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diy solar

Battery & electrical system for solar mountain bike van remote office build

liberatetutemet

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Jan 30, 2021
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Hi I am building out my 4wd astro van out as a mobile LTE office so I can work my remote job and ride mountain bikes out west all summer. I am in the planning stages and have only ordered thus far a 4s 12v varicore 280ah, which is delayed because of chinese new year.

I am on the fence of contacting the seller to switch to 8s to run a 24 volt system which I think is a better outcome for capacity, wiring, ease of installation and performance but I am concerned over availability of quality 24v components for my system I can find appliances just fine, it's the system itself I am concerned with. I have many many questions that hopefully some of which can be answered by someone knowledgeable.

1. Is there a reliable/known go-to 24v pure sine wave inverter/charger that everyone likes? It seems like the Giandel 24v 2kw is well regarded but it doesn't have charge functionality. This is the only one I have found thus far: https://www.sigineer.com/product/1500-watt-24v-dc-to-110v-120vac-inverter-charger-pure-sine-wave/

2. Is there a good smart BMS WITH WORKING low temp shutoff option for 24v 8s DIY battery bank?

3. Any reliable budget 12valternatorDC-24batteryDC chargers out there? I considered the renogy 50a mppt/alternator charger box but it doesn't handle panels in series so that's pretty much out.

4. Do I have to do anything smart/special to charge a lifepo4 battery bank from multiple charge sources simultaneously? (i.e. solar + alternator or solar + shore powered inverter/charger)

Additional info: Planning on doing renogy 300 or 400watt solar kit https://www.renogy.com/new-300-watt-12-volt-solar-premium-kit/

I need to run:
  • 28" 4k monitor (20w), 8 hours/day
  • Mini itx workstation with Ryzen 3800x and RTX2080Super (300-400 watts nominal, probably) 2-3 hours/day
  • Keep 85 watt macbook pro charged up for 8 hours a day on weekdays
  • LTE booster sometimes 24x7 sometimes off
  • Keep phones and tablets, gopro, BT speakers, lithium-ion high powered bike lights, etc. gidgets and gazmos charged regularly
  • Keep the lifepo battery banks at safe charge/discharge temps with a resistive heat pads
  • have capacity left over for adding more optional system components down the line:
    • Low voltage fridge
    • low voltage electric burner
    • low voltage kettle
    • diesel heater
I know this is a lot. Thoughts?
 
Last edited:
I will update the original thread with answers to the questions I posed if I do run into them.

Update 1: The 1500w sigineer psw inverter/charger does not support lifepo4 so it is not an option
 
Start with an energy audit. Link in my signature. Second link in my signature is a good place to look for guidance on inverters. Or us will‘s solar power blue prints.
 
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