Easy to Install Solar Power System
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
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In this video I'll show you an easy to install highly effective solar system that you can easily copy. The system charges 3 ways, Solar, the van's alternator, and with shore power. Links for everything used in the video are below.
Lynx Power in- amzn.to/3kAb8H9
4 M8 Bolts- amzn.to/3J2mPQf
12 M8 Washers- amzn.to/3KMIAFh
8 M8 Nuts- amzn.to/3J3tw4x
4 M8 Split lock washers- amzn.to/3mkpxYr
Renogy 50 amp Charge Controller- amzn.to/3J1nvWg
Renogy Inverter Charger- amzn.to/3KN7RyZ
1 Sok Battery- amzn.to/3Y5EsTK
or
2 Battle Born Batteries- amzn.to/3J2O8df
250 amp terminal fuse- amzn.to/41CUxTW
Fuse Block- amzn.to/3J69hUc
Blade Fuse Kit- amzn.to/3ELzUuV
On/Off Switch (buy 2) amzn.to/41ybkaC
Battery Monitor w Shunt- amzn.to/3y2Yrbe
4 Gauge Wire w Lugs- amzn.to/3y3xOTu
2/0 Gauge Wire w Lugs- amzn.to/3J3xvhC
Hammer Crimping tool- amzn.to/3ZtVdJd
80 amp breaker- amzn.to/3Yb9klN
80 amp fuse (Charge Controller) amzn.to/3o3IlMV
200 amp fuse (Inverter) amzn.to/3YdsMOT
125 amp fuse (Fuse Block) amzn.to/3Zuxdpp
Shore Power Plug- amzn.to/3J374bN
Solar assorted lug sizes- amzn.to/3kGlIwr
Wire Cable Clamps- amzn.to/3kvhub2
DC Terminal Connection Kit- amzn.to/3KLDR6A
Klein Wire Stripper- amzn.to/3EQUGt1
DC Wire Crimp Tool- amzn.to/3YcxYlV
DC USB C Outlets- amzn.to/3L4VNcL
USB/Decora Outlet Cover- amzn.to/3YdOTEC
Previous Episodes in this Build
Ep1 New Van • New 2022 Dodge Ram Pro...
Ep 2 Sub floor install • Van Build | Subfloor I...
Ep 3 Ladder Install • The BEST Ladder For Yo...
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Ep 5 Swivel Seats • How to Install Swivel ...
Ep 6 Fan Install • Maxx Air Fan Install |...
Ep 7 Roof Rack & Solar • The Best Roof Rack for...
Ep 8 Wiring • Wiring a Van Build
Ep 9 Propane • The Best Propane Tank ...
Ep 10 Spray Foam Insulation • How to Spray Foam Insu...
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Ep 12 Finishing the walls • How to Finish the Wall...
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IG@ BuildingVanLife
Finally finished. I was expecting it to take me 8 hours to assemble all that, it actually took 20 hours. Mostly because putting those lugs on takes a long time, and I didn't have the proper cable cutter at the beginning. Your video helped a lot.
Glad it helped!
Good video. I had actually just decided on the 2000W Renogy Inverter Charger, 50 amp Charge Control/MPPT and BMS with a 200-300 Ah LiFe Battery for my promaster before watching your video. I have wired entire houses with AC, but the components required for DC are so confusing, it took me weeks of research just to figure out that all DC to AC inverters did not also convert AC to DC.
Nice job! I am following your series to convert my promaster. I will travel around US once I finish the conversion. Hope to meet you in California!
That’s great. Let me know when you are coming to CA and we can meet and go a van tour of your van for the channel and have a beer 🍺
Hey Ryan, I noticed you hooked a ground wire to a small screw in the bottom of the inverter. Curious as to where you ran that to. Can't find anything on it in the inverter manual. Thanks.
You can attach to any grounding point. I attached mine to one of the negative terminals on the dc fuse box
You will likely want to put the fuse for the alternator charger right at the connection to the starter battery. That way your wire is not part of the fuse.
Max Continuous Discharge Current of a Sok 206 ah battery is 100ah, per the spec sheet, renogy 200 ah battery has a max continuous discharge of 200ah, I can't find the email from Current Connect who sells sok batteries, but I asked if his 206 ah would power a 2000 watt inverter, that answer was no, you would need 2 100 ah, or 2 206 ah to run it. That's why I went with renogy 200 ah battery. Check into it.
The 206 ah SOK is more than enough powerful to use with a 2000 watt inverter. Just because it's a 2000 watt inverter doesn't mean it uses 2000 watts when ever you turn it on. That's the maximum capacity of the inverter. I can't think of any situation that i would ever need 2000 watts all at the same time in a van. Especially when my major appliances are propane. ua-cam.com/video/SU86EJXcTMM/v-deo.html
I hope you grounded that Inverter chassis to vehicle ground. As them things go crazy stupid when things go bad.. You can see the stud sticking up under the cover. It requires a #8ga wire...
Yes it was grounded
Thanks for all the great advice Ryan. I am in the process of putting it to use. Did you ever do a follow-up review on the Sok 200ah battery? I'm still deciding between 200 or 2 100s and which brand.
So far they are working great. I like the space saving of having just one battery. I haven’t done another video on it yet
Hey hey - nice job as always.
Quick question I can’t get a clear answer on… some will install a breaker panel with breakers for each AC appliance between the inverter and the appliance. Looks like that’s not part of ur system. Could you help me understand that?
Thanks!
I don’t have any appliances running on a/c it’s all dc. I just have a few ac outlets in the van in the event I ever need to plug something in. The inverter has a built in breaker so I’m relying on that but if you are running a lot of things off a/c then that’s probably a good idea to add it
Thanks! This is super helpful…
No van yet, on order since September
I have a vin # but no delivery date- gonna be a while…
Thanks for the new video. I've been looking forward to it. Nice to see the upgraded equipment from the last van build. Slightly off topic...what color of white did you paint the inside?
