Installing my Van Electrics

kj67072
kj67072 Registered Users Posts: 5
Hello all, 

I am fairly new to this site and have found some good info thus far. I have loosely decided what to do for my solar set up and wanted to get feedback from you all given the vast knowledge about this stuff.

So first off all a little background, converting a Chevy 1995 G-20 Conversion Van with fiberglass hi-top into little camper. As of right now it is my daily driver as well as our camper. Planning to use it for weekend trips and also some extended trips. We like to get into the backcountry as much as we can. 
So as far as what we will be running it is pretty simple. Stove will be propane. Fridge is a Yeti cooler. Electronics will be
10 puck style lights - 2W  
strip light - 4W
dome light - 8W
3 cigarette lighter outlets for USB charging - phones, tablet, radio speaker, 12V fan etc.

The only other 12V appliance would be a bilge pump if we decide to put in a sink and water tanks under the van.

Also planning to get an inverter (thinking 300 watt?) to charge camera batteries and laptops so we can watch DVDs on a rainy day or check in during longer adventures. 

My plan - 

FIrst of all a little more background so hopefully I can explain my thinking, please consider that I don't really know what I'm talking about. Ha. So the van had an electric bed - bench as are commonly installed in conversion vans. I completely gutted the van and found a battery post behind the drivers seat where the feed from the starter battery comes into the back. I have since hooked up lighting using the fuse block that was already there. I currently have all the above lights hooked up and they will work when the car is on. I have them all on one 15 amp fuse. I have 3 other fuses that are open and I plan to put the 12v cigarette lighters on one or two of those fuses. I do not plan to leave any of this hooked up to starter battery just using it to test my wiring until I get AGM

Next I want to get a 155 amp VMAX AGM 12V battery and this battery isolator,  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WTAFR84?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_1&smid=A2QEJ1BGOVPAGN. I plan to hook the isolator up at that battery post and then the new AGM battery. I am thinking this will allow the AGM battery to charge via the alternator. I will then hook up the lights that were on the battery post on to the new AGM.

I then want to add 1 or 2 100W flexible solar panels,  20 (30 or 40?) amp MPPT charge controller, and the MT5 Tracer and attach that to the same battery that the alternator is hooked up to. My thinking here is that I can put some sort of cut off on the solar panel line that charges the battery so I can cut it off when I am driving and then switch the solar on when we are parked for long periods of time. My thinking is that by using the two sources of energy and having a larger battery for my needs will allow me to be able to use a small percentage of the battery at all times and therefore increase the lifespan of the battery and also keep the battery full most of the time and if we are out in the backcountry for an extended period we should have no problems running all the lights and watching a few DVDs if we are caught in a storm for a few days.

I have not found a ton of information on using solar/alternator combo with one battery. I am getting the feeling that it is overkill but is it bad for the battery? Assuming the isolator regulates the charge from the alternator side and the charge controller will do the sane from the solar side I would think that the battery would be ok?

I know this is a lot of info, hopefully I have made it somewhat understandable for those who understand this stuff wayyy better than I do. Just wanting to be sure I am not doing something stupid or dangerous that I'm overlooking or not understanding.

Thanks to everyone here for a great forum!! Look forward to hearing some responses, recommendations, feedback, and any other comments. 

Appreciate it, 

Ken

Comments

  • oil pan 4
    oil pan 4 Solar Expert Posts: 767 ✭✭✭✭

    There is no need to get separate batteries and isolators and such. The battery isolator is just a switch. 

    I run solar panels with MPPT charge controller and 2000w pure sine wave power inverter, All I did was tie the solar into the vehicle electrical system.

    Two 100 watt panels is only going to make about 5 amps each. No need for a 30 amp charge controller.

    http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/solar-assist-vehicle-roof-top-solar-panels-32752-3.html

    Then I built a hybrid solar gasoline generator.

    http://ecorenovator.org/forum/solar-power/4544-home-made-solar-inverter-generator-hybrid.html

    The suburban and hybrid generator are designed to work together if needed.

    No reason to make it complicated unless its modular.

    Solar hybrid gasoline generator, 7kw gas, 180 watts of solar, Morningstar 15 amp MPPT, group 31 AGM, 900 watt kisae inverter.

    Solar roof top GMC suburban, a normal 3/4 ton suburban with 180 watts of panels on the roof and 10 amp genasun MPPT, 2000w samlex pure sine wave inverter, 12v gast and ARB air compressors.

  • zoneblue
    zoneblue Solar Expert Posts: 1,220 ✭✭✭✭
    edited March 2016 #3
    Seperate start and house batteries is a tried and tested system. But its pretty simple, link the banks with your isolater, adn feed the solar via a small PWM into the house battery. Run the inverter and lights off the house bank. Stock std. Done.

    1.8kWp CSUN, 10kWh AGM, Midnite Classic 150, Outback VFX3024E,
    http://zoneblue.org/cms/page.php?view=off-grid-solar


  • kj67072
    kj67072 Registered Users Posts: 5
    Thank you for the information. Sounds good and simple. Looking forward to getting it all up and running so I can hit the road.