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Solar panels?


4cls

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Can anyone help? I have two 110amp Banner leisure battery's fitted, linked correctly to give 12v 220 amps, Where do I connect up the feeds from the solar panel? To one battery's terminals or to the terminal blocks that link both battery's? does all that make sense?
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The make and model of the motorhome is immaterial, It could well be my garden shed! My live and neutral feeds from the solar panels (retro fit) on the motorhome roof go into a regulator, from the regulator the cables goes to the two leisure battery's. My question was, do I take the two feeds, (Pos and Neutral], direct to the battery posts of one battery or do I connect them to a terminal block that connects the two battery's? I hope that this clears up any confusion among the pedantic members of this forum
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4cls - 2015-11-20 12:47 PM

 

The make and model of the motorhome is immaterial, It could well be my garden shed! My live and neutral feeds from the solar panels (retro fit) on the motorhome roof go into a regulator, from the regulator the cables goes to the two leisure battery's. My question was, do I take the two feeds, (Pos and Neutral], direct to the battery posts of one battery or do I connect them to a terminal block that connects the two battery's? I hope that this clears up any confusion among the pedantic members of this forum

 

As well as being a snotty beggar you also know FA about motorhomes.

 

I'm out (as they say). :D

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The diagram above probably doesn't apply to the majority of Motorhomes built since 2005 with increasingly sophisticated electronics?

 

For one there should be a safety fuse as soon as practically possible after the Solar Panel wiring enters the van. This is standard British Electrical practice to reduce the risk of fire.

Should the Solar regulator short and catch fire, if there is no fuse, the Solar Panel would continue to feed the Fire.

 

This fuse also allows you to isolate the panel from the van when doing maintenance.

 

Likewise there should be a fuse between the regulator and the battery, to isolate the regulator from the battery should it become faulty. Please note that removing this fuse for maintenance can lead to power from the Solar Panel building up in the regulator but with no where for the power to go. Sometimes damaging the regulator.

Hence the need for the fuse between the Solar Panel and the Regulator so the Panel can be completely isolated, for example when changing batteries.

 

This safety is important due to the abundance of wood and flammable plastic where the regulators are often sited.

 

If you want to minimise issues with the existing motorhome electronics, you should try and install Solar Panels in such a way that integrates the two. Not wire direct to the Habitation Battery.

We would suggest you at least charge both Habitation and Starter batteries as it helps reduce the risk of overload?

 

If it is a British built van from about 2011 with Sargent EC model electronics, like the EC400, the units have specific inputs to take the Solar regulator output and will automatically route it either to the Starter or Habitation battery as required.

Hence the questions above about your Motorhome?

 

The Solar charge is also often capable of being shown on the vans own display unit as well as allowing the Sargent Power Distribution box to better control all charging.

 

 

More info here : http://www.aandncaravanservices.co.uk/solar-power.php

 

 

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Steve Drew, many thanks, Just the info I wanted. refer to Bkent1, that is how my boat is wired up with a solar panel on the forepeak.. 747, I have seen worse comments on here than mine! I dont mind being called a snotty beggar either!. I have been 18 years plus in all forms of motorhomes and am still learning, likewise 20 odd years on the water sailing and still learning. AND, I still know S,F,A.

 

 

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aandncaravan, The feeds to and from panel and regulator are already fused in the motorhome, I thought it was a bit of overkill, but better to be safe than sorry. The boat is not fused from panel to regulator but has a fuse from regulator to battery, Many thanks for your advice.
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