Solar set up for camping

eeepaulo

Hi all, struggling a bit with this, to set up for camping,

how does this look

Solar Panel

4mm2 cable, 5M, do i need 8mm2?

circuit breaker

1 circuit breaker with a 15 Amp fuse between pv and controller,

controller

4mm2 cable, <1M, do i need 8mm2?

1 circuit breaker with a 25 Amp fuse between battery and controller,

115a Halfords Leisure battery
**

Out of the load connectors on the controller

4mm2 cable, <1M, do i need 8mm2?

1 circuit breaker with a 25 Amp fuse between controller and switch panel,

Switch Panel

Have those 4 switches controlling my fridge (4A when on), 12v socket (maha c9000 battery charger at home, possibly a 150w inverter at times) usb sockets, lights (a few amps)

Thanks for any comments

eeepaulo

eeepaulo wrote: »

how does this look

Solar Panel

4mm2 cable, 5M, do i need 8mm2?

It'd be cheaper to buy and more practical day to day if it was a permanent fixture.

4mm² is fine up to about 150W @ 18V

eeepaulo wrote: »

circuit breaker

Fine
I like breakers, fuses are cheaper.

eeepaulo wrote: »

1 circuit breaker with a 15 Amp fuse between pv and controller,

Not necessary, it'll never trip. You need a switch-disconnect here to isolated the PV input before cutting power to the solar controller for any reason.

eeepaulo wrote: »

controller
4mm2 cable, <1M, do i need 8mm2?

That's exactly what I wanted before they developed it. Double your battery life expectancy with that nugget.

≥6mm²

eeepaulo wrote: »

1 circuit breaker with a 25 Amp fuse between battery and controller,

12A/13A fuse for a 10A controller or 40A for 6mm² cable

eeepaulo wrote: »

Out of the load connectors on the controller

4mm2 cable, <1M, do i need 8mm2?

4mm² for 10 amp is adequate.

eeepaulo wrote: »

1 circuit breaker with a 25 Amp fuse between controller and switch panel,

12A fuse for 10A Load Controller

eeepaulo wrote: »

Have those 4 switches controlling my fridge (4A when on), 12v socket (maha c9000 battery charger at home, possibly a 150w inverter at times) usb sockets, lights (a few amps)

Don't run the fridge or inverter off the load control terminals. Pretty sure it'll say as much in the manual. They're too heavy for the wee controller.

Delete the cig. lighter plug from your inverter, install an inline fuse and hard-wire it to the battery or bus bar.

USB Sockets, 12V Sockets, Lights no probs. Don't exceed 120W total load or buy a larger controller or wire loads from distribution. The Load terminals are for low/high voltage protected appliances (the stuff you are likely to forget about and drains the battery).

eeepaulo

I'm reading more.....

Just a quick question though, should I buy the 20a or 30a controller, based on my need?

10A Solar controller : 150Wp solar flat-mounted / 120W Optimised.
10A Load controller: Max controlled Load 120W.

20A Solar controller : 300Wp solar flat-mounted / 240W Optimised.
20A Load controller: Max controlled Load 240W.

30A Solar controller : 450Wp solar flat-mounted / 360W Optimised.
30A Load controller: Max controlled Load 360W.

{x2 for 24v}

No load controller likes fridges or inverters. You can coerce them into triggering relays that load control fridges and inverters though.