A cheeky little escape to Wadebridge and motorhome solar power modifications on an Autosleeper Broadway EB

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My sister is down staying in Wadebridge with her family and so we decide it is time to test the new off grid system which we had installed way back in March. We haven't actually been out in Bryony since then. In fairness we have been touring the southern US states for seven weeks!

We stayed at Little Bodieve Farm just outside Wadebridge and we can thoroughly recommend it. Try not to run over the cat who likes to sun himself fully stretched out on his back, on the actual park up area outside reception! 

We are on a grass pitch, a very slight slope, well drained and thirty metres from clean toilet blocks - one in each direction. a great play area for kids, lots of empty fields to run around as well.  It is a twenty minute walk down the road into the town centre - five minutes by bike to the start of the Camel Trail into Padstow. Fifteen minutes in the car to Rock and the foot ferry across to Padstow. Twenty minutes at the most to Polzeath. 

And have the new modifications worked? Yes, yes yes!

By moving the original panel back and twisting it around, a new 175 watt panel was slotted in between the two central skylights

We had an extra solar panel installed up top - so we now have an 80 watt and a 175 watt one - a total of 255 watts. Ingeniously, Vanbitz also managed to install two new 105 mAh batteries as well - replacing the single 110 one. So we have effectively doubled the onboard leisure battery capacity as well.

Every day since installation way back in March, the batteries have been at 13v - both leisure and vehicle. We have not once had to bring Bryony home to charge her up. Prior to these modifications we were having to do that every ten days, irrespective of weather! 

On site in the last couple of days, it has been raining and miserable but some sunny spells. We switch on the TV at 6pm; switch it off at 1030pm. We cook on gas, power the fridge on gas, run lights as normal and charge up phones each night. Every morning, the leisure batteries are back at 12.6v+

No EHU! How liberating! Can't wait to get back onto the continent. Hopefully the only limiting factor now will be emptying toilet cassette - easy - so many places where you can do that - unlike here! The other issue is charging up the e-bike batteries. 

We will have to carry a 600 watt pure sine wave inverter and charge them up one at a time whilst driving between destinations. It is the next thing to sort out! I need to do some more research!

The Bosch 'powerpack' 400 watt batteries are now the limiting issue!

Of course we also have to get through a British winter. Hopefully, we will not need to bring the motorhome each week to charge up the batteries. The new solar system with the new batteries, new victron MPPT solar controller and shunt monitor, a new B2B charger, along with the new solar panel - all of it bypasses the PSU! 

Fingers crossed eh?