Fully Solar

Spent this weekend riveting the solar panels to the roof, after last weekend's Beltane Bash where we only had one panel, it was a bit overcast, and someone parked a dirty great truck right next to the solar panel. The battery managed, but was down to 11.9 volts by the end of the weekend, and that was with running the fridge just occasionally.

So, how to attach panels? Angle aluminium, Sikafix, and pop rivets. Lots and lots of pop rivets.

So, there you have it - two panels, attached to the roof. Since this photo, I added some flashing to hold the cables down.

And the result - 13.8V with the fridge running!

5A going to the fridge and sound system.

6A coming from the panels. The battery is already pretty well charged so I guess I won't ever see the full 26A it should be capable of kicking out.

The battery is 130Ah, so even with no solar power (in the hold of the ferry to Bilbao, for instance) I'd expect it to run the fridge for 24h before expiring. And in full sun it should recharge in 6 hours or so.