Everyone likes to get away from it all for a while, and taking a complete break from the normal way of life, can be very relaxing. Caravans are a popular way to do this, giving you the freedom to pack-up and go at a moments notice, driving to your desired location. Therefore, if you’re looking to finance a caravan you need to consider a few things, one being our caravans electrical connection.
When we book into a caravan park, we can hook up to an electrical connection, albeit at a cost often a fair bit higher than seems fair, but what about when we want to stop somewhere off the beaten track? After all, the batteries in the caravan only have a very limited life and we may have to power many things by gas. Adding to this the fact that these days, we like to reduce our use of fossil fuels for a generator, and the idea of solar power seems very attractive. Solar power is increasingly being used all over the world, and installations have been becoming increasingly sophisticated. Solar Power from photovoltaic panels will also work extremely well for the camping fraternity. The sun’s rays strike the panels and create energy, which is stored in a battery and is released when we turn appliances on. 
If you are looking for solar kits for caravans, selecting the correct panel can be a challenge. If you get it wrong, you will keep running out of power. If you go overboard and get something expensive, you may never need anywhere near what it can provide, and you have wasted money. A smart way of knowing what power you are going to need without having to do all of the calculations above is to take a look at your battery, which will have a marking telling you the battery’s amp hour rating. Then disconnect the mains power supply and see how long everything works before the battery is dead. If you have a 100 Amp hour Battery and it lasts two days, you know you use on average 50 Amp Hours a day. Hence you should look to find a panel that is going to be able to provide you with a minimum of 50 Amp Hours per day, though you might want to go a little higher, remembering that your solar panel will only be charging your battery when sunlight is falling on the panel.
Calculating You Required Power Usage
You can make a pretty good estimate of how much power each of your electrical appliances and equipment use, so as to assess how much power you are likely to need. It is a quite simple equation, as Power = Amps multiplied by Watts. As the standard caravan battery is 12 Volts, you simply need to divide your appliances power rating by 12. Hence something drawing 18 Watts, 18/12= 1.5 Amps. You now know this will require 1.5 Amps per hour. Then multiply again how many hours you will need this each day, and the same for the other appliances. Add them all up and this will give you a total of Amp Hours you will require from your battery every day. A quick Internet search in your local area will find you your local caravan specialist, who will be able to provide you with some guidance and solid advice on which system is likely to work out best for your requirements.
