small 100 watt solar install

[DanHoug]

here's a small solar install i just finished that wasn't too expensive and gives a nice AUX system to avoid draining the starting battery. i'd wanted this for the upcoming Winnipeg Folk Festival for two reasons... one to have a cooling fan for night sleeping as it'll be hot and humid and a friend is going along that needs a CPAP at night.

so. basics are a 100 watt Renogy panel, 20amp Renogy PWM controller, Renogy 100AH gel battery, and a Blue Sea accessory panel. total cost about $525. mounted the panel above the luggage rack using an old set of roof top racks that i bolted down. then used the Renogy mounts and a 24" x 4" piece of 1/8" aluminum to pass under the rack bars and connect the Renogy mounts. worked well.

thought about putting the panel on the back of the pop top but sacrificed the luggage rack. i initially thought of a 50AH battery under the drivers seat but looking at the specs on our friend's CPAP, if she runs the heater circuit would run out of juice early. so i went with a much larger battery under the bench seat and it will also run the Fan-Tastic 12" you can see in the kitchen window of the van. applied velcro to the top and bottom of the screen and on the fan, sticks well and with that on and the top vent open, pushes hot air out very effectively. can also pull it off and just use as a personal fan.

i went cheap on the controller, opting for a PWM instead of the more efficient MPPT but really, the demand won't be that large so i think it'll be fine. only $60 and has 4 stage charging plus algorithms for every battery made.

the Blue Sea panel is simple yet offers 2 switched acc outlets, and the fan and CPAP both can run off of the cig outlets. went with the gel vs AGM as the deep life cycles are better with gel, a tad more expensive tho.
_________________
-dan
60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.

'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd

Past projects can be found at--
www.thefixitworkshop.com

[Vanagon Nut]

At one point I'd wondered about installing a fan at the side window. I think thats a really useful position. Especially since you could position the bus with that side opposite the sun.

is this the blue seas panel?

https://www.bluesea.com/products/4351/4_Position_with_12V_Sockets_BelowDeck_Circuit_Breaker_Panel

4351 ?


I like the idea of having a switch for each circuit at the panel. The outlets are the cig type correct?
_________________
1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA

1988 West DIY 50º ABA

VE7TBN

[DanHoug]

yup. 4351. nice little panel with 2 cig outlets that are both on the 4th switch down. LED switch on indicators.

the Fan-Tastic fan is spendy but has a nice volume of air for a 12v fan. fits the screens of the sliders well. fairly long cord for pulling outside to blow on you when sitting outside the fan. not quiet nor not real loud, to be specific!
_________________
-dan
60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.

'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd

Past projects can be found at--
www.thefixitworkshop.com

[Love My Westy]

Don't know much about how much a CPAP will draw, but if it has a resistance heater in it, it will probably use up your battery fairly fast.

[Vanagon Nut]

[Abscate]

You have to run a load calculation before you throw money into charging systems

That 100 watt panel will give you 20 amp hour charge capability , so you can use about 1/5 of that battery without depletion.

A 12 V CPAP at 10 cm pressure will pull 2 amps so it should just keep up with that.

For $50 , a jump pack would safeguard starting if you can run the van every few days.

A group 24 standard battery of 80 amp hour would run the CPAP for three days to reach 50% capacity, about as low as you should go routinely. For a rare trip, just fine
_________________
.ssS!