Solar in 2004 Nuevo?

Hi all,

Having picked up the Nuevo this weekend (very happy with it), one of the first mods (well second after the GasIt bottle) I want to make to it is to fit solar to keep the leisure battery topped up when out and about.

Does anyone know if there are issues with wiring in solar in the older Nuevo?

I read on some M/Hs that the charge controller can throw a wobbly when solar is fitted, but my thinking is that it's old enough on this not to be too technical and hopefully wont be a problem.

My initial thoughts are to install a 150W flexible on the roof (the front curved section) and wire down directly to the leisure battery via a charge controller.

Would this work ok or does anyone know if this would cause issues with the charger when on EHU or any problems in general.

I'm not too bad with auto-electrics, but must admit this would be my first experience of solar power and so not sure on implications of having parallel power sources when on EHU or Alternator running.

Any help advice would be much appreciated (or point to a thread if there is already a good one that covers this - I did look but couldn't find these specific questions, sorry if I missed it).

Cheers,
Rob.

I have an 80w panel on my 2006 Nuevo . As you say the electronics are old school and as I watched it being installed it seemed fairly easy. The fitted brought the wiring into the top of the wardrobe where he mounted the controller and wired to the leisure battery all within the wardrobe by linking into the wiring which runs in trunking in the wardrobe. He also wired in a battery master next to the controller so both batteries get charged.

Noggin wrote:
My initial thoughts are to install a 150W flexible on the roof (the front curved section)

I don't know the roof arrangement on a 2004 Nuevo at all well, but to use a flexible panel it must obviously have no compound curves at all.

As already said, wiring is not complicated and in my experience you don't tend to have any problems at all if there are multiple charge sources available (e.g. alternator, EHU charger and solar). Whichever happens to have the highest charging voltage tends to win and the rest just back off. The only issue I've encountered is on the Sargent EC-series control panels, where you may need a firmware update.

Thanks, I looked at the roof last night from the bedroom window (highly scientific) and it looks fine for a 150W flexible - the front curved section is a gentle curve with no sudden changes and should hopefully be ok.

I fitted a panel to my 04 EK Nuevo 4 years ago, as has been said it's very simple to wire in via the controller. I've also fitted a battery master type unit to keep both batteries topped up.
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The panel is fitted to the rear of the skylight. If yours is the ES the roof may be different.
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That's great news - thanks Bikeralw, that's pretty much what I needed to know.

Looks like a decent setup there.

I'll begin looking into getting the bits and pieces - I may have further questions during the installation ;)

A clearer pic of the roof.
Al.
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Mine can be seen on 2nd page of this thread....



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I have been watching with interest the comments on fitting solar panels. It looks like some may have been bolted to the roof as well as using adhesive. If that is the case, what does the fittings look like from the inside of the roof?

Mine is stuck on, the only hole being for the cable which is fed through a gland through the roof in the wardrobe. It seems standard practice to fix them with adhesive.
Al.

Mine is stuck with adhesive and self tappers into the roof, they don't protrude inside.

Thank you for the information