SOLAR PANELS WHEN CARAVANNING OR CAMPING

What happens to your solar output when you get a bit of shade??? This is CRAZY!!!
Here's a quick demo I did on Stradbroke Island with the boys from Enerdrive Pty Ltd on how the solar on your caravan works in a few different situations....... When in Parrallel - When in Series - PWM vs MPPT - What happens when your panels get shade???
You can check out our full Off-Grid Battery Set-up on the caravan here: www.tripinavan.com.au/offgrid...

[@user-tv8sm6so9y]

There is something missing from this info, If putting them in parallel with a PWM is better then why do all the Solar companies tell you to run them in series with a MPPT, Simple when you run them in series with an MPPT is they make higher voltage with less light so as the sun comes up they make more voltage earlier and later in the day and in peak times they really max out by keeping the voltage well above 12v in to the controller for longer IE with 4 panels in series early or late in the day you could be putting out 32v in to the controller but with 4 in parallel they will only be putting 8 volts in to the control which is far to low to be any use to the controller when it comes to charging, Sorry Guys but you only have half the info, hope that helps. Keep up the Great video's Love your Channel. regards to you and your family,

[@69Atho]

First up,i think enerdrive have given you a bum steer,as you should always hook panels in series (when you have 2 or more panels),and you should always use an MPPT charge controller to suit the input voltage of your solar array. The only reason you lost all output in your series connected array when you covered only a small portion of one panel,is because enerdrive has given you cheap panels that do not have a bypass diode. I love your video's,and i know you are relying on enerdrive to provide you with the best information,but i have been installing solar on vans and campers for over 20 year's,and paralleled panels with a PWM controller is the least efficient method of installing solar systems to vans. Enerdrive should know better.

[@hazwaz6385]

you sound knowledgable...what would be you most recommended panel for a basic van setup

[@davidriley119]

Great vid - a load of learning in 7.5 minutes. Thanks!

[@jackknifer1]

This is surprisingly comprehensive and very easy to understand. cheers mate!

[@glenod]

very good explanation of what i keep telling ppl who ask me.135 watter on my van... and a 120 watter portable to ' chase the sun ' when camping, anderson plugged into the BMPro 35 unit thats in the van. Seeing i do a lot of camping on the murray river.. its a trade off between baking the van to get sun for solar, and shade for a cooler bed at night... hence the portable to chase the sun. ( summer time this is, winter, well.. another story ) Upgrading with another panel on the vans roof soon, and it will be in parallel with the one that came with it. This, for me, is great, as when driving the solar panel as it is, puts in more amps than the the aux ( read: grey anderson plug on the 200 series ) when its plugged in driving...( night driving plugged in ) i " usually " have my 40 litre engel on freeze while travelling/camping for more than 4 days, and even with 240 amp hours of agm batteries... they take a dint ( unless i get the genny out ) hahah.

[@dgarlo]

A nice simple explanation to some of life's camping issue's

[@markdanzic1614]

Good video Justin .Thanks .Love your Lithium battery's. We run external panels which requires more work but good output Cheers

[@shutthegate8232]

Thanks for this. Things seem to sink into the noggin a little better with the demo like you've done with the examples displayed comparing series to parallel.

[@TripInAVan]

You're very welcome!

[@philipw7557]

Nice one guys 😎

[@keithandmichele]

Really informative video.

[@ThePlanetMars264]

Happy new year mate

[@TripInAVan]

Jack Mercer cheers man!! Hope you had a ripper

[@BenMitro]

PWM vs MPPT - you probably should compare amp-hours rather than amps - it might make a more substantial difference over the course of a day? That was a great demo with shading and series / parallel scenarios.

[@DENMONKEY]

The benefits of mppt controllers come with using higher voltage panels or even banking panels. If you're not doing either, then there's no reason not to go pwm. You can also get a decent mppt controller for sub $200, the price difference is coming down.

[@jordenringrose762]

Awesome video mate! One question, are you able to connect two different panels in parallel to one regulator, such as a 120w folding and 160w fixed though an Anderson plug double adaptor? Or would I be better off using two regulators?

