$5,592.32 For A Complete DIY Van Electrical Build?

[FilterGuy]

Call one of your local solar installers and see if they have any 'extras' they will sell. They often end up with one or two panels after a job and are willing to sell them cheap. If you are in the CA Bay area, there is a place in Campbell that always has a stack of odds that they will sell.

I believe the inverter you are looking at is the Victron MultiPlus Compact. That is a nice unit. I recently put one on a boat. If you decide to use that unit and build your own battery pack there are some control features that might come in handy. You don't want to hear this, but the MultiPlus 3000 (not the compact) has even better control options. As others have noted, the Victron equipment is expensive, but it is also rock solid.

Even if you don't go with Victron, I would still recommend getting an inverter charger. The convenience of the built in auto-transfer switch and the built in charger can't be beat.

Do you plan to run anything directly off the 12 volt or will everything be 120V? (This could influence a decision on 12 vs 24 volts).. If it is a pure 120V system, I would recommend seriously considering stepping up to 24v. Even if you plan on running 12V loads, there are reasonable ways of doing it on a 24V system.

If you decide to build your own battery, be careful about the low cost aluminum cells. I have pretty much given up on them for mobile installs due to the small terminal posts. You can make them work but I would still recommend either the Fortune cells or the plastic case cells.

Also, make your decision on DIY vs BattleBorn *before* you start buying stuff. Depending on what you do on the battery build, there are features in other equipment that can make things cleaner.

 

[HaldorEE]

Turn on (surge) power required for things with coils (motors, microwave ovens) can be 2 or 3 times higher than normal. That blender is an example. It may not even start on a 1000 W inverter. And forget using pulse (with stuff in it).

That is why many people choose a 2000W inverter with high suge capability, myself included. You see reference to low frequency inverters. These are commonly judged to have higher surge capability than cheaper high frequency inverters. The difference is more about is the inverter a proper design or a POS than it is about HF vs LF. Having an expensive AC power transformer is a sign of an inverter that was design to meet specs, not to be as cheap as possible. As a result these inverters will deliver large amounts of surge power.

These weigh and cost a lot more. For example, the transformer out of my Victron multiplus costs more than some complete 2000 W chinese inverters.

 

[tictag]

Take it back, for 12V you would need the 100/50. max 12V power for the 100/30 is 440W. The 100/50 can handle 700W of solar power.

This is incorrect.

The Victron Smart/BlueSolar 100|30 has a maximum PV power specification of 3,500W, the Smart/BlueSolar 100|50 has a 6,000W maximum. Victron specify Nominal power in their datasheets, not Maximum power. For example, the nominal power of the Smart/BlueSolar 100|30 is 440W i.e. 14.6V x 30A = 338W, rounded up.

Victron recommends that you over-panel the nominal rating by around 30%, so to achieve the 440W nominal power rating, actually install 572W.

The maximum PV power of Victron SCCs can be calculated using their maximum PV voltage x maximum PV current e.g. for the Smart/BlueSolar, that's 100V x 35A = 3,500W but 3,060W will be left 'on the table', so to speak.

For a 400W PV array, I would recommend their far cheaper Smart/BlueSolar 100|20.

Edit: Corrected typo.

 

[HaldorEE]

This is incorrect.

The Victron Smart/BlueSolar 100|30 has a maximum PV power specification of 3,500W, the Smart/BlueSolar 100|50 has a 6,000W maximum. Victron specify Nominal power in their datasheets, not Maximum power. For example, the nominal power of the Smart/BlueSolar 100|30 is 440W i.e. 14.6V x 30A = 338W, rounded up.

Victron recommends that you over-panel the nominal rating by around 30%, so to achieve the 440W nominal power rating, actually install 572W.

The maximum PV power of Victron SCCs can be calculated using their maximum PV voltage x maximum PV current e.g. for the Smart/BlueSolar, that's 100V x 35A = 3,500W but 3,060W will be left 'on the table', so to speak.

For a 400W PV array, I would recommend their far cheaper Smart/BlueSolar 100|20.

Edit: Corrected typo.

Since his original plans is to use two 200W panels, I thought the 100/30 (with the maximum 12V Solar power of 338W) would be the appropriate choice. If he is definitely going with a single 300W panel, then he could use the 100/20. I screwed up recommending the 100/50

Do you have a link to the Victron recommendation to overpanel the SCC by 30%? That doesn't sound like them to leave this off their spec sheets.

The difference between a BlueSolar and a SmartSolar is less than the cost of the Victron VE.Direct/USB adapter. What is he supposed to use to configure his SCC without one or the other?

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[HaldorEE]

Double post (editing can be such fun)