Aldi Solar charger

[Phildeeney]

I know this has been asked before but couldn't find it on search(too many solar Steve posts!!)

Are they any good at keeping a leisure battery topped up alongside the spring charging controller?

 

[Marko067]

I had a look at it yesterday and was surprised how low the charging current was for such a large panel. I chose not to bother with it.

 

[spruce]

I know this has been asked before but couldn't find it on search(too many solar Steve posts!!)

Are they any good at keeping a leisure battery topped up alongside the spring charging controller?

If you do a search on the caravan forums I think the general consensus of opinion is that we don't get enough sunlight during the winter for it to work efficiently. The other issue is the angle of the sun.

We would have to fix the panel flat on the van's roof. During winter the panel will need to be facing at an angle toward the horizon which just isn't feasible on a van.

The other issue is the controller. A standard pwm controller is cheap but the best controller is a Mppt controller and a genuine one is much more expensive.(There is lots on YouTube about these controllers and how many fakes are being sold in the UK of Chinese manufacture.)

If you are in Spain its worth a shot, but I don't think it a viable option here even although I keeping thinking about it.

I'm of course referring to the larger 80 and 100 watt panels, not those tiny ones.

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