AuricTech
Well-known member
I just received an e-mail message from Goal Zero, in which they linked to a recent (19 June 2015) post on their Solarlife with Goal Zero blog, titled "VANLIFE: The Pros & Cons." Nothing earthshaking, but I figured someone here might find it of some interest, especially since the vandwellers are a dating (as of when they started) couple.
The blog post also contained a link to a YouTube video that discusses their build and their experiences. A bit more searching led me to their three-part blogpost series on Huckberry: Part 1 discusses why they decided on a 2004 Sprinter, Part 2 describes how they prepped the shell, and Part 3 gives some details about how they finished the build. The video to which I linked shows the final build in detail.
Oddly enough, given that Goal Zero specializes in providing Plug-n-Play portable solar panels, battery packs and the like, the blog post doesn't address power at all. However, both the video and Part 3 mention that they use a Goal Zero Yeti 1250 solar generator and two Goal Zero Boulder 90 PV panels as the heart of their van's house power system.
I wouldn't have chosen those panels to charge a Yeti 1250, due to their high price. Instead, since the Yeti 1250 has an integral MPPT charge controller, I would have used a pair of Renogy 100W panels, wired in series to the Goal Zero MC4-to-Anderson Power Pole connector (since they ship for free, that would likely be less expensive than a shipped single grid-tie 240W-range PV panel, despite the grid-tie panel's lower price-per-Watt). Now that Goal Zero offers an MC4-to-8mm connector cable, one could also use a pair of Renogy 100W PV panels, each one feeding into one of the Yeti 1250's two 8mm input ports. Either way would save around $600 over the Boulder 90 solution, with an additional 20W of rated PV power.... :exclamation:
The blog post also contained a link to a YouTube video that discusses their build and their experiences. A bit more searching led me to their three-part blogpost series on Huckberry: Part 1 discusses why they decided on a 2004 Sprinter, Part 2 describes how they prepped the shell, and Part 3 gives some details about how they finished the build. The video to which I linked shows the final build in detail.
Oddly enough, given that Goal Zero specializes in providing Plug-n-Play portable solar panels, battery packs and the like, the blog post doesn't address power at all. However, both the video and Part 3 mention that they use a Goal Zero Yeti 1250 solar generator and two Goal Zero Boulder 90 PV panels as the heart of their van's house power system.
I wouldn't have chosen those panels to charge a Yeti 1250, due to their high price. Instead, since the Yeti 1250 has an integral MPPT charge controller, I would have used a pair of Renogy 100W panels, wired in series to the Goal Zero MC4-to-Anderson Power Pole connector (since they ship for free, that would likely be less expensive than a shipped single grid-tie 240W-range PV panel, despite the grid-tie panel's lower price-per-Watt). Now that Goal Zero offers an MC4-to-8mm connector cable, one could also use a pair of Renogy 100W PV panels, each one feeding into one of the Yeti 1250's two 8mm input ports. Either way would save around $600 over the Boulder 90 solution, with an additional 20W of rated PV power.... :exclamation:
