Best Off Grid Set Up

JasonW

JasonW

Senior Member
VCDS User
T6 Legend
I'm in the process of trying to determine the best off grid set up for my T6 conversion.

Being a novice to all this, i'm not even sure if my expectations are realiatic if I'm honest, but I'm figuring i'm in the right place to find out...

So, I'm looking at some pretty wild touring, upto 7 to 10 days with no electic hook up...

My power consumption will be standard campervan fridge, on 24/7 but may turn off overnight if it helps.

Use of Low wattage microwave 3 or 4 times during the week at say 4 minutes a go... Probably running off an inverter as from what I've read it seems the way to go.

Flip down tv/ dvd player say 4 hours a day, nintendo game cube off the 12v socket couple of hours if not watching dvd, some low voltage led lighting in the evening, occasional use of electric water pump and heating.

I plan on taking one or two high capacity power banks for charging phone, tablet and portable devices to help alleviate demand on leisure batteries.

I don't know if the above is possible for that period of time(7-10 days)

My initial thoughts were 2 x 110Ah leisure batteries and a 350W solar panel, not sure what charge control system...

Any advice appreciated for best off grid set ups and if the above is realistic...

Thanks
 
might need some more detailed specs on that fridge/inverter/water pump/heater and microwave.

where you planing to go regards to the solar? UK or somewhere hotter? just summer months or spring/summer/winter to?

heres some details:

What Solar Panel & Controller ?

Mobile Solar Panels ? . . . - How I Did It -

Lithium Lifepo4 12v Batteries - - - Time For An Upgrade ? - - -

.



just roughly off the top of my head i would say that 2 x 110Ah leisure batteries and a 350W solar panel + MTTP would have to be the bare minimum to start spec.

but depending on weather conditions i would add a DC-DC charger to help charge the leisure batteries off the running engine while driving ( or parked up)

and id also take a small suitcase 240v generator and a decent 20A (or larger) mains battery charger as a Last resort . . . . .

just in case you are off grid but are not driving about or dont want to run the van engine for 3 hours (via a DC-DC) while trying to replenish a 220ah battery bank.

maybe look at LifePO4 Lithium batteries too, as you can only use 50% of that 220Ah lead-acid battery before they are classed as flat/dead (which only gives you 110ah of usable power)


so maybe you kit list might be:

Essential:
220ah AGM battery bank or LifePO4,
300-400 solar with MPPT controller,
20-40A DC-DC charger,
800-1000w pure sine inverter,
12v distribution system,
battery power monitors

Backup:
1000w suitcase generator,
20-40A mains battery charger
 
Thanks for the informative and helpful replies. A bit to absorb there...!

Yes, weather wont be great as its mainly uk and northern europe touring..

Lithiums seem the way to go... I'll go away and do a bit more homework based around the spec you've provided.

Thanks for the help. Much appreciated.
 
People always talk a lot about batteries and electrics but, in our experience, it’s just not the limiting factor when it comes to off-grid camping.

We have a factory 75Ah AGM battery, a DC-DC charger and a 250w solar panel and we haven’t touched the hook-up cable in over a year. (However, we’re not trying to run a microwave!)

Water, toilet and waste disposal (and showers!) are the main issues for us - the battery is always fine unless you have a rare combination of no sun and no driving for days.

What the above means is that you need to look at it holistically and plan all the elements - it’s no good spending £2k on the mother of all lithium battery setups if you’ve run out of water...

As a case in point, we’re currently on our 13th night wild camping in Ireland - the battery is the usual non-issue but we’re driving around with three rubbish bags as I haven’t spotted anywhere to bin rubbish for a few days!
 
Thanks for all the replies...

So with that advice, i've identified the leisure batteries and DC-DC charger...

Any recommendations for the 350-400W Solar Panel / MPPT or for the Pure sine wave inverter...

I see quite a few offerings on the internet, but I am suspicious and unsure of what's regarded as good quality and what's not...

I see Lensun and Photonic Universe seem to be the most popular for the panels...

Any advice much appreciated.
 
Last edited:
JasonW said:
Thanks for all the replies...

So with that advice, i've identified the leisure batteries and DC-DC charger...

Any recommendations for the 350-400W Solar Panel / MPPT or for the Pure sine wave inverter...

I see quite a few offerings on the internet, but I am suspicious and unsure of what's regarded as good quality and what's not...

I see Lensun and Photonic Universe seem to be the most popular for the panels...

Any advice much appreciated.
Click to expand...

We’ve got a 250w panel from photonics universe and a votronic mppt, both of which have been running without issue for a couple of years. You can get a 350w panel of the same type too.
 
Phonic Universe or Renogy for panels.

Victron for MPPT and inverter and battery monitor.

Redarc for Dc-Dc.

You can see them in the links I posted on the first reply. =)
 
t0mb0 said:
As a case in point, we’re currently on our 13th night wild camping in Ireland - the battery is the usual non-issue but we’re driving around with three rubbish bags as I haven’t spotted anywhere to bin rubbish for a few days!
Click to expand...

Sigh!!! Would LOVE to do something like this!! One day ...... maybe!!
 
@Dellmassive
I totally agree with your above list apart from maybe the dc-dc charger.

Redarc are very good but Ablemail are also a very good contender. British designed and manufactured, which is important imo.

Also Ablemail do a 15a version and a 30a version. People always think bigger is better but that isn’t always the case.

If you are running a 100Ah AGM battery then 15a or 0.15c is a better match. If it’s a LifePO then charging at 0.3c per 100Ah is sensible.

I have installed a number of Ablemail DC-DC chargers now and they they are excellent.

For MPPT’s Victron are worth every penny.

As a final note. Make sure you size, fuse and crimp your cabling correctly. If you don’t then you are wasting your money on good kit.

All the best with the conversion
 
Thanks for the advice.... All good stuff....

Regarding the charger... with 2 x 100Ah lithiums would the 30A version of the Ablemail be the better choice... seeing as the 15A is suggested for 1 x 100Ah..?

I plan to get the conversion done by a reputable company up here in the north west of england when i settle on one, but want a custom build for off grid.

Thanks
 
Forget microwaves, they use a start up power roughly double the power of the microwave and so a 700w microwave would need a 2kw inverter and the power to match. If you've got deep pockets however, then anything is achievable.

As a very rough guide; divide your Watts per hour consumption by 12 to give you consumption in Amps so a 50W ph consumption is approx 4AH load which might help you with your calculations for your chosen items. Don't forget, a compressor fridge in ideal conditions is only "on" for about 30% of the time. As the temperature warms that can increase to being on about 75% of the time.
 
One thing to bear in mind with the ablemail, is that the battery type (last time I checked) can only be changed using a PC software interface whereas most others can be changed simply with switches on the actual unit. This will probably be needed to achieve a lithium charging profile. Even with AGM, most of them require 14.7v whereas most lead acid use 14.4. My guess is there are many ablemail users on the wrong charging voltage.
 
@JasonW My rule of thumb is charge AGM at 0.15c and lithium at 0.3c to maximise battery life. That means 15A per 100Ah AGM and 30A per 100Ah for lithium.
I run an Ablemail 60A DC-DC charger on my 200Ah lithium set up.

You are correct re not being able to change the battery type on an ablemail without the cable but unless you change your battery technology half way through a build you won’t ever need to, so I’ve never seen this as a big issue.
 
@superchargedpolo have you got any pics of your setup? Have you got solar and EHU?

Your 200w setup Lithium sounds awesome.
 
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