general info about solar in a van

mytimeistoday

I am in the process of planning to turn my '97 e150 van into an RV. I'm looking for advice for powering my needs. Currently, I'm looking at a 3000/6000 (peak) power inverter. I'm unclear whether it'd be better to use a series of eight 6 volt batteries or three 24 volt batteries, and no clue as to the power of the solar panels. I'm looking at living in this van for about one year, taking a "bucket list" trip, visiting the lower 48 states, in 2016 or so. Below are the appliances that I plan to install, although I do not know the wattage of them.

1. 12" oven
2. 2' high frig w/ separate freezer
3. roof A/C (powered by solar)
4. 700 watt microwave
5. 2 burner stove top (approx. 1500 watts)
6. laptop & cell phones
7. electric heater
   
   Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The frig is probably the only item that would be in use 24/7.

vtmaps

Re: general info about solar in a van

mytimeistoday wrote: »

I am in the process of planning to turn my '97 e150 van into an RV. I'm looking for advice for powering my needs. Currently, I'm looking at a 3000/6000 (peak) power inverter. I'm unclear whether it'd be better to use a series of eight 6 volt batteries or three 24 volt batteries, and no clue as to the power of the solar panels. I'm looking at living in this van for about one year, taking a "bucket list" trip, visiting the lower 48 states, in 2016 or so. Below are the appliances that I plan to install, although I do not know the wattage of them.

Welcome to the forum,

Your plans are unrealistic, unless you're planning to recharge your batteries with a generator, or perhaps your vehicle alternator.

If you were asking advice on buying a truck, the first thing you would do is define your loads... you don't want a half-ton truck if you really need a one ton truck (and vice versa). Same thing with solar power system... you need to define your loads in order to buy the right equipment. And it's not just about the wattage... it's also about the watthours. (1000 watts for 30 minutes is the same watthours as 25 watts for 20 hours).

Once you define your loads you can choose a battery bank. Once you choose a battery bank, you can figure out how many solar panels you need to charge those batteries. You must do it in that order or you are likely to be disappointed with your system.

Now having said all that, I can guarantee you that your plans are unrealistic. It is not realistic to use high power heating and cooling appliances on batteries, and there is no way you could fit enough solar panels on your van to provide the power you need.

You should consider propane for heat and cooking, and a generator for your air conditioning. The inverter you want should be a pure sine wave inverter.

--vtMaps

unyalli

Re: general info about solar in a van

Get a small 8' enclosed cargo trailer and set it up as your stand alone power center. Fill the roof with solar, vented batteries over the axle, charge controller inverter/charger small inverter generator all in or on the trailer. Do a 24 volt battery bank and use the magnum MSH4000M Hybrid inverter charger. When connected to the van the extra solar on the van roof is paralleled in with the solar on the trailer roof and the 120VAC from the inverter/charger in the trailer is connected to the van. Mount a small 5500 BTU household window mount A/C in one of the van rear doors instead of a roof A/C.