free standing solar panel/wifi connector

Any recommendations for a small solar panel to top up the battery while not on an electric hook up? Also a wifi connection for while in France.

Do you not fancy a roof fitted solar panel which will suffice for the normally uk dismal weather...this week being an exception!

We have a Huawei mifi now and someone told us the best way to ensure a signal is to buy a sim card in the country you are in. We have yet to test that...but 3g 12gb, £30 and valid for a year is doing us just fine in the UK

We use this in a Mifi bought from Currys.
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It has one month rolling contract so can be terminated at any time.  Carry it in your pocket for wifi anywhere.
Rich..

Can't help on the solar... we did the sums and decided that our leisure battery would easily last a few days of lights and phone charging.

Abroad, we also use Mifi. Check out the '3 Feel at Home' deal - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - we used this in Spain last year and it was super. Very cheap and we seemed to have a decent signal most places. However, the deal is not valid in Portugal (or wasn't last year anyhow).

Steve

Another vote for a MiFi with "3" PAYG Data SIM.

If you don't want or need 4G (there's not much 4G coverage in France for instance), then you can buy a decent Huawei e5331 or e5332 on ebay for around £20.

EDIT: With our previous van, I thought about solar panels, both roof mounted and small dashboard mounted ones, to keep the batteries topped up.

I discounted the concept as 'not worth the effort'.

Our latest van has a 110W roof panel and now I wouldn't want to be without it, as it keeps both batteries fully charged regardless of usage and weather conditions.

meanchris wrote:With our previous van, I thought about solar panels, both roof mounted and small dashboard mounted ones, to keep the batteries topped up.

I discounted the concept as 'not worth the effort'.

Our latest van has a 110W roof panel and now I wouldn't want to be without it, as it keeps both batteries fully charged regardless of usage and weather conditions.

Ditto on all points, except that our roof panel is only 80W - but it works absolutely fine.

The huge advantage is "fit and forget", with emphasis on "forget". Don't need to think about it any more, it just does the job.

It may be worth considering an MPPT controller. (Maximum Power Point Tracking - whatever that means?? ) They are a more expensive option, but are reputed to gain maximum value from intermittent sunshine.

Dave

MPPT is definitely the better option, but the benefit over expense isn't really enough for the use of topping up a leisure battery.

Unless you wanted to eek out the maximum power for wild camping during winter months a cheap PWM controller with around a 100W panel will see you fine.

Thanks Noggin

I was given mine as a freebie for spending a lot of money on other installations.

I've nothing to compare it with, but it works fine so that will do nicely!

Dave