I am making a huge surplus in solar and not even into spring properly yet. What can I use it up on living in van full time?

[Gueyog8a7]

Everyone shit on flexibles but just these 2 x 200w flexible renogies are performing better than I would have ever anticipated from all the shit people gave it online before buying them. I noted the highest peak I have seen so far the other day at around 121w. All this and still only on the cusp of spring.

I now have all the electricals I initially planned to run powered, laptop, phone charger, diesel heater/stove, and the battery is now topped nearly 100% of the time. So I am having a huge surplus. Feels a shame to waste it.

Any suggestions what else I could add to 'burn up' the excess? Useful ideas of course. Not just squandering it.

I could get a refrigerator but I am used to not having one now. Don't think it would be that much point. I am in the habit now of buying fresh vegetables which keep a few days and cooking dried food with them and cooking almost every day. This works for me. Even when I had a fridge this was pretty much I what I did anyway.

Any interesting projects I could use it for bearing in mind I have 7 some years of python coding experience. Also I am looking to buy a patch of land as soon as I can find something suitable that ticks all my boxes which is proving somewhat challenging but when I do any suggestions what I could use it for at that point once I have some more space to play with?

 

[MattiFin]

Heat or cool your van. Easily takes care of your ”extra energy problem”

Also get get used to the idea that you need 900% oversize solar panel array and 900% oversize battery to cover most of the time. And you are still going to have bad day once in a while with empty battery and no sunshine for two weeks.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

You can also think of it as having spare money in reserve. It’s something we do so we’re prepared for tough times. May seem like a waste because it is not earning interest or building equity, but things go sideways, it’s something that could be really make a difference.

If you find a patch of land and it is farther away from food supply, a refrigerator is handy. Maybe keep an eye out for one at a good price? We have a portable electric that we can turn off during dark times, can be used as a freezer when needed.

 

[pollenface]

Get an induction stove and cook with solar power while the sun is up. Save your gas/diesel for rainy days.

 

[Dave in AZ]

Get a small 300W heater, run it aimed at your remaining damp areas to continue drying out your van.

 

[JRH]

Get a couple of girlfriends to move in… there won’t be a surplus for long.

 

[Gueyog8a7]

Get an induction stove and cook with solar power while the sun is up. Save your gas/diesel for rainy days.

Indeed this is the way I had thought of too. That is a great way to burn off excess as they are so power hungry. I suppose then I will have to get an inverter for this? Was wanting to avoid having to use inverters but guess will have to for powering that. Have not looked into the technology at all yet really as had considered it out of reach until now.

 

[MSRConf]

Some assumptions and some wet finger maths, lets assume April to October, your getting 400w peak for 7 solid hours every day, in the UK we know that's what we might call that a bit of a stretch. 7 Months * 30 days = 210 days. On each of those days your getting 7 hours * 400W, a total of 2.8KWH, lets forget about round trip efficiency etc, and just assume we get it all. Your current setup, again lets pick a number and say 1KWH of that is used on laptops, TV whatever. So you have 1.8KWH spare * 210 days =378KWH, at an approx UK rate of, 25p / KWH, means your leaving on the table unused about £95 worth of capacity per year, there are some big assumptions in there, more realistic is that every other day its cloudy.

A good pure sinewave inverter is not cheap, a 12V cooler box is reasonably cheap and has use through summer. The Inverter + Induction hob gives flexibility and options, if budget and pay back duration are low priorities then the flexibility of a good inverter will be welcome in many scenarios you have perhaps yet to encounter living in a van.

 

[efficientPV]

7 some years of python coding experience.

Any electronics experience? Everyone needs some hot water. It is nice to have some available. You can easily operate off the same panels and make hot water efficiently in a standard 2.5 to 5 gallon water tank. Uses no battery or inverter capacity. These systems are cheap to build. Micro is a bit of overkill but if you want that vampire it will work.

 

[Gueyog8a7]

Some assumptions and some wet finger maths, lets assume April to October, your getting 400w peak for 7 solid hours every day, in the UK we know that's what we might call that a bit of a stretch. 7 Months * 30 days = 210 days. On each of those days your getting 7 hours * 400W, a total of 2.8KWH, lets forget about round trip efficiency etc, and just assume we get it all. Your current setup, again lets pick a number and say 1KWH of that is used on laptops, TV whatever. So you have 1.8KWH spare * 210 days =378KWH, at an approx UK rate of, 25p / KWH, means your leaving on the table unused about £95 worth of capacity per year, there are some big assumptions in there, more realistic is that every other day its cloudy.

A good pure sinewave inverter is not cheap, a 12V cooler box is reasonably cheap and has use through summer. The Inverter + Induction hob gives flexibility and options, if budget and pay back duration are low priorities then the flexibility of a good inverter will be welcome in many scenarios you have perhaps yet to encounter living in a van.

I can be more accurate with usage.

100ah/1200wh lifepo4 battery from fogstar drift.

My laptop/tablet draws very little it seems used 5-6 hours or so per day. I would like to use less now it is getting warmer again as my main impetus living in this tiny van is to be outside of it more than inside and also away from screens. The draw is 7.8volts for that 5amps I think the converter is iirc.

Phone insignificant since I use it almost never and battery seems to last up to a month or more as I leave it switched off.

Diesel stove/heater. Daily 5-10a.

That is about it except a couple of 0.1-0.2a lights/fan.

As such my battery is flashing full on mt50 all the time pretty much except for month of december when I first got the electrics installed in the darkest period. Pretty much went live around the darkest day.

 

[HarryN]

If your goal is to live further out, then most likely you will need a refrigerator and power tools to work on things there.

Perhaps plan into the future by adding them now ?

Just the fridge can pull what those panels can produce on a lot of days.

 

[Dave in AZ]

@Gueyog8a7 I better not see another 20 page thread from you complaining about your van being damp, if you have excess power now and aren't using it to dry your van, after complaining you didn't have enough power to dry van before!

But my answer to new goodies, is 12-24v fridge.

 

[wattmatters]

Anything controllable which moves or generates heat.

Then it's a matter of deciding what to move or generate heat for.

e.g.
I can imagine a small chest freezer for cold storage would be pretty handy to have for long term supply of necessities.
Or for creating ice to use in a cooler box.

Heating water is always an option and makes a great dump load.

Cooking in the daytime. Portable induction hob / slow cooker.

Drying foods.

Heating / cooling / dehumidifying spaces.

 

[doksinc]

Small BTC miner and it generates heat...win/win

 

[HarryN]

@Gueyog8a7 I better not see another 20 page thread from you complaining about your van being damp, if you have excess power now and aren't using it to dry your van, after complaining you didn't have enough power to dry van before!

But my answer to new goodies, is 12-24v fridge.

Sounds like an excellent suggestion. In that climate, a dehumidifier would be a great add on.

 

[Stephen InGeorgia]

I agree with a crypto miner triggered to run on excess power. Maybe install a 120v outlet on the side of the van and charge EV's in a pinch?

 

[pollenface]

Was wanting to avoid having to use inverters

Your choice

 

[rustythorn]

my solution to avoid surplus power is to drive electric, i'll have about 120 kwh of batteries that need feeding so i'd only see surplus if i stayed in one spot for a long time in very sunny weather.