This Christmas, we camped on the Goulburn River south of Jamieson for nearly three weeks, at a spot different to our usual place (which had been closed off by the DSE bastards). It was the first time also that I had with me a 120W solar panel to charge my two campervan batteries (these panels are able to put in up to about 7.5A in full sun). Now the debate about solar vs genny runs hot and strong with almost no grey in the middle, so this is a short tale on my experience using solar panels in the Vic High Country.
First off, the arsenal consisted of two 140Ah lead acid batteries, a Honda E10 genny, a Ctek 15A charger and a cheap Chinese 120W folding solar panel. The enemy was two Waeco fridges (one was the old set a light type, the other, set your temp), one was running as a fridge and the other running as a freezer (the older one). The mission was to run both fridges on solar power for the entire camping trip. When both were running, the current draw was about 7.5A.
However, Murphy hit almost from day one and a problem was encountered at the very beginning where one of the lead acid batteries was completely stuffed and wouldn't hold charge over 11.5V and the other was going down at a rapid rate. The problem was identified when it became evident that the two batteries were not in fact sealed lead acid, but the usual check and fill (which I hadn't done for some time). Because the batteries had none of the usual filler caps, I had assumed that they were fully sealed and that mistake cost me a trip back to Melbourne and two new batteries, or a cancelled camping trip.
The new batteries were AC Delco sealed deep cycle 110A, which I've now found out to be lead calcium batteries, rather than lead acid. I know that there's been a lot of debate about lead calcium over the other types, but that's another discussion altogether. So, upon installing the new batteries, things looked OK, but the charge wasn't holding up to the draw of the fridges and rather than risk destroying another two batteries, I fired up the Honda and Ctek and proceeded to bring the AC Delcos up to full charge. I never actually managed to get the batteries to the float stage, but I did eventually, after about 8 hours of running, get them to the start of the full level.
So, back to the debate of solar vs genny. The aim was to run two fridges continuously using only solar power. Was it achievable? Where we were camped, we were lucky to get maybe 4 hours of full sun that provided maybe 5-6A of charge, with perhaps a few spurts of up to 7.3A. And that depended on your location and length of cable. Stu from the forum perhaps got a bit more, but he was running a 200A AGM and one fridge, so the demand wasn't as great as mine. We ended up doing what I called the Solar Panel Shuffle for three weeks, trying to get every last Amp out of the panels, and with the way the sun moved, we were shuffle champions.
So does solar work? Yes and no. There is no way that you can expect to keep up with power demands in many areas of the Vic High Country, relying just on solar power, you'd be just as well off using an esky and ice. There are areas where you can definitely do well, but that usually means large camping areas where every man and dog resides alongside your camp. With large trees, cloud, time of year etc, solar power in Vic can be a hit or miss affair, if you plan to stay in one spot for a reasonably long time.
Does that mean I dismiss solar power? Not at all. I'll have my panel along with me on all camping trips and use it when the conditions are right, but one cannot rely on just solar in this neck of the woods. For travellers who go where a tree is rarely seen, solar is an ideal solution. But even then, given that even paradise is prone to lack of sun, maybe a genny isn't such a bad idea.
As a final note, if I really had my choice, I'd have the genny running as much as possible; doing the solar panel shuffle for almost three weeks really became tiring after a while. It became as absessive as being a Prious owner and constantly trying to achieve the absolute minimum fuel economy. I actually think the wives would have preferred the gennys running, rather than watch and listen to all of us constantly checking and moving the panels.
Cheers
Ray
First off, the arsenal consisted of two 140Ah lead acid batteries, a Honda E10 genny, a Ctek 15A charger and a cheap Chinese 120W folding solar panel. The enemy was two Waeco fridges (one was the old set a light type, the other, set your temp), one was running as a fridge and the other running as a freezer (the older one). The mission was to run both fridges on solar power for the entire camping trip. When both were running, the current draw was about 7.5A.
However, Murphy hit almost from day one and a problem was encountered at the very beginning where one of the lead acid batteries was completely stuffed and wouldn't hold charge over 11.5V and the other was going down at a rapid rate. The problem was identified when it became evident that the two batteries were not in fact sealed lead acid, but the usual check and fill (which I hadn't done for some time). Because the batteries had none of the usual filler caps, I had assumed that they were fully sealed and that mistake cost me a trip back to Melbourne and two new batteries, or a cancelled camping trip.
The new batteries were AC Delco sealed deep cycle 110A, which I've now found out to be lead calcium batteries, rather than lead acid. I know that there's been a lot of debate about lead calcium over the other types, but that's another discussion altogether. So, upon installing the new batteries, things looked OK, but the charge wasn't holding up to the draw of the fridges and rather than risk destroying another two batteries, I fired up the Honda and Ctek and proceeded to bring the AC Delcos up to full charge. I never actually managed to get the batteries to the float stage, but I did eventually, after about 8 hours of running, get them to the start of the full level.
So, back to the debate of solar vs genny. The aim was to run two fridges continuously using only solar power. Was it achievable? Where we were camped, we were lucky to get maybe 4 hours of full sun that provided maybe 5-6A of charge, with perhaps a few spurts of up to 7.3A. And that depended on your location and length of cable. Stu from the forum perhaps got a bit more, but he was running a 200A AGM and one fridge, so the demand wasn't as great as mine. We ended up doing what I called the Solar Panel Shuffle for three weeks, trying to get every last Amp out of the panels, and with the way the sun moved, we were shuffle champions.
So does solar work? Yes and no. There is no way that you can expect to keep up with power demands in many areas of the Vic High Country, relying just on solar power, you'd be just as well off using an esky and ice. There are areas where you can definitely do well, but that usually means large camping areas where every man and dog resides alongside your camp. With large trees, cloud, time of year etc, solar power in Vic can be a hit or miss affair, if you plan to stay in one spot for a reasonably long time.
Does that mean I dismiss solar power? Not at all. I'll have my panel along with me on all camping trips and use it when the conditions are right, but one cannot rely on just solar in this neck of the woods. For travellers who go where a tree is rarely seen, solar is an ideal solution. But even then, given that even paradise is prone to lack of sun, maybe a genny isn't such a bad idea.
As a final note, if I really had my choice, I'd have the genny running as much as possible; doing the solar panel shuffle for almost three weeks really became tiring after a while. It became as absessive as being a Prious owner and constantly trying to achieve the absolute minimum fuel economy. I actually think the wives would have preferred the gennys running, rather than watch and listen to all of us constantly checking and moving the panels.
Cheers
Ray
