Ultimate off-grid electrical setup

[dave1986]

Hi,

I'm looking for advice on the ultimate off-grid electrical setup for my T6 campervan. If money is no object what full setup of components would you buy? In particular, what's the biggest and best LifePo4 to fit under seat?

I'm wondering if a Victron 160Ah LifePo4 battery would fit under seat. Dimensions 237 x 321 x 152mm. What other components would be required?

My guess is that many of the components from this thread would be most suitable.... but I'm open to suggestions for improvements for "ultimate off grid setup".

Valence U27-12XP Lifepo4 Lithium Battery -- How We Done It --

get this error message every time . Any ideas ? You get that error also if you are not running the program in administrator mode. This is covered in previous posts. Close the application then Right click the program icon and 'run as administrator'.

www.t6forum.com

D

 

[Dellmassive]

Take a look here...

230ah @RoamerBatteries

Roamer LiFePO4 Gen2 230Ah Seatbase battery -- "How I Done It" --

Roamer LiFePO4 Gen2 230Ah Seatbase battery -- "How I Done It" -- Its a Lithium LifePo4, its got massive capacity @ 230Ah, its got massive discharge performance 250A/500A, its Bluetooth, its a Roamer !!, its exciting . . . . . its coming soon - the full test . . . . ...

www.t6forum.com

..


And here...

Dellmassive’s "How I Done It" blogs.

-- Dellmassive`s -- "How I Done It" -- thread -- ************************************************** Dellmassive`s -- "how I Done It" -- Thread ************************************************** Kit List And Stuff -- How I Done It & What I Use --...

www.t6forum.com

...

 

[Ali-G]

I'd go for a Clayton LPS with a solar panel attached.

LPS II 3000 - 2 kWh | 230V & 12V Lithium Power Supply - Clayton Power

www.claytonpower.com

 

[Skyliner33]

I'd go for a Clayton LPS with a solar panel attached.

LPS II 3000 - 2 kWh | 230V & 12V Lithium Power Supply - Clayton Power

www.claytonpower.com

I doubt that would fit under the seat.

 

[Ali-G]

I doubt that would fit under the seat.

Doh, missed that bit in the op's post.
Mine's in one of the cupboards.

 

[temma2k2]

Doh, missed that bit in the op's post.
Mine's in one of the cupboards.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but which Clayton have you got and how long can you stay off the grid? I need a setup that I can use for 7 days off grid whilst fishing...

 

[Mateus]

I’ve got the LPS100ah - all depends on usage and if you have solar (and sunshine). If you use the 230w it doesnt last long… have done a week with no hookup if that helps?

 

[yeha]

Some good info in the T5 section of the T4 forums, here.

 

[dazzler1973]

I wonder if somebody can help....I'm just updating my T6 electrics to be fully off grid and just wanted some advice and to pick your brains a little. below is what I'm looking at buying but not sure if I have missed anything and what your thoughts are?

2 x 150w flexible ETFE solar panels going to fit in parallel
Bostik glue for fixing to roof
MC4 Connectors
MC4 2-1 connectors
Victron 150/35 MPPT solar controller
2 x Renogy 100ah lithium Phosphate batteries fitted in parallel
mega fuse set for above
Renogy 2000w pure sine inverter
fuse set for the above
extra battery box for extra battery
Victron DC-DC 12/12v 30a charger

I'm going to be doing this myself but wondered what I have missed? The van already has a 100w solar panel and pwm controller plus low amp dc-dc controller but I want to be fully off grid capable....so am removing this system.

We run a dometic fridge, two laptops, 12v tv and some LED lights, water pump for the sink, occasionally a diesel heater and occasionally a small camping toaster.

mostly this is not all running at the same time.

What do you think?

any advice/help you can offer would be amazing

 

[Stay Frosty]

You'll need at least 200Ah of battery/batteries to run a 2kw inverter that draws near enough 200A at 13.5Vdc and the single Roamer 230Ah seatbase battery might be cheaper than two Renogys especially when you factor in hooking those up in different locations ie cabling and additional enclosure.
For what you want to run you should be able to get away with just more solar on the roof, while I was away last week in Suffolk we were banking an average 5A on top of the 4.5A draw from the Waeco compressor fridge, this was from two 175 watt panels on the poptop.
Running a 1kw inverter here and I had wanted to run a 2kw inverter but you're looking at 0 guage wire to run from the battery and a 2kw Renogy inverter while a great bit of kit is absolutely huge and wouldn't fit behind the drivers seat at the side of the fridge cupboard.

