diy solar

diy solar

A Solar System in a 1977 Bay-window VW Camper

MrMatt

New Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2021
Messages
89
Greetings! new here...

I hope some people can give me guidance.

The Camper:
Alternator is 55 amps
In engine compartment, on right side is starter battery, left side is the "house" battery.
Right now have100 AH AGM battery as house battery replacing it with below battery
Cut off Relay isolates start battery from house battery, and charges house battery from alternator as needed.

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House battery demands for camping: - some info I have is limited:

Refrigerator
: 12V, 60 watts. Will draw from battery when alternator is not charging.
Hairdryer: 1250 watt ( for my wife, I have no hair to speak of)
Fluorescent tube: 8 inches long, used only in evening
Water pump/faucet 16 amp fuse inline, fuse on pump is 3amps - used infrequently

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Solar equipment I have
30A Rover-Li MPPT Charge Controller.
2, 100 watt solar panels, & 1, 300 watt solar panel
Solar wire.
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Seems like I am fine with solar and battery with fridge only according to solar calculator

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What I have planned so far; I am finding the below battery will fit in house battery area.
View attachment 39223

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Questions so far...
Ok, 1st dumb question, since the hair dryer is 1250 watts; = 104 amps... how is that thought of? - will it take 104 amps from the battery over what specific time?... one hour? ( if one dried their hair that long"... so that would take 104 amp hours? Not sure how to think about this.

In reading about lithium batteries, and they can overheat, manufactures put in 2-3 fail safes to stop runaway heating. Hopefully the Chinese batteries have this incorporated. Hopefully it is a std practice as I never read about this claim for batteries being sold.

What BMS is suggested? I would like one with low and high cutoff, and temp charging control.
I guess the inverter would be 2000 watt if using a hair dryer.. otherwise perhaps a 500 watt would suffice (?)
What DC to DC battery charger would be recommended having only a 55 amp alternator? - Is this the same as a battery isolator? -I would need that to maintain my starting battery

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I have not yet laid out any bus bar, fuses etc yet. was just wanting some feedback first.
My priority is to have power to the refrigerator as needed which would likely be from dusk to dawn (but cold packs will help!)

I would greatly appreciate any feedback that can be given, planning on using a solar setup in June when my wife and I go camping.
I seem to be ok with solar for the most part according to
I can forget the hair dryer if that helps things

Thanks so much for your time!
Matt
 
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