Which way to go with solar and batteries….

JimDiesel

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T6 Pro
Hi all, I’ve had a scan and nothing really hits the spot in the previous threads that I can see but apologies if it exists…

We got out van (2019 kombi Swb) at Xmas, it has OEM rear seat and fold out kombi nation bed behind.
It also has 230v hook up, 100 Ah leisure battery under the passenger captain seat, insulated and carpeted already.
Sub is under drivers seat and no split charger from what We can see.

We want to push the button on a pop top and figure nows the best time to think about solar.

Usage, well there is me, my mrs and out 4yr old boy, we want to get away as much as possible for short/mid weekends and a couple of one week trips a year in it and the odd weekend festival…

Power is essential as I have sleep apnoea and a machine on all night to keep me breathing (12v 6.67a) it’s on a 230/12v 80w inverter (I might be able to get a 12v lead for it to plug directly into the van 12v socket), additionally we will use phone and iPad chargers, internal led lighting and on colder trips a little ceramic outdoor revolution plug in heater. Then I guess a few usb led awning lights etc and maybe a small tv for the boy at some point. (With no experience am I forgetting something else??)

I think we have decided which top and installer.
The options we have re solar are a

150w or 160w flexible ETFE panel with Victron smart solar MPPT controler

or 250w semi flexible panel with victron 20/100 mppt smart solar control we all with Bluetooth.

So the the Questions are….

1) We will want want to change both front seats to swivel, is 100mah the largest battery we could get in this??
2)guessing the batteries are the real limiting factor, should we consider the longer plan of adding more? I.e remove sub and install second? Or relocate to side rear and reduce bed width and include low level cabinets?
3) would upgrading the type of battery help??

4)Is going big the right thing to do to future proof or is the 250w far too big??

5) is there anything else we should be asking or considering??

We just don’t want to spend a heap of cash and then have to replace it further down the line or spend money when it’s just not needed….

Sorry for the long post but hope it helps paint the picture and gives enough info for you guys n gals who may well be clued up on all this…

Tia
 
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Have a look at the Roamer 230Ah lithium seat base battery.

Effectively 460Ah worth of standard lead acid battery. (Due to 50% dod)

@RoamerBatteries

Have a look at ours here..




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More info here....


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Your can never have enough solar panels imho...

I've seen 360w panels on a T6 roof.

100-200w is good for the roof ... Remember you can always add in mobile panels to add to the total.

Have a look at my solar controller thread for examples.
 
I assume you mean you have 100Ah leisure currently - I think this is inadequate to run your sleep apnoea machine overnight (and your other loads). Standard wisdom is that discharging your (AGM ) leisure battery should be limited to 50% to avoid over significantly reducing its life. This gives you only 50Ah to play with , so about 7hours at 7A for your machine.
you can double your battery capacity by either adding another AGM battery or moving to a single100Ah LiFePO4 ( you can successfully discharge these almost 100%) . As Dellmassives post above, you can event fit a 200Ah Romer seat base battery to quadruple your current capacity. You’d then need to look at how you’re charging this.
LiFePO4 needs a real DC-DC converter to charge from starter battery/ alternator. You can’t use a split charge relay. When you’ve figured out battery and charger, then look at adding your solar panels (but more is better)

loads of useful info in the links above - and ask more questions!

Simon
 
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