 

[dazzler1973]

Thanks for the reply.

I have an Audison amp under the drivers seat so theres no space there but it is full camper conversion. My original battery is under the main cupboard at the back right of the van (which is directly under where I was hoping to fit the inverter)in the same space that holds a 20 l water tank plus pump for the sink. I was thinking of housing the additional battery box under the rock n roll bed but on the opposite side of the van for weight balance. I'm assuming i plug into the 3 pin on the inverter then connect the cable from that to my 3 pin sockets in the van to make them work or do I have to use the two 3 pin sockets on the inverter???? Sorry have no idea if this is correct but hoping somebody will steer me right.

When connecting the new panels I assume there is a set protocol for connecting to each component. e.g wire panels to MPPT then connect to battery or do I connect the MPPT to the battery first and then hook the panels up. I don't want to either electrocute myself or ruin expensive bits of kit so any advice here would be amazing too.

The thing I like about the Renogy batteries is that I can potentially fully deplete them without damage giving me a full 200ah usage.

The total spend for the kit I'm looking at is £2270 but don't want to spend that much if I don't need to or if it's complete overkill.

Basically I'd like to not have to hook up again if I can get away with it (for a two week break) and get away from being in a row of other vans with a small amount of space when there are so many great places that are more natural open field type campsites but with no electric but still not have to be worrying everyday about turning off the fridge or having to drive around to charge it. I know thats counterintuitive as its a camper van designed to travel around but sometimes we like to stop for extended periods.

 

[DXX]

I don’t use hook ups, 2x45Ah AGMs, 150W solar and B2B. In summer definitely no issues running a CRX50, lights, chargers, sounds, Wallas XC Duo, water pump and a 12v shower pump.
Mid European winter, just starting to have issues with 5 year old AGMs if I run the Wallas XC Duo all night in heating mode along with the rest.
It doesn’t have to cost the earth or fill the cupboards with the electrical installation to provide adequate electrical power.

 

[Stay Frosty]

@dazzler1973 do a bit more reading on the seatbase battery install and other threads by Lee @Dellmassive there are quite a few tidy install schematics shown and will give an idea of where to put your isolators, fuses, MPPT, B2B charger and smart charger.
On the other hand if you want a fag packet/paper napkin diagram then here's my setup...

Haven't shown the neutrals but this works for my camper, ask questions as there is more than one way of doing off grid electrics.

 

[Oceanis]

There are many ways to approach self-sufficiency, but it depends mostly on your individual requirements.

First step is a power budget ... e.g.



Then go here.... MPPT Calculator - Victron Energy .... enter the location where the van is used and the details of chosen solar panels. The fridge and heater will be running at night so the batteries need to be sized so the overnight discharge doesn't discharge the batteries too deeply (only really relevant to lead-acid).

Daily yield needs to exceed the power budget for the months when the van is in use.

After doing this I came up with the following system design for my Ocean.



... and here it is fitted ...



Solar panels fitted to a roof carrier ....



Wires routed alongside the LED light wires in the pop-top



MPPT, breaker and fuse in the top of the rear cupboard.



Argofet battery isolator under the passenger seat (LHD)



Switch to charge the starter from solar when parked up.



Display to show solar charger power etc. (not needed as it is all available on a Bluetooth App).

... this system covers MY power used adequately so in the summer I don't need any electrical hook-ups.

 

[dazzler1973]

Amazing responses @Stay Frosty and @Oceanis thanks for the help I really appreciate it. I really like the setup of both. @Oceanis it looks like you have one cable from each solar panel and then one cable feeding down through the pop top.....can I ask why you decided to go in series for your setup and not parallel for your panels? Also it looks like the same for your batteries too or am I reading the diagram wrong? if they are in series too can I ask why you choose that way and not in parallel here too please?

