Solar Panel selection

[VanDamMan]

My D250sa will trickle charge starter battery ..it’s was designed to charge a battery bank up to 300amps @ 20amps max...you only needed the smartpass if you had a bigger battery bank up to 800amps @ 120amps max....but don’t know of any van that needs that much battery storage....

 

[andys]

My D250sa will trickle charge starter battery ..it’s was designed to charge a battery bank up to 300amps @ 20amps max...you only needed the smartpass if you had a bigger battery bank up to 800amps @ 120amps max....but don’t know of any van that needs that much battery storage....

Mine definitely doesn’t allow current to pass back to the starter battery under any circumstance, I’ve tested it.

 

[t0mb0]

Think it’s only the later DSE model of the Ctek that does this, the older one needed the stupidly priced Smartpass.

Edit. Wait wasn’t it you I nicked this idea from in the first place @t0mb0?

Yeah, possibly! I think I did suggest it on some early threads after being pleased with the trickle charging in mine.

 

[Captain Rick]

Thanks to all of you who have contributed to this discussion. I had been going round in circles trying to make the best use of my Ctek D250SE while getting big enough panels to make sure I didn't need any mains input to the 'van. I've finally concluded to leave the Ctek as it is doing the dc-dc job between the batteries and adding a Victron 100/20 to provide the solar control. (Where I will put it and how I'll manage to squeeze it under the drivers seat with everything else that's under there is for another day!) The Victron can support up to 290watts input so I'm going for the Photonic Universe 250 watt panel to complete the set-up. I think that will fit very nicely on the roof. The only problem left now is how to fit it. I can manage all the underseat wiring but I won't be able to fit the panel to the roof by myself. Does anyone know who might be able to lead on such a job - I am based on the south side on Nottingham.

 

[jimc91]

Thanks to all of you who have contributed to this discussion. I had been going round in circles trying to make the best use of my Ctek D250SE while getting big enough panels to make sure I didn't need any mains input to the 'van. I've finally concluded to leave the Ctek as it is doing the dc-dc job between the batteries and adding a Victron 100/20 to provide the solar control. (Where I will put it and how I'll manage to squeeze it under the drivers seat with everything else that's under there is for another day!) The Victron can support up to 290watts input so I'm going for the Photonic Universe 250 watt panel to complete the set-up. I think that will fit very nicely on the roof. The only problem left now is how to fit it. I can manage all the underseat wiring but I won't be able to fit the panel to the roof by myself. Does anyone know who might be able to lead on such a job - I am based on the south side on Nottingham.

im sure I've read somewhere on here that others have had some vinyl wrap put on the roof first and then the panel bonded to that so that when removed the paint work is protected, might be worth a consideration, watching this thread with interest so post some pics when done

 

[VanDamMan]

Mine definitely doesn’t allow current to pass back to the starter battery under any circumstance, I’ve tested it.

Oh ..I’m sorry it’s not functioning as detailed in the manual

Charging a service battery from a solar panel
The D250SA can charge and trickle charge a service battery from a solar panel at up to 20A. The D250SA uses MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracker) to maximise the power from the solar

Charging a service battery from a solar panel
The D250SE can charge and trickle charge a service battery from a solar panel at up to 20A. The
D250SE uses MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracker) to maximise the power from the solar panel.

I’ve just checked the manual for both models and the function mode is the same...May I suggest you email Ctek to see if they can remedy the issue

 

[andys]

Oh ..I’m sorry it’s not functioning as detailed in the manual

Charging a service battery from a solar panel
The D250SA can charge and trickle charge a service battery from a solar panel at up to 20A. The D250SA uses MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracker) to maximise the power from the solar

Charging a service battery from a solar panel
The D250SE can charge and trickle charge a service battery from a solar panel at up to 20A. The
D250SE uses MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracker) to maximise the power from the solar panel.

I’ve just checked the manual for both models and the function mode is the same...May I suggest you email Ctek to see if they can remedy the issue

The discussion was whether the Ctek would trickle charge WITHOUT SOLAR

 

[t0mb0]

Thanks to all of you who have contributed to this discussion. I had been going round in circles trying to make the best use of my Ctek D250SE while getting big enough panels to make sure I didn't need any mains input to the 'van. I've finally concluded to leave the Ctek as it is doing the dc-dc job between the batteries and adding a Victron 100/20 to provide the solar control. (Where I will put it and how I'll manage to squeeze it under the drivers seat with everything else that's under there is for another day!) The Victron can support up to 290watts input so I'm going for the Photonic Universe 250 watt panel to complete the set-up. I think that will fit very nicely on the roof. The only problem left now is how to fit it. I can manage all the underseat wiring but I won't be able to fit the panel to the roof by myself. Does anyone know who might be able to lead on such a job - I am based on the south side on Nottingham.

I've had a 250w panel from Photonic Universe for over three years now and it's been great. One thing to be aware of though, if you choose the version with the back box (which is definitely neater once installed), is that the back box is really quite big - you need to cut a pretty large size hole in the pop top to accommodate it. Some of the newer panel designs have a round fitting which is much easier to accommodate although I'm not sure these come in 250w flavour.

 

[andys]

Another vote for the Photonic Universe 250W panel, had mine for 2yrs now and never needed my ehu lead since.

 

[t0mb0]

Another vote for the Photonic Universe 250W panel, had mine for 2yrs now and never needed my ehu lead since.

Agree, our hook up lead now lives in the garage.

