My dual/solar setup design...please advise

[michalny]

Hello Everyone,
I am a relatively new member here but love the wealth of information. After purchasing a 2011 L322 I am looking to make it more camping/expedition friendly. After doing much research I am trying to decide between CTEK and Traxide. I could also use some suggestions with regards to solar panels.
Most of my trips consist of 3-5 day camping trips usually consisting of 3-6 hour drives then stationary camping.
My current power needs are based on
Alipcool C22 fridge drawing 35W when compressor is running. Great 12V fridge by the way

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Dual Battery Setup:
Main Odyssey Extreme PC1350 or PC1500
Aux Optima Yellow Top D34 (55ah) I can only fit 7(W)x10(L)x7(H) battery

Charging system/islolator:
CTEK Off Grid Bundle

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Easy setup, built in solar controller and 5 stage charger. When I reached out to support they confirmed it will solar trickle charge starter battery when aux is full
Concerns: Since this system relies on aux only, 55ah of juice may not be enough for my setup
VS
Traxide DT-90 Kit for L322 with Victron SmartSoalar 100/30 controller

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www.traxide.com.au

Combines both batteries to offer increased capacity, automatically isolates main battery when voltage gets low. Solar charges both batteries
Concerns: Since this is not a designated charger, all charging is done by the alternator and solar when stationary. Possibly reduced aux battery life

Solar panels:
My roof is about 50x70. Sicne I want to use the rack for gear as well, I think I am limited to one or two panels. What are some of the best options?12V or 24V?

Thank you in advance
Michal
References: https://netshumo.smugmug.com/Rover-Mods/Dual-Battery/

 

[luthj]

I dont see any value from the traxide kit other than they provide some pre-made wires? A tried and true combiner relay would be much cheaper overall, and you could choose different wiring gauges if you wanted.

A 55AH battery with sufficient solar will run that fridge without issue.

 

[TantoTrailers]

This setup sounds very similar to what I am trying to accomplish with my camper! I am going to be using 2 x 120W Aims Power (or EcoWorthy depending on which tests better) running to a Renogy 20A MPPT controller and 100Ah AMG battery! Looking forward to seeing your progress. If youre interested there is a bunch of info that may help in my thread here: https://expeditionportal.com/forum/posts/2680397/

 

[67cj5]

A 55Ah Battery will only give you about 27.5 Amps to use any more than that and you risk killing the battery, A Fridge on a Hot day set up as a freezer with chew over 40 Amps and the small Snomaster will eat 47Ah in 24 hours when set to 2*c / 36*f on a 20*c/70*f Day, You can't go using small batteries unless you have a charging system that is active 24/7.

The reason for that is if you use all your usable power today and tomorrow it is Grey and very over cast you won't make enough power to keep the fridge going for that night, 99% of the blokes here run 100-130 Ah Batteries for this exact reason, I have an 85Ah as my starter and I also have 2 X 115Ah Type 31's to run my Fridge or fridges and I also have another 115Ah in a battery box to run other things in I need it or I can fit in the battery tray as a starter if needed, Yes it's over kill the reason for that is Deep cycle Lead Acid batteries are slow to charge up so you need a back up plan which is why I have this many batteries, The bare minimum I would use is Twin 85Ah's but I always go for 110's and above.

Setting a fridge at temps between 0*c to 4*c is kind to Batteries But once you go below freezing on the *C scale then the fridge run times get longer and in Hotter weather they run longer and work harder and when the Ambient Temp goes up so will it's power draw, ARB fridges have about the best/Lowest power Draw, and Snomaster have the highest I have ever seen.

Bottom line is you need a couple of 100Ah+ Batteries using them as your starting point and then build your Solar/Charging system from there. A lot of fridges use the Danfos/Secop Compressors but if they have the wrong ones in them or the software is not close to ARB's software then that fridge is going to Pig Out on your batteries,

You don't need a big expensive system you can start with 2 X 100AH+ batteries and get buy with a 100w portable solar panel or even better a 200w portable solar panel Kit, but if you add coffee machines etc then you are going to need big inverters and bigger charging systems.

So forget the 55Ah Battery and stick it in a battery box and make it in to a small portable kit/Power Supply.

Hope that helps,

But have a word with Dreadlocks, because he runs coffee machines etc and he is a Switched On Dude when it comes to this stuff and he's a good bloke too, ?

 

[michalny]

Gentlemen,
Thank you for your feedback. The reason why I went with Optoma 34D is because of my space limitations. If there is another battery of that size you can recommend I will appreciate it. The 55ah limitation is also the reason why I was considering the traxide system as it would give me the combined capacity

 

[dwh]

You posted one link twice, instead of a CTEK link. Gotcha with the CTEK is (or was, probably still is), the the solar input is limited to 22v, so make sure you get a solar panel that will work.

 

[michalny]

dwh, since I have limited roof space, is 22v a better choice? Whats is the best way to maximize the roof space?

 

[dwh]

The voltage of a solar panel largely doesn't matter. If it's too much higher than battery voltage, then you want MPPT instead of PWM.

With most MPPT controllers, you could run 18v panels...or 24v or 30v or 36v or whatever and it would work fine. Or wire two 18v in series for 36v. But CTEK has this oddball 22v limit, so you are pretty much stuck with 18v panels, and if you run two (or more) you'll have to rig them parallel. It's not a big deal...works fine. But you have to be aware and order panels with the right voltage.

Watts does matter. If you want to max out the harvest, stuff every watt you can on the roof.

 

[67cj5]

Gentlemen,
Thank you for your feedback. The reason why I went with Optoma 34D is because of my space limitations. If there is another battery of that size you can recommend I will appreciate it. The 55ah limitation is also the reason why I was considering the traxide system as it would give me the combined capacity

An 85Amp Twin Post Deep cycle battery would fit the same Hole that would give you 42.5 Amps of usable power reserve, If you can find a place for a second one that would give you a full 85 Amps of usable power and would run a fridge no problem Add to that a 100w portable Solar Panel and you should be good to go,

Sorry but there is no way will a single 55Ah or twin 55's cope as a 24/7 power supply because All it takes is one over clouded day and your batteries will be Toast.

Your other option is wire two 85's in parallel and fit them in a removable/portable battery box and leave it hooked up to a 100/200w portable solar panel when you are stopped/Camping then you won't have to mess with changing batteries in your truck.

Hope that helps.

 

[susswein]

If battery space is limited it sounds like a good justification to go with lithium. Twice the usable power in the same footprint.

 

[crystalclear]

do it right once; run a dc2dc with mppt to a generic 100ah lifepo4 in the cargo area, you’ll have more power than you need and can easily replenish if no sun