@Stay Frosty this is what I was imagining my set up to be if I'm honest, or something very similar.......in my head I kind of thought I would be able to remove my pwm solar controller and put the Victron unit in its place then do the same with my split charger and put the dc-dc viltron unit in that place then replace the original battery with one of the renege batteries and just add in the additional battery and hook them up in parallel.

can I also ask how I connect the inverter to my 3 pin sockets?? once connected do only have the option of powering them from the inverter and not through direct hook up if I then do connect?? sorry if this is a dumb question

I'm now thinking that I have over simplified what my steps to making this work are and its more complicated than I regionally thought.

 

[Stay Frosty]

@dazzler1973 my rustic schematic misses out the Sargent ec160 too that came as part of the original Redline camper conversion, sorry about that.
For your 13A skts you want a fairly basic two way domestic garage consumers unit with a main double pole RCD on the incoming side from your 16A skt hookup and a 16A MCB alongside the RCD for the 13A skts in your van.
On my install I use the 13A skt built into the inverter or if I'm on hookup the original twin 13A skt that came with the van, not brilliant but with the Renogy inverter you can run that from a mains voltage input (it has a kettle plug input) as well as the leisure battery input just like a computer UPS and that would be more bespoke with the supply from the inverter always being your 230V supply inside the van.
Going back to the solar and B2B inputs and I've got a Renogy DCC50S which combines both functions in one device with either 25A from the van alternator and solar panels at the same time or if I turn off the solar it automatically takes 50A from the van alternator alone.

 

[dazzler1973]

@Stay Frosty I think you just saved me £300. I really like the idea of the Renogy DCC50S unit......MPPT and DC-DC all in one rather than the two Victron units I had in mind. I also like the adaptability of having the two original skts for hooked up and also the Inverter skts for when off grid. I might potentially just add in another couple of sockets above the originals and wire them in to the inverter skts so I can then choose whichever without having to have wires running into the cupboard I'm placing the inverter into.

 

[t0mb0]

@Stay Frosty I think you just saved me £300. I really like the idea of the Renogy DCC50S unit......MPPT and DC-DC all in one rather than the two Victron units I had in mind. I also like the adaptability of having the two original skts for hooked up and also the Inverter skts for when off grid. I might potentially just add in another couple of sockets above the originals and wire them in to the inverter skts so I can then choose whichever without having to have wires running into the cupboard I'm placing the inverter into.

Check the max solar voltage/current spec, sometimes combined units can't handle the same size solar panels as dedicated ones. For the 'ultimate' off-grid setup, I imagine you'd be wanting to absolutely max out solar power because your ability to stay off-grid indefinitely from a electrical perspective is much more dictated by long term energy in/out balance than it is about how much Ah you can store in your battery. As an example, for the 'out' bit we have modest loads (fridge, diesel heater, the usual lights/chargers etc but no inverter and gas cooking and decent 'in' provided by a 250w solar panel and a DC-DC and for summer trips this is enough to stay off-grid indefinitely on a factory 75Ah AGM battery.

And I've said this before, but maybe it bears repeating, but staying off-grid from an electrical perspective is actually rather easy as long as you're not trying to run anything silly, it's the water/toilet that are much more limiting so if you are aiming at a serious off-grid setup don't forget those aspects!

 

[Stay Frosty]

@t0mb0 you're right, it's easy to get carried away with going off grid. Realistically though the amount of bang for your buck when spending half as much again means you can pretty well remove gas from the off grid equation and go induction hob, microwave, Breville etc. not so much endurance as being able to power larger loads.

 

[dazzler1973]

Thanks @t0mb0
I am planning on using 2 150w slimline ETFE panels in parallel, space on the pop top being an issue. These panels are 540mm wide so I can put them next to each other closer to the rear of the van. I'd go for 2 200w panels but there isn't the wide on the roof for them. if I could get one semi flexible panel that was 400w with he junction box on the top then I would go for that.
I have to say the main reason for the inverter is for our toaster and sometimes my wife's hair dryer. although as you say a microwave would be a good addition.

Toilet we have covered but the water storage is another issue I have to tackle as I only have a 20l tank at the mo and am thinking about an underslung tank bat am starting to worry about the amount of weight the van will be carrying.