 

[VanDamMan]

The discussion was whether the Ctek would trickle charge WITHOUT SOLAR

Confused...The Ctek will charge the leisure battery via alternator.....The Ctek will charge the leisure battery via solar ( Mppt) and once the battery is charged will trickle charge the starter battery
but due to the limitations of the inputs to the Ctek ...a suggestion to fit along side and use the Victron system that can take higher inputs

But the Ctek can’t trickle charge without solar ......i Must have miss read this

 

[Big.mac]

Thanks to all of you who have contributed to this discussion. I had been going round in circles trying to make the best use of my Ctek D250SE while getting big enough panels to make sure I didn't need any mains input to the 'van. I've finally concluded to leave the Ctek as it is doing the dc-dc job between the batteries and adding a Victron 100/20 to provide the solar control. (Where I will put it and how I'll manage to squeeze it under the drivers seat with everything else that's under there is for another day!) The Victron can support up to 290watts input so I'm going for the Photonic Universe 250 watt panel to complete the set-up. I think that will fit very nicely on the roof. The only problem left now is how to fit it. I can manage all the underseat wiring but I won't be able to fit the panel to the roof by myself. Does anyone know who might be able to lead on such a job - I am based on the south side on Nottingham.

Sounds like you may have made your decision but just in case you are still pondering, Photonic Universe do a 180W panel that has a VoC of 23.9v. They do two versions, rear entry and normal. The rear entry is out of stock just now (`I’m waiting stock so I can order one). The size is ideal for the roof of my Kombi (no pop-top). Might be worth a look as it is within the limits of the CTEK. I will be connecting once to my CTEK.

 

[boxelder]

Sounds like you may have made your decision but just in case you are still pondering, Photonic Universe do a 180W panel that has a VoC of 23.9v. They do two versions, rear entry and normal. The rear entry is out of stock just now (`I’m waiting stock so I can order one). The size is ideal for the roof of my Kombi (no pop-top). Might be worth a look as it is within the limits of the CTEK. I will be connecting once to my CTEK.

How will you make the recess to accommodate the cabling? I'm looking for the same as you I think - max Wattage on the roof connected to CTEK.

 

[Big.mac]

How will you make the recess to accommodate the cabling? I'm looking for the same as you I think - max Wattage on the roof connected to CTEK.

I’m not brave enough to drill the van roof myself so will be getting my local converter to do it for me. The hole is relatively small on these panels, approx 30mm in diameter. I plan to have the cable enter at the front of the roof, route down through the B pillar to the CTEK which is under the drivers seat. The panel I’m looking at comes with 3M of cabling so it should reach without needing to have any cable joints which is also a bonus.
this is the one I’m intending to get:

12V solar panels charging kits for caravans, motorhomes, boats, yachts, marine

12V solar panel solar charging kits for motorhome caravan boat campervan yacht marine off-grid

www.photonicuniverse.com

you can see the rear entry etc in this one which is the same but only 160W:

12V solar panels charging kits for caravans, motorhomes, boats, yachts, marine

12V solar panel solar charging kits for motorhome caravan boat campervan yacht marine off-grid

www.photonicuniverse.com

There’s a reasonable video here that shows how to fit a panel, not a rear entry one but the way he measures out etc is very informative.

 

[Big.mac]

The 180W and 160W rear entry panels are back in stock at Photonic Universe. I’ve just ordered mine

 

[boxelder]

@Big.mac - got you. I was looking at ones with a larger cable thingamajig. Like this:

Round ones look far easier. I'd seen that video, though I've a standard roof. Was planning to run cables from the rear, above headlining/ceiling and down B pillar. His routing looks better, but I have furniture in......
Cheers.

 

[t0mb0]

@Big.mac - got you. I was looking at ones with a larger cable thingamajig. Like this:
View attachment 88134
Round ones look far easier. Cheers.

Yeah, that's what mine had. It does require a pretty big cut out on the pop top! Having said that, it's been installed for over three years now with no problems. My top is a Reimo Easyfit which is a pretty substantial roof so I wasn't worried about it from a strength point of view. You could get away with a much smaller cut out if you took the cables off and reattached them so they don't come out sideways but this wouldn't be entirely straightforward either - they're not designed to be detached. Some of the later panels have a much easier round fitting that you can pretty much do with a small'ish hole saw but these tend to be smaller panels from what I've seen.

 

[Big.mac]

This is the style I’m going for. Much easier to install. This is on the Photonic Universe panel I’ve just ordered.

 

[Captain Rick]

@Big.mac. 23.9VOC is too much for the Ctek. I double checked with them as part of my research and they were adamant that you should not exceed 23VOC otherwise the unit will fry itself. @travelvolts added that in his experience you might be able to get up to 23.6 VOC allowing for the voltage drop in the cables but that's still not 23.9. Other advice I received suggested that some panels in high sun and warmish weather will exceed their stated VOC so, please, be very careful!

 

[Big.mac]

@Big.mac. 23.9VOC is too much for the Ctek. I double checked with them as part of my research and they were adamant that you should not exceed 23VOC otherwise the unit will fry itself. @travelvolts added that in his experience you might be able to get up to 23.6 VOC allowing for the voltage drop in the cables but that's still not 23.9. Other advice I received suggested that some panels in high sun and warmish weather will exceed their stated VOC so, please, be very careful!

Thanks @Captain Rick, i know it is close but I’m happy to give it a go. I only really use the van in the UK so the level of sun exposure won’t be as dramatic as if I was in Southern Europe for example.

My panel just arrived. I only ordered out yesterday, that is good service