Has anyone out there added solar to a VW Eurovan? I'm wanting to make my 1997 EVC capable of off-grid camping for a few days at a time. I've been doing lots of internet research and at this point I'm just overwhelmed with information. Trying to figure out how big of a system I need. The van has a small refrigerator, a water pump, interior lights, and we will be charging devices. The van also has two 110v outlets that are only active when plugged into shore power. I also am confused by the complexity of a system where there is solar, alternator, and shore power all as possibilities for charging the batteries. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.
1997 VW Eurovan Camper
- Thread starter Antinoro
- Start date
loverofpeace
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2020
- Messages
- 195
Welcome! As someone in the process of building one now for the 1982 beauty in my avatar (and who has spent countless hours on the matter over the past 2 months+ researching every detail) this is my advice:
1. Leave out the alternator charging. It will not add much power, put strain on your alternator (or on your wallet if you're buying a DC/DC charger). Based on everything I've read and seen even the new Renogy DC/DC charger doesn't make me want to try this with LifePo4 batteries.
2. I am personally leaving the outlets I have for shore power the way they are now. I will just be using the inverter for any AC power I may need. Once everything is running I may consider rewiring them to work from the solar.
3. Your system sounds a lot like mine actually - small water pump, small DC fridge, lights, TV/video games and charging my laptop, camera etc.
This is what I decided on:
2 x 110w flexible panels
100/20 Victron Energy MPPT
280ah LiFePo4 battery (custom built by me) - ordered through Alibaba via vendors you can find on this site
1000w pure sine inverter
4. For my setup, the battery is overkill but it was under $500 so it was hard to passup when a 105ah one was around $350-400 after shipping. Lookup Dongguan or Xuba on here. Both have awesome deals if you're willing to do a little work hooking it up you'll save a good chunk of $.
5. Solar panels you want as many as you can afford/can fit on your roof. Overall they're the cheapest thing to add that'll get you results. I wanted 3 but can barely fit two because my roof is super weird. If you can fit 3, get 3 especially if you're going to use it in the winter or you don't live in say Arizona or some other sunny haven.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
1. Leave out the alternator charging. It will not add much power, put strain on your alternator (or on your wallet if you're buying a DC/DC charger). Based on everything I've read and seen even the new Renogy DC/DC charger doesn't make me want to try this with LifePo4 batteries.
2. I am personally leaving the outlets I have for shore power the way they are now. I will just be using the inverter for any AC power I may need. Once everything is running I may consider rewiring them to work from the solar.
3. Your system sounds a lot like mine actually - small water pump, small DC fridge, lights, TV/video games and charging my laptop, camera etc.
This is what I decided on:
2 x 110w flexible panels
100/20 Victron Energy MPPT
280ah LiFePo4 battery (custom built by me) - ordered through Alibaba via vendors you can find on this site
1000w pure sine inverter
4. For my setup, the battery is overkill but it was under $500 so it was hard to passup when a 105ah one was around $350-400 after shipping. Lookup Dongguan or Xuba on here. Both have awesome deals if you're willing to do a little work hooking it up you'll save a good chunk of $.
5. Solar panels you want as many as you can afford/can fit on your roof. Overall they're the cheapest thing to add that'll get you results. I wanted 3 but can barely fit two because my roof is super weird. If you can fit 3, get 3 especially if you're going to use it in the winter or you don't live in say Arizona or some other sunny haven.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
I'm just in the process of installing 180AH into my '90 VW Westfalia. The propane fridge wasn't operational anymore. That precipitated installing an electric fridge (TF49). I decided not to install solar as I often carry stuff on the roof racks. Battery gets charged through alternator and 20A Renogy dc/dc. I already installed a 40A Renogy dc/dc for my larger motor home. It works extremely well. I'm using a 100A Chargery BMS for the VW and a 300A Chargery BMS for the motor home.
loverofpeace
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2020
- Messages
- 195
I'm just on the verge of getting it operational. The fridge has the highest energy demand. The TF49 might take 25AH per day. Everything else might take 10AH. I've installed a 180AH battery, of which (due to my BMS settings) 80% is usable. That leaves 144 AH of usable energy. That means I could camp for 4 days without requiring a charge. It would take 7 hours of driving to fully charge the battery again with a 20A Renogy dc/dc. I do not recommend the larger 40A version. Too much load for the alternator.
If you stay in one location more than 4 days (without any driving) then solar is advantageous. If you stay one or two days at a location and move on then alternator charging should be adequate.
If you stay in one location more than 4 days (without any driving) then solar is advantageous. If you stay one or two days at a location and move on then alternator charging should be adequate.
Got the system powered up. For general interest I'll post TF49 fridge current consumption. I have a Chargery BMS which has data logging capability. The first thing visible from the data logging plot is turning on the fridge for the first time. Current goes from 0A to -2.9A. A short time later the engine is started and current increases to 21A (output from Renogy dc/dc charging the battery). Engine is turned off and current drops to about -2.9A again. The fridge stays full on for about 2 hours and then starts cycling on/off. The duty cycle of the fridge reduces to about 34%.
Total current consumption (once fridge has equalized) is: 2.7A * 0.34 * 24 hrs = 22 AH
The fridge content was a 1-gallon water filled container. Plot time scale is minutes. 1100 minutes = 18.3 hours
Total current consumption (once fridge has equalized) is: 2.7A * 0.34 * 24 hrs = 22 AH
The fridge content was a 1-gallon water filled container. Plot time scale is minutes. 1100 minutes = 18.3 hours
loverofpeace
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2020
- Messages
- 195
Arctic Taco
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2020
- Messages
- 10
Any compressor type fridge is preferred over the three way type Dometic units. The electric just powers a heater to circulate the refrigerant in an absorption refrigerator.
Annie C
Keep it simple, for me.
The TF49 is a popular alternative. Thanks for posting its consumption of energy. I still have the original in my 87.
As an add on I just bought (hasn’t arrived yet) Renogy 50amp DCDC MPPT. I bumped up from the 30 as it will automatically cut amps down to 25amps when it detects any amps coming from the MPPT side. I figured 25 amps would be okay for the 90amp Alternator.
As an add on I just bought (hasn’t arrived yet) Renogy 50amp DCDC MPPT. I bumped up from the 30 as it will automatically cut amps down to 25amps when it detects any amps coming from the MPPT side. I figured 25 amps would be okay for the 90amp Alternator.
The above gives me promise. Just posted on here in going solar as much as possible in my 1977 vw camper.
Has the dometic refrig, which pulls 6 amps - according to the book.
Planning on getting 280AH battery, will build myself.
Have only a 55amp alternator, def not as good in the later vans, so looking at a lower DC to DC.
Looking forward to doing this, be interesting to see how it turns out. Room in my engine bay is limited.
May be asking you guys some questions
Has the dometic refrig, which pulls 6 amps - according to the book.
Planning on getting 280AH battery, will build myself.
Have only a 55amp alternator, def not as good in the later vans, so looking at a lower DC to DC.
Looking forward to doing this, be interesting to see how it turns out. Room in my engine bay is limited.
May be asking you guys some questions
