Help needed.

Hey,

So I’ve just been offered a job on a Scottish Island. The accommodation is pretty expensive because of all the holiday homes, so I’ve decided to head over in a van.

I’ve bought a very nice van, and it came with a pretty rudimentary set up. The cables were all the wrong size, so I’ve ripped it all out and I’m going to start again, but I have no experience.

I’ve purchased a large battery, a renogy dc-dc charger with mppt, a victron inverter and charger, shunt and a few other things, which I’ll be putting together. There’s shore power already wired in, but it looks pretty unsafe so I’ll probably have to redo that too. I’ve watched so many videos (thanks Will ) that I feel confident setting this part up.

The solar panel that’s on there looks pretty cheap, so I’ll be upgrading that too. Here’s where I need the help.

I’ve found a 400 watt solar panel made by Piemar. Looking at the spec sheet, it states that the voltage at pmax is 31.2v and the open circuit voltage is 37.2v.

Looking more deeply into the Renogy controller - the 30A one - it says that the voltage from the solar panels should not exceed 30v.

Question - should I cancel my order for this one and upgrade to the Renogy 50A dc-dc charger with MPPT which states it can handle 50v from the solar panel.

Also, maybe my choice of solar panel is pretty awful. I live in Scotland, so not very sunny most of the time, and about to move to an island that is not renowned for sunshine.

Any help would be much appreciated! Link for the solar panel I was looking at below

If the controller says not to exceed 30 VOC, you cannot use a panel with 37.2 VOC.

MikeyPepper said:

Renogy controller - the 30A one

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With that voltage limit, sounds like a PWM controller.
The 50 amp Remogy DCC50S , I think this is the unit you are considering, will take up to 50 volts, so OK with that panel.
In the winter months you will get very little solar power from a RV roof horizontal mounted panel, so you need to consider alternatives.
Unless you can arrange shore power you will have very limited electrical energy.

mikefitz said:

With that voltage limit, sounds like a PWM controller.
The 50 amp Remogy DCC50S , I think this is the unit you are considering, will take up to 50 volts, so OK with that panel.
In the winter months you will get very little solar power from a RV roof horizontal mounted panel, so you need to consider alternatives.
Unless you can arrange shore power you will have very limited electrical energy.

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Hi Mike, thanks for your reply. It’s the DCC30S with mppt that’s rated at max 30v apparently. I’ll send them an email to see if I can change it to the DCC50s.
As for the sun, yes I’m resigned to having to use shore power to charge the batteries once or twice a week, at least until I have some accommodation sorted.

Q-Dog said:

If the controller says not to exceed 30 VOC, you cannot use a panel with 37.2 VOC.

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Thanks for the advice