Connection of a portable solar panel

I'm not sure why you want to use the 13 pin plug to install your solar panel? If your panel is portable (not fixed) then why not connect it directly to the leisure battery. You can easily procure what's called an Anderson connector which clamps to the battery terminals and leaves a snap connector with a male and female end to easily snap in when you are pitched. 

A bit more info with your thoughts would help John

JK

Have you considered the need to put the solar panel charge through an MPPT or PWM controller to ensure  that the battery is not overcharged or discharges overnight?

I think that you will also find that the guage of the cables used for the size panel you are considering are much greater that that used on the towbar electrics.

I'm not sure why you want to use the 13 pin plug to install your solar panel?

I'm guessing it is a neat way of connecting the panel to the battery and I cannot think of any reason why it should not work other than there may be greater losses through the vans wiring and maybe the control panel compared to connecting direct to the battery.

peedee

If you're going off grid and require charging for lights, water pump, tv, etc then I'd be looking at a larger panel than the above....say 100w.

if you don't want a roof mounted system then a folding 'suitcase' type will do nicely.

Just an example but this 100w package comes with regular and connectors. Connectors could be changed as in the post above, just to make the set up a little easier...

Amazon solar panel

50W solar panel’s theoretical max output at 12V is 4.175A (3.6A at 14V). When tested for an hour on a sunny summer day with the panel at right angles to the sun, the battery voltage rose from 12.6V to 13.2V with a max current of 1.5A so presume in the UK max output is unlikely to be reached. 

The electrical loads on the plug/socket when towing could well be higher so overloading is unlikely. I hadn’t considered the cable size difference so thanks for that and I accept that electrical losses will be slightly higher through the caravan wiring. The solar panel does have a charge controller. 

For those with ATC - I don’t- connecting power to pins 9 & 13 may well liven it up. 

Cost for the two systems isn’t wildly different. Just thought that connecting to the euro plug was easier and wouldn’t need any extra cabling in an already tight battery locker. 

At the end of the day, only you know what you want to achieve by fitting a panel. Received wisdom is that most folk fit the largest they can...you can't have too much spare power....

we have 3x100w panels on our MH and, with reasonable sunshine, this allows us to operate, pretty much, indefinitely without mains....certainly for three months in Spain each winter.

we use lights, TV, satellite system, Sky box, water pump, charge E-bike batteries etc...

most folk won't want to all the above but I'd go for the folding 100w over the 50w if you have room and the price is close.

good luck.

Thanks Young Thomas. The solar panel came with a second hand caravan. I’ll see how I get on with it before thinking of upgrading. 

I’d be interested to know how you charge electric bicycles off grid. Mine is 36V.