Thank you. The pain is behr Swiss coffee semi gloss
So Ryan, did you need to install the IGN signal wire for a smart alternator or did you determine your Promaster has a traditional alternator?
Promaster has a traditional one. Only needed the ignition wire when I built the Mercedes sprinter
I haven't watched all of your videos yet but can you tell me what the black cord that you cut, hoping it was going to be ok, that you connected to your inverter? was for?
That’s for the shore power plug on the outside of the van so you can charge w shore power
@@BuildingVanLife Awesome! Thank you for the quick response!
Looks great! I’m doing a similar setup, have a question…where did you go with the inverter ground?
I grounded it to one of the negative terminals on the fuse box. You can also go to the negative buss bar.
If I used the 30 amp dc to dc charger would i still use a 80 amp breaker or less?
Consult the owners manual of the charge controller
Does the starter battery need a negative cable running through the van to the rear electronics too? I was thinking of just running the positive to the MPPT and just grounding this part straight to the chassis right next to the starter battery. If anyone has any pointers it’s all much appreciated
You must run a negative line from the starter battery or it will not work.
Thanks for the reply, I was thinking of grounding the whole system through the Lynx Distributer with a rivnut on the chassis just below it. Then everything grounds to that. But noticed that you’ve ran a negative cable all the way back to the starter battery ground instead. Do you know if it would achieve the same result? Thanks :)
@@AlexHumberstone1998 the charge controller will not work unless there is a negative line running from the starter battery even if you ground the lynx to the chassis. I tried on my first van. And since the whole system will already be grounded to the chassis once you run that line from the starter battery (starter batter is grounded to chassis) there will be no point for you to ground it twice to the chassis
Do you have a distraction panel for your a/c outlets? If not how did you wire them to your circuit? Thanks in advance!
The ac outlets wire into the back of the inverter. I think I show it in the video. The inverter has built in breakers
I'm curious as to your view on the future state of van power given the advances in portable solar generators. It seems like we're getting to the point where building out a battery system is becoming less necessary, perhaps less desireable.
For instance, the Anker 767 has 2048 Wh and can take a battery pack which would give you 340Ah of Lithium with MPPT controller (if I got my math right), the ability to charge off shore power at 1400 W and all the outputs I think you would need to run van electronics. They have built in solar and I think could be hooked up to a DC DC charger to charge off the battery. (I'm not pitching the product, but I think its a great example of current state)
Seems like you pick up a warranty, a compact package by comparison and potentially a level of portability for your power.
What do you think? Wave of the future, or are there downsides I'm not considering?
On a strictly time/money calculation basis it absolutely makes sense to go with the compact portable system. I did not go that route mostly because of concerns about theft. If I park in a remote area for hiking or biking and someone breaks into my van that $1,500 portable unit is a super attractive target, individual components that are screwed down and interconnected are not going to be worth the time and shock risk for most thieves.
how much for you to just do the wiring for me if i buy all materials lol! i will drive out to newport beach just for this haha
Probably too expensive haha
I've been following along building my van out. I can't find what you do between the inverter and the ac outlets. No fuse box or anything? seems like its just romex from the inverter straight to the outlet?
That's correct, the inverter has a built in breaker. You could add another one in between if you wanted but it would be redundant
Sounds good. Thanks for the info@@BuildingVanLife
Hi. on a previous install of a solar system, you used a 250 amp fuse for 300 amps of batteries. On this solar system you are using a 100 amp fuse for a 100 amp battery. My build is following your excellent example here, only mine will be a 400 amp battery using your same 3000 Renogy inverter. My question is what size fuse would recommend coming from my battery?
No i have a 250 amp terminal fuse on the battery positive terminal. Fuses should be at least 25% larger than the maximum continuous current you plan to draw.
Is that 100 Ah sok going to be enough to power that 2000 inverter?
It's not a 100 amp sok, it's a 206 amp hour SOK
Link went to a 100ah,sorry.
@@chein33 I have a link for two options, 1 200 amp hour sok or the other link for a 100 amp hour battle born but then I would recommend using two of those to keep it at 200 amp hours
Do you have alink on solar panels?
Yes. Solar Panels 100 Watts amzn.to/33yxqxN
Solar Panels 200 Watts amzn.to/2ZDboHd
Id prob go w two 200 watt rich solar panels
I'm buying all yours solar set up and ended up with a three way branch connector i will it work or should I return it and get a two way.? Thanks for all the super helpful videos.
@@mywifeb you need the 4 way. 4 to 1. Assuming you have 4 panels
@BuildingVanLife i bought 2-200watt panels . and some how got a three-way branch connector . Should I use it or send it back for a two way? Sorry if this is a stupid question.
I've purchased this whole solar set up with two two hundred watt pannels .what size fuses do i need ? I tried to contact rich solar and got no response. I've searched all your videos is 30 amp correct?
What amperage are you panels? You have two 200 watt panels correct? How did you wire them? Series or parallel?
@BuildingVanLife I haven't wired them yet . They a 2-200watt 5.32 amp ac adapter current is all I could find which way would you suggest wiring them. I'm following your latest solar system instructions. Thanks I'm also building your rack set up with the smaller channels and its working sweet.
@@mywifeb whether you wire them in series or parallel will determine the total amperage which will determine the fuse size. So i would need to know your plans to answer your question. I don't know what you mean by a/c adapter. The panels are DC. It says on the back of the panel the amperage. Are you sure they are only 5.32 amps each? that doesnt sound right.
the pannel generates 9.8 amp of power
@@mywifeb you can use a 15 amp fuse on the positive line of each panel before you go into the branch connector. So two fuses.