Customer Question (received via email 14th June 2016):
I am wanting to buy a solar panel to trickle charge my campervan battery plus a solar charge controller. My battery lable is as follows- 12v 74Ah 750A(EN). What combination would you recommend? I live in the north of Scotland.
Many thanks,
Kay
Willgen Reply (Email from Bill 14th June 2016):
Hi Kay, many thanks for getting in touch.
To maintain your battery (assuming there are no continuous loads such as an alarm) I would recommend you use a 10W solar panel provided it can be positioned in an un-shaded, south facing position at an angle of 35 to 90 degrees from the horizontal (90 degrees being the equivalent to mounting flat on a wall). If there are constant drains on the battery or the panel cannot be fixed in an ideal position I would increase the size of the panel accordingly. For example if the panel is to be mounted flat (horizontal) on the van roof I would at least double the size of the solar panel to 20W to allow for this.
You can choose between a glass fronted, rigid framed solar panel or semi-flexible solar panel. I would recommend using a glass fronted panel (they are cheapest option) unless you particularly wanted a thin semi-flexible panel to fix to the van roof.
So if, based on my explanation above, a 10W panel will be sufficient, and assuming that the solar panel is to remain static (for example fixed to garage wall/roof) and the camper van battery will simply be plugged into the solar panel when parked up I would recommend our 12V 10W Solar Battery Charger with Charge Controller.
You can find details of this kit here: http://www.willgen.co.uk/boats-campers/12v-solar-trickle-charger/10w-solar-battery-charger.
The kit comes fully wired up with everything you need including a Morningstar Sunguard charge controller. The Sunguard is used as unlike many charge controllers it does not require a connection sequence to be followed so it can be connected and disconnected from the battery quickly and easily. The kit is supplied with crocodile clips and also a battery connection lead with ring terminals which can be left permanently connected to the battery with connection/disconnection made with the weatherproof 2 pin plug & socket connector.
Alternatively I would be very happy to put a kit together specifically to meet your requirements.
I hope that this all makes sense - please ask if you have any questions. You can order online (follow product links above) or e-mail or call if you'd rather deal with me directly. If you need to customise the kit to suit your own situation please let me know and I will sort out the correct components for you.
Everything is in stock and ready to go if you do decide to place an order.
Kind regards
Bill
