Mike7]

Very neat job, can you tell me what sort/where you got the junction box?

Any info on how you got the cables thru the roof would be much appreciated.

Cheers
Mike

 

[cruza driver]

Great write up Colin thanks for sharing mate

With 2 batteries I dont think you will have a problem with your power supply.

 

[Famof5]

Hello coled1970, nice solar and neat looking installation! I just have a few questions on the specs of your system. What wattage and voltage are your solar panels and where did you find them? What type of regulator do you have, PWM or MPPT? Are you intending of also using some portable panels to supplement your permanent panels just in case you get a shady site? How are your solar mounts attached to the roof glued only or glue and screws as this is one point I am pondering. Also, where did you find those particular solar panel mounts as they look sturdy and being made of plastic there should be no problem of corrosion as no dis-similar metals touch each other.

The reason I asked is we will be getting our Expanda 16ft in September and solar was an option which I will be installing after delivery and will have it pre wired for solar. I have thought about this long and hard and am thinking of getting 4 X 40W panels (limited area) for the roof wired as two strings of 2 cells in series (24v) and then these string in parallel to give 24V 5Amp output coupled to a middle of road 30A MPPT with 2 X 100A 12V AGM deep cycle battery (brand?) I am also thinking of acquiring 2 X 40 (12V) panels wired in series as a movable array which I will connect temporarily as a 3rd string (24V) if excessive shading creates a problem with a total capacity of 240W @ 24V (6X 40W 12V panels.)

It would obviously be cheaper to put one 24V 200W panel or 2X100W 12V panel on the roof. From my investigation, all it needs is one cell on one panel to be fully shaded and the output of that panel is zero depending on the panel and number of bypass diodes the solar panel has (apparently some of the better 24v panels may have 3 bypass diodes installed internally which would appear to reduce the effects of shading significantly). Hopefully with 4 Panels and 4 bypass diodes one shaded panel will drop the power down by about 25% and 2 shaded 50%. I also like the idea of gluing the panel via a mount to the roof rather than drilling holes and getting some option how other people tackled this task. Perhaps down the track, better solar panel options may become available for caravans and I do not want to make the roof into Swiss cheese with excessive holes.
The Dad

 

[Burnsy]

Hi Famof5, check this thread out!http://www.expandasdownunder.com/showthread.php/842-Who-has-solar-installed-in-their-expanda

Cheers.

 

[Burnsy]

I remember reading another good thread on here somewhere about mounting solar panels with sika but i can't find atm....maybe someone else can!

 

[coled1970]

Hello coled1970, nice solar and neat looking installation! I just have a few questions on the specs of your system. What wattage and voltage are your solar panels and where did you find them? What type of regulator do you have, PWM or MPPT? Are you intending of also using some portable panels to supplement your permanent panels just in case you get a shady site? How are your solar mounts attached to the roof glued only or glue and screws as this is one point I am pondering. Also, where did you find those particular solar panel mounts as they look sturdy and being made of plastic there should be no problem of corrosion as no dis-similar metals touch each other.

The reason I asked is we will be getting our Expanda 16ft in September and solar was an option which I will be installing after delivery and will have it pre wired for solar. I have thought about this long and hard and am thinking of getting 4 X 40W panels (limited area) for the roof wired as two strings of 2 cells in series (24v) and then these string in parallel to give 24V 5Amp output coupled to a middle of road 30A MPPT with 2 X 100A 12V AGM deep cycle battery (brand?) I am also thinking of acquiring 2 X 40 (12V) panels wired in series as a movable array which I will connect temporarily as a 3rd string (24V) if excessive shading creates a problem with a total capacity of 240W @ 24V (6X 40W 12V panels.)

It would obviously be cheaper to put one 24V 200W panel or 2X100W 12V panel on the roof. From my investigation, all it needs is one cell on one panel to be fully shaded and the output of that panel is zero depending on the panel and number of bypass diodes the solar panel has (apparently some of the better 24v panels may have 3 bypass diodes installed internally which would appear to reduce the effects of shading significantly). Hopefully with 4 Panels and 4 bypass diodes one shaded panel will drop the power down by about 25% and 2 shaded 50%. I also like the idea of gluing the panel via a mount to the roof rather than drilling holes and getting some option how other people tackled this task. Perhaps down the track, better solar panel options may become available for caravans and I do not want to make the roof into Swiss cheese with excessive holes.
The Dad

Hi Famof5, in answer to your questions,

1. Both panels are 12v, 80w each & from memory 5amp but would need to check the amperage to be sure, and where purchased from Jaycar. The newest one was about $279.00.

2. The controller is PWM (MP-3722 12V 30A Solar Charge Controller) and i haven't worried about any other portable system. I will see how it goes, Will have generator with us also. All lights have been converted to LED's inside which draw very little power. I have left all lights on during the night when first installed for approx 12 hrs and had about 4 hours of sunlight to charge the battery the next day and the monitor showed it in trickle charge mode and it had only put in 5 amps. There is 220ah of battery power in the batteries. The panels are wired with a joining Y harness so that if one is shaded the other can still charge.

3. The mounts are only glued with sikaflex adhesive not sikaflex sealant. The mounts where purchased off the net. Originally found on Ebay. Can pm the email address to you if you want. They cost me around $170 delivered (4x panel mounts & 1x junction box). I didn't want heaps of holes in the roof either. If i didn't find these brackets i would have used the threaded inserts like i used to mount the battery boxes to fit them to the roof.

4. Batteries are 1x not sure 100ah agm (came with van) and the other is a 120ah Thumper Redback Extreme 120Ah Deep Cycle AGM (robbed from our camper trailer). Will buy another thumper when the other 100ah battery dies. I have found the thumper charges quicker then a lot of other batteries.

Cheers.

 

[coled1970]

Hi Mike7,

The junction box was purchased off ebay and is glued down only so no screw holes.
with the wiring i followed the wiring through the pop top skirt and drilled a pilot hole through from the inside close to where the interior light wiring goes in. if you want some pic's let me know and i'll send you some.

Cheers

 

[Mike7]

Hi Coled,

If you could post a pic of the inside where the wire goes thru the roof would be much appreciated.

Is there just some white foam sandwiched between fiberglass in the roof?

Cheer
Mike

 

[zerosecta]

Nice Work Colin, Very Pro.

Could you please direct me to one of those J-Box's on ebay? I have searched high and low and cant seem to find one.

Cheers

 

[ROnEM]

I have found these guys on the web. I have not used then, but plan too when our van arrives!

They have small, medium and large panel mounting kit combinations in black & white.

http://www.daydreamimports.com.au/



Cheers,

Ro

 

[coled1970]

Hi Coled,

If you could post a pic of the inside where the wire goes thru the roof would be much appreciated.

Is there just some white foam sandwiched between fiberglass in the roof?


Cheer
Mike

Hi Mike7,

Sorry for the delay i will endevour to get pic to you shortly as i have been out of action with work and then a stint in hospital. I will tru to get one for you this weekend. Yes the roof consists of foam sandwiched between the outer fiberglass layer and the inner thin alloy and timber sheet'

Cheers.