RV FEATURE

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSTRAINTS

It ’ s no coincidence that the number of travellers with flat battery issues increases around this time of year . Winter creates many issues for off-grid campers simply because the conditions are just not conducive to producing the amount of solar power required to replace the energy we use running our appliances .

For a start , the sun sits much lower in the sky than it does during summer , including in the central north of the country where you might think the effect is not so great . This means the sun is at a very shallow angle to our rooftop solar panels , making them far less efficient . In fact , this issue alone can be responsible for reducing your solar panels ’ output by as much as 70 per cent of their rated output !

So that 500W of solar panels on your caravan roof may only produce 150W in full sun and that will be for a very short time .

All the modern conveniences of home with the power consumption to match .

Another way to improve the output of a solar blanket during winter .

Speaking of time , the amount of daylight hours is significantly less than it is during summer , reducing the total watt-hours of solar energy we can produce each day . It also means we are using our batteries to power our appliances at night for longer . In other words , we will be taking much more electricity out of our batteries than we will be putting in . This shortfall can compound very quickly if you ’ re not keeping an eye on your battery ’ s state of charge ( SOC ).

The solution ? Even having just one external solar panel that you can place at the right angle to the sun can be enough to make a huge difference . Many new caravans come with an Anderson provision for connecting an external solar panel . If yours doesn ’ t , you can wire one in parallel with your rooftop panels or you may be able to use the Anderson connection on your drawbar to connect an external solar panel .

If the conditions are really bad , you may need to resort to using a generator .

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