diy solar

diy solar

New to solar and electricity and all the rest.

Alexdaze

New Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2020
Messages
5
Hello everyone, well, like the title says, I'm new to all this stuff. Been planning a van build for quite some time now and I'm about to finally make the move into buying the van and starting the conversion.

Being in Canada, with our great winters, I want to make sure I have enough power for a couple of days winter skiing in remote locations. I've been researching lots and lots but it just doesn't stay in my head all that electrical wiring and electrical components I need for a full setup.

From Will's website, there is a place where it says all the solar components needed for a full setup but in an other tab, there is also the ''king of power setup'' and it has less things listed on it so before making any purchase, I wanted to see here if I was missing anything.

- Battery, I was looking at 3 or 4 battle born
- Solar panels, I was looking at 600W (mono or poly, not sure which one is more efficient)
- MPPT (I think for 600W solar, the only one listed on Will's website is the Victron... 100 50 amp or the 150 45amp) but I'm probably wrong on this one.

Here, I was looking for a inverter/charger but I was told to take them separate in case one fails so
- Inverter 3000W ( toaster/oven and induction cooktop are probably the 2 largest things I'll be powering, it says they are 1800W each so I just can't run them at the same time if I understand correctly)... also a laptop but mine is broken so eventually will buy a new one
- Battery charger (I've got no clue what to get)
- Battery monitor, I was looking at the Simarine PICO battery monitor.
- Battery Isolator

Now, to charge from the alternator, should I get a second alternator installed and used just for that or a battery to battery (or something like that) would be plenty good?


Do I need a Automatic transfer switch?

Would it be too big of a setup?


Thanks and sorry if all this has been already answered somewhere.
 
Welcome! I think your questions can be best served in a thread in the van build forum. It’s fine to leave them here, or you can delete them, and copy to a new thread in the right forum.
better responses there, and the responses will be of more benefit to future members looking for similar results.
 
Welcome! I think your questions can be best served in a thread in the van build forum. It’s fine to leave them here, or you can delete them, and copy to a new thread in the right forum.
better responses there, and the responses will be of more benefit to future members looking for similar results.

Alright, thx. I should have taken the time to look at all the different forums .but wasn't planning on making a big post like that in the beginning
 
That's a lot of questions. I would recommend buying Will's book to get a better grasp of concepts and what you're looking to do. It provides much more detail than his site. But anyways:

Here are the ones I can help you with:

1. Mono panels will be more efficient, get those. Do you have space for 600W of panels on your van? The most efficient sunpower cells out now are about 107cm x 58cm per 100w panel. This is for flexible ones, probably add a few more cm on both sides for glass ones. Measure your roof and make sure, you may find an inconveniently placed vent on your roof if you have a high top or other weird spots. Been there done that myself. Thought I could easily fit 400W on mine when I started planning, when I actually measured it I ended up with 220W.

2. Battleborn batteries are expensive, look into ordering cells from China from Dongguan or Xuba like many of us on these forums. You can easily get double the capacity if not more for the price of a single battleborn. Ex. I bought a 4x 3.2V 280ah cells for under $500. The little extra work you'll have to put into it is worth it for the savings, at least for me.

3. You shouldn't need a second alternator - just get a DC to DC charger like the Victron or Renogy ones (there are around 4). Search around the forums for feedback and reviews. Will reviewed the Renogy one in a video. Many people like these. If you drive for a few hours a day these can help with harvesting more power for sure.

4. For the MPPT sizing, you need to know how you'll arrange your panels first and also know the amps and voltage of each panel. This is in Will's book. I recommend buying his book, $8 on amazon and I think it'd help you understand more of what's going on. So series = add the voltages together, amps stay the same. Parellel = voltage stays the same, add up the amps.

5. You should add a DC fuse box and run the laptop off of that with a 12V cigarette plug charger if possible. It would be more efficient for you in the long run. Also any usb charging (phones, cameras, etc) could be done via DC as well than the AC inverter.
 
That's a lot of questions. I would recommend buying Will's book to get a better grasp of concepts and what you're looking to do. It provides much more detail than his site. But anyways:

Here are the ones I can help you with:

1. Mono panels will be more efficient, get those. Do you have space for 600W of panels on your van? The most efficient sunpower cells out now are about 107cm x 58cm per 100w panel. This is for flexible ones, probably add a few more cm on both sides for glass ones. Measure your roof and make sure, you may find an inconveniently placed vent on your roof if you have a high top or other weird spots. Been there done that myself. Thought I could easily fit 400W on mine when I started planning, when I actually measured it I ended up with 220W.

2. Battleborn batteries are expensive, look into ordering cells from China from Dongguan or Xuba like many of us on these forums. You can easily get double the capacity if not more for the price of a single battleborn. Ex. I bought a 4x 3.2V 280ah cells for under $500. The little extra work you'll have to put into it is worth it for the savings, at least for me.

3. You shouldn't need a second alternator - just get a DC to DC charger like the Victron or Renogy ones (there are around 4). Search around the forums for feedback and reviews. Will reviewed the Renogy one in a video. Many people like these. If you drive for a few hours a day these can help with harvesting more power for sure.

4. For the MPPT sizing, you need to know how you'll arrange your panels first and also know the amps and voltage of each panel. This is in Will's book. I recommend buying his book, $8 on amazon and I think it'd help you understand more of what's going on. So series = add the voltages together, amps stay the same. Parellel = voltage stays the same, add up the amps.

5. You should add a DC fuse box and run the laptop off of that with a 12V cigarette plug charger if possible. It would be more efficient for you in the long run. Also any usb charging (phones, cameras, etc) could be done via DC as well than the AC inverter.

Yeah, the book as been ordered, just waiting for it to get here so thought I would start asking the questions.

Thx for all those answers. will add a DC fuse box to the list and will search the forums for the DC to DC
 
Back
Top