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PhenixRising
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Joined: 07/11/2023
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 856

Posted: 10:08am 04 Nov 2024

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Greetings all

My friend has a camper-van and she has asked me for advice on adding a solar charging/power-system to it....I am clueless but I trust TBS

Here's a diagram that she sent me, along with a short description:

Quote
Solar panels
Charge controller that allows solar mains and engine to charge batteries; both leisure and engine battery and doesn’t allow to over charge them or flatten engine battery

And anything else in between these to make them work

Can anyone please point me in the right direction?
I am looking for the best, easiest solution. It's not about the cheapest solution.

disco4now

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Joined: 18/12/2014
Location: Australia
Posts: 896

Posted: 10:23pm 04 Nov 2024

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PhenixRising said My friend has a camper-van

What is already in there. Is it setup as a camper-van already just without any solar.
e.g. typically a house battery that charges while driving, the house battery might run a 12v refrigerator and some lights. This might give you one night away from 240v power. It would also have a 240v charger to charge the house battery when you are hooked up to 240v at a camping site.

If its already got the above then something like Redarc redarc-bcdc1225d could be used to bring solar into the system.

A bit more info on the expected usage would be required to determine what else is needed. Typically you would aim to have most of the load as 12v i.e. lights,TV,fridge etc and only use an inverter for what really needs 240v and probably just turn it on as needed. The required inverter size and battery size will be determined by what you expect to run and how long you want to stay off grid. You will also need some sort of low battery cutoff that is not shown in the sketch above.

If there is no house battery already you might consider a lithium battery with a built in BMS.
Edited 2024-11-05 08:24 by disco4now

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PhenixRising
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Joined: 07/11/2023
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 856

Posted: 02:28pm 05 Nov 2024

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Hi Gerry,

I think that I'm supposed to be psychic or something because all I get is "I want solar in my campervan"

I have put her on to Renogy who seem to have kits for reasonable cost. I told her to use the web-chat thingy to have them help her to figure what she really needs.

She wants to tackle the installation herself and I just happened to find a YT of some young lady doing exactly that

Many thanks.

TassyJim

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Joined: 07/08/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 6094

Posted: 01:32am 06 Nov 2024

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There is no reason for having any AC lights. 12V LEDs are far better and much more efficient.
Likewise, there are plenty of 12V TVs to choose from.
Refrigerators are usually 240V/12V and LPG.

A word of caution.
A few years ago in Tasmania, a badly fitted solar panel came adrift from a camper and the panel hit a following car causing a death.
Make sure that the panels are secured to the relevant standards.

Also. Batteries are heavy. Fitting off grid power can easily make the vehicle over weight. The authorities and insurance companies will not be kind.

Jim

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phil99

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Joined: 11/02/2018
Location: Australia
Posts: 2134

Posted: 04:20am 06 Nov 2024

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disco4now said If there is no house battery already you might consider a lithium battery with a built in BMS

Not quite as heavy as lead-acid. Big forklift lead-acid battery = 1200kg

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