[@brokeassbot]

I just gave up on Roof Panels in Series, although it will require a larger wire run and a larger controller.

[@james.8985]

Gday, are you running a 24v system? What size are those batteries and how many do you have in your setup?

[@gavinsv]

Judging by your shadows, I'm guessing you filmed approx midday when the sun was in an ideal position, so comparing PWM to MPPT at just a single point in time isn't a true comparison. Try comparing both controllers over a full day from sunrise to sunset and I think you'll find MPPT performs much better.

[@jamarimauricio6394]

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[@rogelioraiden8068]

@Jamari Mauricio Instablaster ;)

[@jamarimauricio6394]

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[@jamarimauricio6394]

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[@rogelioraiden8068]

@Jamari Mauricio Glad I could help :D

[@RustyCandyAdventures]

Try a sheet of steels or some kind of sun reflector and the reflect the sun on the pannels.

[@WesternAustraliaNowAndThen]

I don't see a load being put on to the battery and trying to dump both systems into the same battery at the same time just isn't going to give the right results. Put a load on the battery and test each array separately and I am guessing you will see a bigger difference. Another advantage of MPPT is that you can use higher voltage panels (IE. 24 volt) where the extra volts will be converted into stored power. Newer shade tolerant panels are now starting to become available and you can cover a number of cells and the panel recovers to almost full Amperage output.

[@PeterHatch-mx7zc]

Wish you and your family the best life can give you your real not like that other guy anyway your doing it right

[@greg9000]

are the stand alone solar controlers better than those included in a bms? great vid btw

[@TripInAVan]

greg9000 depends what brand you get I reckon. We have used a few bms units with inbuilt solar in our travels now and they have all been fine.

[@radar_six800]

Can u go through the Anderson Plug on the van with portable panels?

[@TripInAVan]

we can because its setup to run through the dc/dc charger in the van as it also has a solar input. Enerdrive 40+ dc\dc charger

[@radar_six800]

Thanks mate......good information to know

[@ricknewlyn8206]

Hi please let me know what security system you have on your van

[@TripInAVan]

its called WiTi

[@solartrackers]

If there has a movable and foldable solar tracker, would you like to use it to generate 40% energy?

[@TripInAVan]

linear actuators for solar trackers sounds great mate, what’s involved?

[@solartrackers]

@@TripInAVan There haven't this kind of product in Marketing present. I just support it. Do you think it is a good idea to develop this kind of product?

[@aussiecampingbloke55]

linear actuators for solar trackers people would go nuts for it after they realise the extra power they’ll get!

[@philmortlock3490]

Good video but I'm just sticking with my generator I think.

[@petermoygannon698]

my dingo 20/20 pwm charge controller it won't work with my single house solar panel 180 watts why???

[@peytonmac1131]

If it's a house solar panel, the voltage output is probably far higher than 20v. Maybe up to 40v or even higher depending on the model. Unless your controller is built for such high voltage (usually MTTP is best for that to get the most power from the panel, but you need to read the manual to be sure), running a house panel will kill the controller. You best off talking to someone who sells the panel and ask them what sort of controller is needed to run it.

[@petermoygannon698]

@@peytonmac1131 I got the 40 amp dingo now it's working fine ..

[@adrokk2515]

Odd how your mppt control under performs. Mine literally doubles the amount of amps that my old PWM put out.

[@silknfeathers]

This is just wrong.. the lack of load, the assumptions about input, the COST you give for controllers! MPPT has significant advantages, but no, not as great as some claim. Just don;t pay what is being quoted here!

[@ausguy4385]

That's the panel poor design must be uber cheap ones

[@jimjones5419]

you need to spend more money and get micro inverters. thank me later

[@markfitz7089]

Just looked them up. Are you suggesting running a dedicated one direct to his fridge?

[@jimjones5419]

Mark Fitz no I’m suggesting micro inverted on each panel as you’re loosing power only if camping amongst lots of trees. These micro inverters will by pass the shaded cells.