Warwick XL 2014 Installation of Solar Panel

I have a 2014 Warwick XL. I would like to have either an 80 or 100 w solar panel fitted. I have contacted several installers in my area. Some have responded others seemingly are simply not interested in the work. Those that have responded are distinctly vague about the kit they plan to use and how the job will be done – particularly the connection to the Sargent control panel. Some say it will take 3 hours, another 5 hours! In short I am not confident in the installers. I would consider myself a fairly competent DIY person. I am unfortunately coming to the view that I would be happier tackling the job myself. Question… if anyone has done this job on their Autosleepers van conversion would they be prepared to share with me a detailed description of how they went about it? Thanks.

Gordon

I am booked into having a Solar panel fitted on 12th Dec on my Fairford.
When I was enquiring about it, the dealer phoned A/Sleeper who confirmed that the van was pre-wired for a Solar panel (wiring seems to be located behind the driver seat, behind the lockers).
I assume the control panel end to be connected.

S

Gordie1 wrote:particularly the connection to the Sargent control panel.

Assuming your van has a Sargent EC500 (I don't know about the 2014 model specifically) then the connection to it is very easy - the connection goes to a multi-way socket in the base of the power control unit (i.e. it does not connect to the control panel at all). No separate solar controller is needed for the panel, and a suitable connector and cable can be bought directly from Sargent. As above, on at least some vans, A/S pre-install the cable, so it ~may~ just be a question of finding the cable end, extending it if necessary and connecting it to the panel.

In my opinion it is better to have a solar panel regulator that shows the actual output of the panel in amps. The kind that show a light or two do not give you any meaningful measure of how the panel is doing and whether or not you need to move the van to avoid shadows from trees etc.

I have had a battery destroyed by a carless installation of a panel and an uninformative regulator, which in the event did not regulate at all (it had been wired as a 24 volt regulator and so fried the battery) If the regulator has a visual display of output, it is much more informative. and useful. My understanding of the Sargent unit is that it does not show the output, it only acts as a regulator: not good.

I have a very simple regulator , no digital output shown just lights to show its working. I have no problem with it. I doubt very much if I would move the van to get a better angle to the sun, I just make sure I'm not in shadow of trees.

I had a panel fitted at a show, many years ago. 15 to 20 minutes for a team of 3 who knew what they were doing, They fitted dozens over the weekend.

Spospe wrote:My understanding of the Sargent unit is that it does not show the output, it only acts as a regulator: not good.

An external display can be fitted to the regulator in the Sargent unit:

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It's not showing anything interesting in that photo as the van is in near complete darkness in the garage, but it will show voltage of each battery, charging current, battery temps, summary of total Ah put into each battery since last reset, etc.

But IMO you don't really need it - you can see pretty well what the panel is doing by looking at the battery voltages, and you can tell if the panel needs moving to a sunnier spot by going outside and looking! I've been using the built-in 2-channel controller for nearly 3 years now and I don't find it deficient in any way.

It seems a bit unfair to condemn a regulator on the basis that someone incompetent wired yours up!

I did not know that Sargent offered a display unit for the inbuilt regulator. This is an excellent idea and seems to give all the right information (provided that it can be mounted in plain view, where it can be seen easily).

I am not condemning regulators as such, just making the point that it is more reassuring and informative to have one that shows what is going on, then trust to a blank box which tells you little if anything.

We had one fitted to our XL just after we bought it in 2014, there is only room for an 80 and they had to use aluminium angle to mount it as there was no room for the proper brackets. They connected it into the control panel over the door. It was fitted by Simpsons the main dealer and took about 5 hrs, that did include going to get the angle as they had,nt done one before.
    It does,nt work in the winter have to keep it plugged in. In hindsight I would,nt have had it done.I think it cost around £500.If you would like a photo let me know.

Hi Gordon, not on a van conversion but I have fitted a solar panel on our previous Broadway EK. Fairly straightforward as replaced defunct panel using existing cable pathway straight into Sargent control panel. Do you know if your van is pre wired to fit one? As you appear confident to fit one yourself, may I suggest you take a look at  [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] tel 01706_870330. Peter Green is most obliging in offering all the advice needed. I don't know the model of your control panel but understand most have regulator built in to accept panel up to 120 watts. The diy option cost us £312 complete with corner mounts, cable entry box, adhesive and appropriate cable for a 60 watt panel. Regards

Should be able to get an 80 or bigger fitted for not much more than that.

I have fitted a 120w panel from photonicuniverse to my 2015 Duo and bought a connecting cable from Sargent which plugs directly into the power unit,EC500, you have to unplug the provided plug with the red/black cable. This is provided by A/S, but when I asked Mark where the other end was, he said behind the wardrobe unit!. Why? you cannot get to it, must be a left over from days past in an old wiring loom.

I agree with Mojo, the Sargent unit works well and the  output is shown on the panel above the sliding door, so no need for a separate regulator.

Only bit to hold you breath is drilling through the roof for the cables, I ran mine down the cover by the sink, but do not know the layout on the XL.

Having had a display in amps and enthusiastically checking it at every opportunity the novelty does wear off. I never felt the need to move to get more juice.

When parking you have a rough idea of where the sun will be and whether it will shine on the roof much.

I found that my 80 watt panel brought the battery up to just about full by mid morning in the summer after marathon tv watching the previous evening.

From checking every 5 minutes it got to the stage when it was never looked at because the battery was always full. My current regulator has led indication and I doubt whether I will ever bother looking at it. If it's free go for it, but not worth paying for. It either works and the battery is kept full, or it doesn't. You will soon find out if there's no juice.

It's the same as not caring how much is being put into the battery on hook up or when driving. It just is and that's all that matters.

With my regulator being inside wardrobe I certainly wouldn't be checking the output. As matchlessman said, it either works or doesn't.

Thank you all for your responses. All have been interesting and helped me get to grips with this. Summarising what has been said it seems to me I do key hole surgery on the roof. Obtain an EC500 connecting lead from Sargent. Select an appropriate route. Connect the new lead from the solar panel to the socket on the EC control panel and that would appear to be that. For me probably the best arrangement would be for the solar panel to be located between the rear and middle roof vents with the wiring concealed within the wardrobe and thence to the rear of the EC500 unit under the off side bed.

Any government health warnings on this plan would be most welcome before I proceed!!

Thanks again
Gordon

Spot on Gordon, sounds like the route I took, although on a Duo.

Only health warning, take care getting the Panel up to the roof!

Richard

Hi Gordie1, My apologies to my earlier post re cost of RV Solar panel that I quoted at £312. Just found receipt to confirm that the complete DYI kit was just £211 and that was the inspiration to save money with this DIY option. One important point as highlighted with the installation instructions is to completely cover over solar cells as they will energize immediately when exposed to bright light. Good luck.

First thing I would recommend you do is to look at the base of the EC500 (assuming you haven't already done so) and see how easy it is to gain access to the cabling. Many converters mount the power unit down against a panel so that the wiring is not visible - in which case you may need to unmount the whole controller from the back panel. Be careful when you do this, as it's not unknown for the cables to be ty-rapped in place underneath, having been tidied up after the box was installed. In my case one of the connectors pulled out in the process - so it's advisable to disconnect both batteries first.

Having done that you can see if there is a cable already plugged into the solar input socket - if so you don't need to pay Sargent for a cable provided you can trace the cable and find the other end.