Patricia Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 Help please. Can anyone recommend a reliable solar panel fitter in the Midlands please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonboymentalhealth Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 Msedmautomadditions mobile, good job done but always arrives a bit late Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 How about Dave Newell at Telford or Conrad Anderson in Birmingham. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwark Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 Recommend Lodge Farm Leisure , Lodge Farm, Lowdham Road , Gunthorpe, Nottinghamshire. NG14 7ES. phone 0115 966 5797 Have used a few times including fitting of solar panel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia Posted June 1, 2016 Author Share Posted June 1, 2016 Thank you all for your suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aandncaravan Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 Whoever you use, suggest you make sure they understand the Sargent control system, which I think is an EC325 on your vehicle? Some Sargent 12v distribution units have a built in Solar Controller which should be used where a direct connection to the battery is advised against by Sargent/Autotrail. For example the EC325/EC328 has a mode where it 'boost' charges the battery at 18v, so anything direct connected to the battery on these models gets 'fried', so Sargent provide an inbuilt Solar Regulator that just requires a plug to connect. A couple of weeks ago we 'fixed' an Autotrail where the Solar Panel regulator had been connected direct to the battery. First time on EHU destroyed the Regulator. (And the iPad, but that's another story). We just wired the Solar panel exactly as the Autotrail and Sargent recommend using the Solar port that Sargent had already provided for the purpose. The 'big company' fitter didn't understand his job at all. Everything he did was neat and professional, just all wrong : No isolation fuse, regulator wired wrong plus more than 2 feet from the habitation battery/Box, inappropriate sized wiring, not wired to the Starter battery, etc. Even if the Sargent box hadn't cooked the Solar regulator, the solar gain would have been down by about 25% - 35% on what was achievable. The fitter clearly didn't understand School boy level electricity, as the Solar regulator had been mounted at eye level near where the cables entered from the Solar Panel. Yet the same company had fitted out two of his friends MH's hence his going to the same team on the friends advice. They subsequently discovered the same installation issues and underperforming systems, which, to be fair were attended to by the Solar Installer under warranty. Many with Solar Power don't actually know what they harvest, yet will tell you that they are happy with it and it works well. I find it a bit of a puzzle, because it's like me saying my car is great on fuel because I only have to fill up once a week, but I can't actually tell you how many miles it does to the gallon? If you don't believe me, ask the next person with Solar power how much power they harvest in a day. I guarantee that 9 times out of ten they will look at you like you are speaking in Russian. Sorry, my point is, that some people don't seem to know they have poor Solar installations, so be careful on recommendations? If you want to see how good the installer is, can we suggest that you ask for a Power Meter of some sort to be fitted that tells you what power is harvested over a week? These devices don't just tell you how many amps/volts are going into the battery, but total up the amp hours over a time period, for example a week? Something like the Watt Meter found on eBay works ok and they are only around £12? A good Solar Installer will already have an array of items he fits that does more than just display the volts and amps. Maybe ask them how they deal with a Sargent EC325, now you know the above? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amy Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 Maybe you can go to the amazon to buy one (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amy Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 Maybe you can go to the amazon to buy one (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.