mrsmelly Posted April 25, 2020 Report Share Posted April 25, 2020 Hi Peeps Sat sitting here doing nowt and got to thinking. I removed my solar two years ago as I wasnt using it and still dont need it, however I may be bimbling off again when the lockdown goes and may stick a couple of panels ont roof. My question is this. My combi has connectors that say solar on them so I presume I can wire straight to these and the clever bit of kit will deal with the solar panel for me or am I safer buying a seperate little doobrey again and keeping them seperate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted April 25, 2020 Report Share Posted April 25, 2020 1 minute ago, mrsmelly said: Hi Peeps Sat sitting here doing nowt and got to thinking. I removed my solar two years ago as I wasnt using it and still dont need it, however I may be bimbling off again when the lockdown goes and may stick a couple of panels ont roof. My question is this. My combi has connectors that say solar on them so I presume I can wire straight to these and the clever bit of kit will deal with the solar panel for me or am I safer buying a seperate little doobrey again and keeping them seperate? Just remember that when your combi goes breasts skywards not only will you lose your battery charger and inverter, but you will also lose your alternative means of battery charging (solar) For the sake of a few £'s I'd buy a doobrey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsmelly Posted April 25, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2020 7 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said: Just remember that when your combi goes breasts skywards not only will you lose your battery charger and inverter, but you will also lose your alternative means of battery charging (solar) For the sake of a few £'s I'd buy a doobrey. Yeah, agreed, thats why I had it seperate last time. Which work best without spending fourteen billion pounds these days old boy for say 200 watts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted April 25, 2020 Report Share Posted April 25, 2020 17 minutes ago, mrsmelly said: Yeah, agreed, thats why I had it seperate last time. Which work best without spending fourteen billion pounds these days old boy for say 200 watts? Don't know this controller, but I have always been happy with Bimble stuff. £72 for a 20 amp MPPT https://www.bimblesolar.com/offgrid/mppt/XTRA2210N-XDS2-20a-mppt-solar-controller 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess-- Posted April 25, 2020 Report Share Posted April 25, 2020 5 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said: Don't know this controller, but I have always been happy with Bimble stuff. £72 for a 20 amp MPPT https://www.bimblesolar.com/offgrid/mppt/XTRA2210N-XDS2-20a-mppt-solar-controller looks like a combined version of the well known tracer controller & mt-50 screen that used to be separate, should be solid. we ran ours for just under 4 years before selling the boat (new owner still using it a year later) and it never missed a beat, may be worth noting that we also fitted new batteries (3 x 110 AH exide) at the same time and they are still going strong (the boat has never been on mains hookup so all battery charging has been via solar & the original 70A alternator). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterdog Posted April 25, 2020 Report Share Posted April 25, 2020 11 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said: Don't know this controller, but I have always been happy with Bimble stuff. £72 for a 20 amp MPPT https://www.bimblesolar.com/offgrid/mppt/XTRA2210N-XDS2-20a-mppt-solar-controller We've had two of these running for a year now and they seem to work OK. Solar is providing all our power at the moment so no need to run the engine. I love solar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty40s Posted April 25, 2020 Report Share Posted April 25, 2020 1 hour ago, mrsmelly said: Hi Peeps Sat sitting here doing nowt and got to thinking. I removed my solar two years ago as I wasnt using it and still dont need it, however I may be bimbling off again when the lockdown goes and may stick a couple of panels ont roof. My question is this. My combi has connectors that say solar on them so I presume I can wire straight to these and the clever bit of kit will deal with the solar panel for me or am I safer buying a seperate little doobrey again and keeping them seperate? I think you have a Victron Combi?? If so, the connectors are for the input from the Victron solar controller. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete7 Posted April 25, 2020 Report Share Posted April 25, 2020 Price of ordinary large solar panels has dropped significantly over the last couple of years, just have a look on FB market place for some great deals. It's actually cheaper to buy 300w panels than say a 150w panel, so we swopped out our 150w for 300w earlier this year. We can now run the fridge, freezer and the slow cooker during the summer. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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