luthj
Engineer In Residence
Hey folks.
A friend of mine asked for some advice on a basic electrical setup for a medium sized off-grid type vehicle. The major concerns were high value, reliable components, and Simple configuration. The components listed below have either been used/installed by myself, or have good history.
Attached PDF, and the table below have the core components for an electrical system, that if installed and sized properly, will provide good service at a reasonable cost. At least in my opinion.
Due to issues with inserting a table, I will insert a photo below. For the web links, open the PDF file attached to this post.
Some more details:
So the big question; What can this setup run?
Under mostly sunny conditions in the lower 48, this should run a 65liter DC fridge. It will handle LED lights, phone charging etc for most folks. Running a laptop for a few hours a day, etc. Obviously each person needs to do their own math to figure out the details.
A friend of mine asked for some advice on a basic electrical setup for a medium sized off-grid type vehicle. The major concerns were high value, reliable components, and Simple configuration. The components listed below have either been used/installed by myself, or have good history.
Attached PDF, and the table below have the core components for an electrical system, that if installed and sized properly, will provide good service at a reasonable cost. At least in my opinion.
Due to issues with inserting a table, I will insert a photo below. For the web links, open the PDF file attached to this post.
Some more details:
- This system is based around a ~220AH 12v lead acid bank. The battery bank could be doubled for 440AH (or tripled).
- Wire and fuse sizing will need to be chosen by the installer. I have included a hammer crimper and insulated ratcheting crimper. The hammer crimper is not a professional tool, but with a concrete slab, and a sledgehammer, acceptable crimps on larger lugs can be accomplished. Not that 3x crimps per lug is needed.
- The Victron solar charger should be set to 14.8V absorb and 13.5V float. Use of the temperature sensor option is suggested. Absorb timer should be at least 4 hours.
- The ANL fuse should be sized according to the main wiring size, and the expected loads. 50A is acceptable for many installs, but up to 200A is possible for high load situations.
- I chose an inexpensive charging relay (Stinger). However for installs that have short low resistance alternator charging runs, a Blue Sea 120A ACR, or a heavier relay/solenoid may be called for.
- The solar panels are cheaper poly type. For those who need light weight or more compact, the mono grape solar panels are a good choice. They produce more power per square foot, and weight less per watt. They are more expensive though. The Victron controller will handle 200W of panels without de-rate, 300 or 400w of flat mounted panels would be acceptable. Just note that you will loose a small amount of peak solar power due to the controllers output current limit.
- The Victron Battery monitor and Solar controller both have bluetooth control options available.
So the big question; What can this setup run?
Under mostly sunny conditions in the lower 48, this should run a 65liter DC fridge. It will handle LED lights, phone charging etc for most folks. Running a laptop for a few hours a day, etc. Obviously each person needs to do their own math to figure out the details.