Solar Advice needed

V1nny

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We are going to buy a second hand Motorhome and it comes with two 90ah Varta batteries, but no solar panel. I’m told it’s not an option to transfer our solar from our old Motorhome. There is only roof space for one panel on the new van and the dealer said the maximum wattage would be 150W otherwise other modifications would be needed, but it would be safer to fit a 120W panel.
The dealer initially quoted £900 to supply and fit a 120W rigid solar panel but offered to do it at cost for £500. I don’t know much about this but it seems expensive to me and we’ve blown the budget a bit on the van!
I can probably get a solar panel fitted by the man who does my habitation servicing, but I would welcome advice on what I actually need for a decent solar setup. I suspect I could get a better system if I spent the £500, and hopefully less, sourcing parts online and paying to get them fitted locally.

Please keep any advice as simple as possible as I am not a technical person!
 
£900 that's over the top for a single 150 panel and possibly a cheap charger .
Look on ebay for a kit .but buy good mppt charge ..
Self fit .
 
Geez, just shows you how it has been since I did my solar self install job, I forgot to add cable gland, panel fixing bracket, and all stuck down with Sikaflex.
 
I would also think £500 "cost price" is a reasonable price ( if you were not confident of doing the job yourself) it sounds a genuine enough price especially if a MPPT controller is needed and labour costs. They would still make a profit, obviously they would get the panel and MPPT controller .at trade price.

If you bought the solar panel and controller yourself they would maybe cost about £250. Mountings, glands and adhesive roughly another £50 .

It is a simple enough job to self fit , the connections are very basic you normally get 5m of cable on the Panel itself which just inserts into the MPPT controller, then just two cables to the battery from the controller. Drilling the hole for the gland and cables is the only 'scary" bit .

I'm always apprehensive doing electrical jobs but after reading up about it I would attempt this myself .....I hope to get around to doing it this year.
 
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If they were making a profit, it would not be "cost price" by definition.

So ball park figures ....
Solar Panels - Glass framed is £1/Watt tops, so £120 for 120W Panel max. Decent 120W Panel available on Amazon right now under £100 with free shipping.
Controller - basic PWM controller is around £20 retail; under £10 in bulk
Solar (Double Insulated) Cable - £2/M Retail - pair of 5M = £20
MC4 Connectors - £5/Pair for one off job. Dealer would pay around £1/Pair
Entry Box with Glands - Upto £10 (Installers/Dealer would pay £5 max for bulk)
Bunch of connectors for decent secure connections to controller and to battert, plus cable fixings - £5
Mounting Feet - lots of options - call that £25 (unlikely to pay much more, easy to pay less)
Adhesive - Sikaflex tube - £10 (dealers would by in bulk and cost them less)

So Parts to install panel at commonly found retail prices:
120W Panel = £100
PWM Controller = £20
Cable = £20
MC Connectors = £5
Entry Box = £10
Terminal Connectors = £5
Panel Mounts = £25
Adhesive = £10
Total Cost Price = £185

Leaves £315 to cover the labour for a job that takes say 3 Hours to do?
If the Dealer is doing to at COST Price, that is the cost to him. his employees cost him over £100/Hour? Rather unlikely.

And reducing the cost from £900 to £500 - just how much profit does he make then from his Solar installs?
Nothing wrong with making profit from your work and knocking down from £900 to £500 would be probably taking off all the profit of a job that genuinely WOULD cost him £500 in parts and employee costs, but fitting a solar panel would never ever cost an installer £500 to carry out.


PS. Before it is pointed out I costed out a PWM controller and MPPTs are much more, that is quite correct, but the dealer won't be fitting an MPPT, he would be fitting a cheap PWM, if he fits a controller at all (more likely he will be using a built in controller in the vans PDU setup that will take a maximium of 120W and so even the cost of the PWM can be removed).
If you want to add an decent MPPT to the costs above, add in an extra £100 for one for a 120W Panel
 
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wildebus said:
If they were making a profit, it would not be "cost price" by definition.

So ball park figures ....
Solar Panels - Glass framed is £1/Watt tops, so £120 for 120W Panel max. Decent 120W Panel available on Amazon right now under £100 with free shipping.
Controller - basic PWM controller is around £20 retail; under £10 in bulk
Solar (Double Insulated) Cable - £2/M Retail - pair of 5M = £20
MC4 Connectors - £5/Pair for one off job. Dealer would pay around £1/Pair
Entry Box with Glands - Upto £10 (Installers/Dealer would pay £5 max for bulk)
Bunch of connectors for decent secure connections to controller and to battert, plus cable fixings - £5
Mounting Feet - lots of options - call that £25 (unlikely to pay much more, easy to pay less)
Adhesive - Sikaflex tube - £10 (dealers would by in bulk and cost them less)

So Parts to install panel at commonly found retail prices:
120W Panel = £100
PWM Controller = £20
Cable = £20
MC Connectors = £5
Entry Box = £10
Terminal Connectors = £5
Panel Mounts = £25
Adhesive = £10
Total Cost Price = £185

Leaves £315 to cover the labour for a job that takes say 3 Hours to do?
If the Dealer is doing to at COST Price, that is the cost to him. his employees cost him over £100/Hour? Rather unlikely.

And reducing the cost from £900 to £500 - just how much profit does he make then from his Solar installs?
Nothing wrong with making profit from your work and knocking down from £900 to £500 would be probably taking off all the profit of a job that genuinely WOULD cost him £500 in parts and employee costs, but fitting a solar panel would never ever cost an installer £500 to carry out.


PS. Before it is pointed out I costed out a PWM controller and MPPTs are much more, that is quite correct, but the dealer won't be fitting an MPPT, he would be fitting a cheap PWM, if he fits a controller at all (more likely he will be using a built in controller in the vans PDU setup that will take a maximium of 120W and so even the cost of the PWM can be removed).
If you want to add an decent MPPT to the costs above, add in an extra £100 for one for a 120W Panel
Click to expand...
I assumed the materials would be at cost not the labour.
Here's good place to start looking https://www.photonicuniverse.com/en/applications/caravans-and-motorhomes/

I personally wouldn't go for the cheapest panel and controller. Product performance need to be studied and PWM controllers are not as efficient as MPPT controllers by a long way.
 
Pedalman said:
I assumed the materials would be at cost not the labour.
Here's good place to start looking https://www.photonicuniverse.com/en/applications/caravans-and-motorhomes/

I personally wouldn't go for the cheapest panel and controller. Product performance need to be studied and PWM controllers are not as efficient as MPPT controllers by a long way.
Click to expand...
£300 for labour? The dealer would have priced based on cheapest options you can be sure, and not what are the best options for performance.
 
wildebus said:
£300 for labour? The dealer would have priced based on cheapest options you can be sure, and not what are the best options for performance.
Click to expand...
Yeah you are right, the dealer probably would have installed the cheapest equipment and it isn't a difficult job either, so maybe £500 is still OTT.
 
@V1nny
Take note of @wildebus reply £900 would have been extortionate and £500 is still blooming expensive unless dealers fitting quality branded products so always worth asking for a detailed bom (bill of materials) when buying extras

Dealer saying 150w max without modifications sounds like bs to me as well.

If the vans right for you, take your time, add solar later meanwhile post some photos and measurements of the roof space the more wattage you can really get up there the better imho!

One word of warning, dealers typically sub out panel installs to the glue it and pray brigade, probably to offset their liability if the thing flies off so clarify who would be covering and warranty due to poor workmanship
 
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