Newbie set up

[CornDawg]

Hello Forum!
I am in deep with a diy solar set up for a sprinter van and it seems the more I try to educate myself, the more conflicting strategies and set ups I get??‍
Looking fordiagrams showing proper placement and types/gauges of fuses, wires, switches.
Looking for advice on overall system set up and hazards as well.
Financially, I really don’t want to spend more on this system and maybe it’s already too much??‍

So here what I have going on so far:
All Renogy components.

Installed:
(3) 100 watt flexible solar panels-linked in parallel

Purchased:
-30amp charge controller ( have a PWM & MMPT… not sure which to use)
-battery monitor
-BlueSea fuse box
-2 isolator switches
-(2) 40amp ANL fuse
-(1) 100amp ANL fuse
-(2) 100a LiPo4 Battle Born batteries
-2000w Pure Sin Wave Inverter
-40 amp DC-DC charger

Power needs:
-LED interior van lights
-device charging
-ICECO 75 cooler /freezer


My thoughts were:
Combination of 300watts solar and 40ampDc-Dc charging while driving would support the two Lithium batteries which would power the inverter which would power the lights and cooler/freezer so I can park out in the middle of nowhere and see what I’m doing while I drink a cold beer and eat ice cream?

Is this system a total Dr. Sues junkshow or am I on the right course??
Sound advice graciously appreciated!!!
Thanks Everybody!?

 

[12VoltInstalls]

Is this system a total Dr. Sues junkshow or am I on the right course

I probably would return the flexible panels and buy some standard panels that will last 20+ years.
200W+ panels are less money and you can probably fit 800W on the roof.

linked in parallel

30amp charge controller ( have a PWM & MMPT… not sure which to use)

I’d use mppt. If you can fit 8, 6, or 4 panels on the roof I’d do two series strings in parallel to combat partial shading depending on where you’d park.

All Renogy components

I’ll leave that alone other than to say I’m not a fan of rhinogy

 

[joeExotic]

First do not use flex panels because they are not as efficient and life span is short. Instead mount down four 100w panels in 2s2p. Second instead of 2000 inverter go for a 1000 psw inverter it will eat less watts and that’s all you really need unless you want to expand. Finally get as much batteries as you can. Like double what you have…this is the most important. Good luck

Mppt over everything

 

[MichaelK]

Before you start putting together this system, what you really need to be doing first is making an itemized list of everything you want to power and how many Wh of power they will consume over the course of a day.

The thing that stands out is your ICECO 75 cooler /freezer. Is it AC or DC? How many watts does it consume, and how many Wh will it use in a 24hr period. An inverter itself consumes power just being left on. That has to be added to your calculations. So AiO inverters consume 60-100W just sitting there left on, not powering anything. That's 1400-2400Wh right there.

If your panels are laying flat on the top of the roof, instead of orienting them towards the sun, you need to de-rate their output to ~60%. So, that means whatever solar production calculations you come up with, you need to add an additional 40% just to make up for that.

I would really not be focusing any attention right now on minutia like fuses and such. Focus first on the BIG details, like how many watts will get used.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

instead of 2000 inverter go for a 1000 psw inverter it will eat less watts

Not necessarily so, and I’ve found 1000W with the 1012LV-MK to be a bit limiting and 28W idle consumption. 1200W Giandel less of an issue and (I can’t recall exactly) ~24W idle consumption.

The QZRELB 2000W is 18W idle consumption generally and other than me wanting to and occasionally trying to run my smaller and cheapo craftsman portable tablesaw with mixed success (because it’s 2000W and I can ?) it isn’t limiting in everyday use: it doesn’t shut down if the fridge comes on while making coffee for example, and it doesn’t blink with the shopvac, grinders, or smaller compressors.

edit:
I’m considering some options to expand my service availability, actually. A 3000W wzrelb / QZRELB is reportedly very low idle as well.
For specific reasons applicable to my situation I want to stay 12V. That recent video Will did featuring a portable system w/ a split-phase 5000W is appealing but there really isn’t anything but 24V and 48V options at that level. What it would do, though, is let me run virtually everything including short use of the table saws without running a generator.
My point is that don’t box yourself in for $40 less and get a small output inverter. Rather, exceed the need because if you have power available you are going to want to use it. Exceeding the need isn’t usually hugely expensive but it WILL be hugely convenient at times, while most times you won’t be working the inverter hard.