When we first got Bluebell, the thing that most excited us aside from the Rear lounge, was the good leisure battery set up, which was going to allow us to wild camp more (stay off campsites more)
We started off by doing a campsite every other day to maintain a charge ready for our night of wild camping- but soon our adventurous sides wanted to stretch the days between campsites. This, and our plans for our 3 weeks Europe tour, where we REALLY didn’t want to stay at a €40 pn campsite when the Europeans cater well for Motorhomes away from sites, saw us looking into options for fitting a solar panel to Bluebell’s roof!! We were both a bit anxious about drilling into Bluebell’s outer skin to affix the solar panel, so started looking at other options. Luckily for us, the leisure battery is under the drivers seat, therefore this folding solar panel kit was the ideal option for us:
When in use, it sits neatly on the front dashboard and attaches to the leisure battery with crocodile clips. When not in use, it folds easily in half and goes behind the seat in a sturdy briefcase style case. It’s very quick and easy to get out and attach- we get it out when we’ve parked up for the day and it has an indicator on to show how the battery is doing. We managed three weeks in Italy without a single night of electric- therefore we are very happy with it! What is also nice, is that it still charges even if it’s not brilliantly sunny (like most British days….haha)
For example- last week, we toured the Peak District (in Feb so not long days…) We managed 7 nights away, with only one night of electric on night 3. Not once did our 12v battery go and seeing as we only drove 5-10 miles per day, we put this down to the good ol solar panel!
Hi, interesting to hear that the solar panels are so good. What wattage are they?
40watt. Here’s the link to the one we bought on Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009FK8PGW/ref=oh_details_o09_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
We got this one as the measurements allowed it to sit on the inside of our dashboard and it reaches the leisure battery under the drivers seat. We don’t use our 12v TV much these days preferring to use the ipad and sky go. We tend to use the lights, water pump and phone/ipad chargers on 12v mainly.
HI ya.. we have just welcomed Bluebells twin sister , Florence into our family last week š š
Are you still happy with your solar panel?. We are looking to purchase one and wasn’t sure whether to go for the 40watt like you have or the 60 watt. i believe the 40watt is 35 x 47 x 6 cm folded and the 60 watt 35 x 65 x 6 cm (folded). Florence is tucked up in the barn right now so we aren’t able to measure .
was it the 40 watt over the 60 watt because of the size?
Hiya, and hello Florence from Bluebell š
We are so so happy with our solar panel its brilliant- sadly I can’t tell you the exact size though as Bluebells is having a little rest in Storage. Will be back in the road in a couple of weeks for a short break if can hold on?
Hi, we love your motorhome adventures!
The link to Amazon for the solar panel doesn’t seem to work, but it seems just like the kind of solar panel that we want
Do you remember the make and model of the solar panel?
Thank you
Ken & Margaret
Hiya,
Thanks for your message
Sorry the link is not working, I’ll have to have a look into that!
The ones we have are
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Photonic-Universe-folding-battery-motorhome/dp/B013VVUPG8/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1441057853&sr=1-2&keywords=Photonic+universe+40w+solar+panel+motorhome
We picked 40w as the measurements of the panel meant it would sit on the inside of our window-screen, which was important to us as we wanted to be able to leave them hooked up whilst we were away from the the van.
Hope this helps
Lydia and Keith
Have just found your page and loved reading, we have a Lancashire MH and live in Cornwall, mainly staying on CC sites but have just talked the other half into going wild camping. Have found a lovely nights camp area in the lizard if you want it for next time u come, just email me hannahwilson36@ymail.com and il give you a couple of ideas,
We to are looking for a solar panel and going to look into yours tomorrow it looks just what we want! Hope to keep in touch, are you on FB? Hannah and Kieran and the pooches xx
Hiya, thanks for your nice message! Great to hear you’re enjoying your van too, it’s a wonderful life isn’t it?! Our FB page is
https://www.facebook.com/AdventuresInAMotorhome pop on over and give us a like š
Hope you have some luck with the solar panel, one of the best things we got for our van š
Have you got a blog? What trips have you got lined up?
Take care
Lydia, Keith and Jazz the pampered pooch