Adding extra solar panel

I had roof rails on the rear of the van but never used them so have removed them and can now get an extra panel in their place, 

I already have a 250w panel fitted and want to add extra with hopefully the added benefit of adding an inverter to the system 

After chatting with a person on the Victron Facebook page he explained about wiring in series and parallel, I have a Victron 100/30 MPPT controller fitted so that won’t need upgrading , I was going to add an extra 150w panel but after chatting I will be adding a Victon 140w panel ,fits the space better and £s cheaper.

With wiring in series if I used the 150W + 250W will give 364W and  with 140W + 250W will give 357W


New rails added in advance of the panel arriving 


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New Victron 140w panel added to the roof, I have to reorder extension cable as the one I got was to short🤬

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Could you post a link to that 140w panel please, they look the same size as my 100w panels. If they are the same size I may consider replacing to harvest additional power.

Suppersready wrote:Could you post a link to that 140w panel please, they look the same size as my 100w panels. If they are the same size I may consider replacing to harvest additional power.

I bought from the same company as the link but from their  eBay shop at a cheaper price 

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Thanks Chris but that panel does not look the same size as the one in the OPs 
Photo’s, however the only 140w panel I can find from victron is as your link.

Suppersready wrote:Thanks Chris but that panel does not look the same size as the one in the OPs 
Photo’s, however the only 140w panel I can find from victron is as your link.

Sorry OPs photo ? 

Victron only do one size of 140w panel, a link here to all there panels and sizes

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Nice one Chris, when you starting the on site welding business!!!

FreelanderUK wrote:

Suppersready wrote:Thanks Chris but that panel does not look the same size as the one in the OPs 
Photo’s, however the only 140w panel I can find from victron is as your link.

Sorry OPs photo ? 

Victron only do one size of 140w panel, a link here to all there panels and sizes

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Sorry … take no notice, not had my tablets yet .

Thanks for the additional link ….

Nice job, very envious of all that space up there compared to my Symbol roof which I’ve now completely filled.

Dbvwt wrote:Nice job, very envious of all that space up there compared to my Symbol roof which I’ve now completely filled.

I had to cover the kitchen skylight though, it didn’t really make much difference with the light though, the skylight is now on the night vent and the cables for the 4/5g Ariel come through there 

I may be corrected by people with more knowledge but I have been told numerous times if you mix panel wattages they will only produce the same as the lowest wattage panel so you now have 2 x 140 watt panels.

Paul Bullas wrote:I may be corrected by people with more knowledge but I have been told numerous times if you mix panel wattages they will only produce the same as the lowest wattage panel so you now have 2 x 140 watt panels.

There may be a difference if the solar panels are wired in series or parallel. This topic though raises many other considerations, just to say my two identical panels were in parallel originally but have been in series for over a year. The solar controller has to be able to handle a higher voltage when the panels are in series.

I asked the question on the Victron energy facebook page about mixing panels and this was the answer I received , I new that I would not get the full power,

Linked in parallel there was no increase in watts at all 

In series: 62v @ 5.6A = 357W
In parallel: 18v @ 14A = 252W


The 140W + 250W will give 357W

Remember these wattages are the laboratory (STC) figures on the label. In practice, you will only get about 75% of these figures. 
viz: around 270W actual watts total on the best sunny day. 
That imputes a maximum charge current of 270W/14.4v = 19A (on a 12v system) on the best sunny day. Or around 5A on an overcast day or 2A on a rainy day. 
Your MPPT is fine. Even on a very cold, sunny day, the input voltage will be just below 100v.

I decided on a 1500w inverter to add to the system ( on offer at the moment [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ) and needed to have a little move around under the seating to fit the inverter in place without loosing much storage.

I removed the Sargent charger and replaced it at the back of the box housing the EC500 and also moved my MPPT controller there to, the space where the charger was will no be occupied by the inverter when it arrives and for the mean time I will just run a cable with a ehu plug to the outside socket to power all the sockets

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What size cabling do you use for your solar installation ? Looks much thicker than AS used on mine, and of course so much the better.

Suppersready wrote:What size cabling do you use for your solar installation ? Looks much thicker than AS used on mine, and of course so much the better.

Totally bypassed the installed wires and used 4mm2 solar cable from panels to regulator then 6mm2 from regulator to battery

Lots of very hungry energy users on here. I find 120w with MPPT is fine for me without the need for extra batteries or EHU ever.

Maybe because I am on the sunny South coast
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Richard

They way some sites are now swapping to metered Electric every little helps, we was on a sight a few weeks ago where and EHU Pitch was £24 plus electric metered,  a non electric pitch  was £20, both these where in the same area on grass

Just spent 2 weeks in France, most we have paid is 10€ for a fully serviced Aire Camping Car even had 2 nights free Air with electric (only 3amp) but enough if you are carefully. It's time UK councils realised it's a service they should offer the bring money spending Motorhome owners into their Towns.

rgermain wrote:Lots of very hungry energy users on here. I find 120w with MPPT is fine for me without the need for extra batteries or EHU ever.

Maybe because I am on the sunny South coast
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Richard

600w of solar on mine ….  Totally OTT for six months of the year, but about right for the other.

The inverter arrived this morning and it was nice to find it’s the updated model with the built in RCD breaker which on other sites cost a lot more than I paid for it , a few bits to arrive and all will be installed 

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Suppersready wrote:

rgermain wrote:Lots of very hungry energy users on here. I find 120w with MPPT is fine for me without the need for extra batteries or EHU ever.

Maybe because I am on the sunny South coast
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Richard

600w of solar on mine ….  Totally OTT for six months of the year, but about right for the other.

I get by on 120w all year round .

rgermain wrote:

Suppersready wrote:

rgermain wrote:Lots of very hungry energy users on here. I find 120w with MPPT is fine for me without the need for extra batteries or EHU ever.

Maybe because I am on the sunny South coast
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Richard

600w of solar on mine ….  Totally OTT for six months of the year, but about right for the other.

I get by on 120w all year round .

I guess we all use our vans in different ways including power consumption … we tend to tour for a month at a time and we wouldn’t get by in the winter months with any less. As yourself MPPT controller bypassing the EC500.

Suppersready wrote:

rgermain wrote:

Suppersready wrote:

600w of solar on mine ….  Totally OTT for six months of the year, but about right for the other.

I get by on 120w all year round .

I guess we all use our vans in different ways including power consumption … we tend to tour for a month at a time and we wouldn’t get by in the winter months with any less. As yourself MPPT controller bypassing the EC500.

Same here and we use temp holiday sites a lot and have the wife’s mobility scooters to charge from 12v, yes we some time take 2 as one folds up to go on the bus and in the tow car and in bars and the other for the uneven ground:hugegrins: