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- This topic has 1 reply, 2 voices, and was last updated 4 years, 9 months ago by Barry & Maggie.
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10th June 2019 at 09:34 #1208
One of the reasons we wanted an Exsis was to do more off grid camping. While the leisure battery should last few days with just lights etc, todays needs for charging phones, laptops TV, Wi-Fi etc meant a more robust system was needed.
The first thing to upgrade was the leisure battery, taking out the single one and putting in a matched pair of 110amp AGM batteries.
I bonded a 100w flexible solar panel to the roof just in front of the sky-light and then run the cables down the back of the tall cupboard, under the sink and into the seat area with the batteries and elektroblock.
You can also see the Wi-Fi antenna on the roof. This connects to the 4G mobile network, giving Helga her own Wi-Fi hotspot. We got a fantastic sim deal from motorhomewifi.co.uk, 115gb data per month, no European caps all on Vodafone, so you get 4g in Europe as well (unlike Three who are only 3g) all for £13.50 a month.
There are many options of solar controllers to use, but I went for the Schaudt LRM1218. This came with all the required cables and plugged easily into the elecktroblock. It also has the benefit of automatically switching over to charge the engine battery once the leisure batteries are full.
I also installed the schaudt LT320 control panel which shows how many amps are going into the various batteries.
I then changed the single 220v socket for a double, ran a cable back under the sink and plugged it into a 2000w invertor. It is quite a large invertor, but I didn’t want to have a smaller one struggle and also get hot.It has a remote panel which you see next to the sockets, this allows me to turn it on or off without having to lift up the seat cushions.
We can now run the kettle, toaster (vital when you have a 6 year boy!) and small fan heater if required all off the batteries when not on hook-up. Obviously you can’t go mad with it, but it gives the option. I will have to see if a 100w panel is enough, but I have room to fit two extra 50w either side of the main sky light.
Solar powered kettle! -
10th June 2019 at 21:26 #1210
Your thoughts on “off-grid” power exactly mirror my own, Chris, and you seem to have followed my route exactly!
I always felt that we should be able to “survive” independently on 12v and that’s what I aimed for, by fitting, like you, twin 110ah batteries, 100w solar panels and an inverter (in our case a 150w). We’ve also added a Sterling B2B battery charger which is great for us because we’re rarely in one place for long.
Great stuff, Chris. Keep the ideas coming. And thanks for posting in such detail – a great help for a lot of people.
Barry
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