Purchasing a new van. Questions about current power situation for solar off grid.

[phanop]

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Here is the Van that was purchased...[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][color=var(--newCommunityTheme-linkText)]https://conversiontrader.com/listing/2017-promaster-featuring-exotic-wood-build-and-convertable-to-cargo-mode/[/color][/font]

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Questions: [/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]What watts solar panels, batteries capacity & inverter I would need to power these items? [/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]How many days will the power last without recharging? [/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]How much DC power used? How much AC power used with these items?[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Main Question is what watts solar panels are ideal for me to get right now so I can upgrade the battery with Jackery 500W? and will it all work together with the inverter (info below) that's in Van right now?[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I will have these items in Van:[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]12V fridge (200w) (201Kwh)[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Computer (100w) (37kwh)[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Maxx fan[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]ceiling lights [/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]other lights (reading etc)[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Electronics= computer, iPhone, iPad, camera..... [/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Bullet Blender (200W)[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Toaster oven (1200w)[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Heater (diesel or gas)[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]AC unit (small)[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Van has these right now:[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Maxx fan [/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]12V fridge [/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Lights[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Battle Born batteries 100W[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][color=var(--newCommunityTheme-linkText)]Battle Born LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Battery - 100Ah 12v with Built-in BMS - 3000-5000 Deep Cycle Rechargeable Battery - Perfect for RV/Camper, Marine, Overland/Van, and Off Grid Applications[/color][/font]

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]40A MPPT 1000W inverter.[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][color=var(--newCommunityTheme-linkText)][size=small]PIP-1012LV-MS 1000W 12V 120Vac Solar Invert + 40A MPPT +Gen/Util 20A | eBay[/color][/font][/size]

 

[bullfrog]

Just a guess on my part. You won’t have enough room for the amount of solar panels you would need to run even most of those in the middle of the day in full sun. The battery bank would be several thousands of dollars using Battle Born batteries. Heating / cooling and running anything through an inverter is not as power efficient as other sources such as propane. Most RVs that have the items you have listed require shore power or a generator to operate them. The ones that do, have much more roof space for an extensive solar array and cargo capacity for storage batteries. It can be done but it will be difficult. A generator is easy but a pain to maintain and noisy. Most people plug into the grid or live more simply without here. Doing without AC, toaster ovens and blenders.

 

[MrAlvinDude]

It would appear that the "40A MPPT 1000W inverter" that you are linking to, is able to deliver 1000W of 110V AC power. 

Items on your list, that is more than 1000W, can not be powered. 
Like the 'Toaster oven (1200w)' can not be powered by the inverter.


Do you however have a slightly more detailed description or data of the multipurpose Inverter?

 

[MrAlvinDude]

The Battle Born Batteries are 12V, 100 Amp hour (Ah) batteries.

The watt number for such a battery is 1200Wh, but it is advisable to not use more than 80% of the power, on a daily basis.

 

[landyachtman]

Welcome to the CRVL forums! To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips, Tricks and Rules" post lists some helpful information to get you started.

Most of our rules boil down to two simple over-riding principles: 1) What you post should provide good information (like your introductory post), and 2) Any response to someone else's post should make them feel glad they are part of this forum community.

We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[MrAlvinDude]

From the links you have provided, it is not all that easy to determine which kinds of solar panels you can use with the the MPPT controller part of your multipurpose inverter box.

But following the links from the ebay item, one gets to this web page:
https://watts247.com/product/pip-1012lv-ms/?wpam_id=3

Where they have a link to this manual:
https://watts247.com/manuals/mpp/PIP-LV 110_120VAC/PIP-MS LV 1KVA 1-5KVA manual-20200318.pdf

Where a chart on page 9, indicates:

INVERTER MODEL 1KVA 12V
Max. PV Array Open Circuit Voltage 102Vdc
PV Array MPPT Voltage Range 15~80Vdc
Min. battery voltage for PV charge 8.5Vdc

Meaning that you solar panels should not deliver more than 102V (measured open circuit), but that is is wise to limit that number to 80V coming from the solar panels (OCV).

The design of a Solar panel determines what the output voltage is, when specified as "Open Circuit Voltage" (OCV).

 

[MrAlvinDude]

From the way you ask your questions, and list the items, I would say:

Get as much solar as you can fit on your Roof!!!


Did you see this new video?


Look at how she has completely filled the roof, with three solar panels. And this allows for 750W of solar.


I think that should be your design guide.


Secondly, you are probably going to get some experiences of how one needs to think differently about power, and especially heat (and cooling), when living in a van, compared to living in a house.

You are also likely to need to become much more familiar with words like watts, amp hours, volts and amp.



To maximize the watts of solar you can harvest from your roof, with the all-in-one inverter/charger unit you have linked to, you need to pay attention to how many volts (Open Circuit Volts) comes from your solar panels. 
As the MPPT controller seems to have a limit of 40 amp  (40A).

So most likely you will want some 20-50V (OCV) house panels.

It is not clear to me, if there, for some reason, is a limit of 700-800W of solar, that the mentioned MPPT controller can handle.

 

[jacqueg]

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Main Question is what watts solar panels are ideal for me to get right now so I can upgrade the battery with Jackery 500W? and will it all work together with the inverter (info below) that's in Van right now?[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I[/font]

YOU need to do your homework. 

YOU need to learn how to figure this out for yourself. Because if you don't, then every time you change any device you're using, you'll have to ask someone else.

Start here - 

You may or may not take all of his advice, but you must learn how to quantify your daily electricity use.

 

[mpruet]

You’d better drop the toaster oven and instead look at the propane camping stove/oven combos.  1200 watts is going to be really expensive in terms of power needs.  Also even a small AC is going to eat up your batteries.  Better either get used to the heat, plan on about 500 Amp Hours Battery, follow the temperature, or get an external generator for the AC.

Myself, I have an RV with 2 100-amp hour AGM batteries with 200 watts on the roof.  I only run my 12-volt fridge at night and still end up with 12.3 volts in the morning.  That would be roughly 2/3 of a single 100 amp-hour Lithium. 

I have a Jackery 500 for other things that I might want to charge or run at night such as iPad, phone, and CPAP.  I can then recharge my Jackery during the daylight hours when the sun is out.  You might want to consider that for some of your non-essential devices.  That way you could charge them over night and not impact your house batteries.  (BTW - I’m considering a Jackery 1000 so I can run my InstantPot...)

 

[mpruet]

BTW - the general advice is a minimum of 100 watts solar for every 100 AmpHours battery.  

Also - you really need two ways to recharge your batteries, especially if they are AGM.  Lithium can go without a daily recharge, but not AGMs.  Most folks will be able to use their vehicle alternator as an alternative to solar, but you could also consider using a generator, especially if you get a generator to power your AC...

 

[Drmiller100]

I think about it differently. For instance although the specs in the fridge say 200 watt, that is max peak potential.
200 watt is about 15 amps.
I haven't measured mine yet but lots of people claim a reasonable average is 1 ah or 2ah. This means over a period of time, once the fridge and contents are down to temp the fridge will use 24 to 48 ah over a days time, or 12 to 24 overnight.
1200 watts for the toaster oven is huge, but you only run it for 20 minutes or so. But that 20 minutes is expensive. 1200 watts is 100 amps. 100 amps for 1/3 of an hour is 33 ah. So the 20 minute toast costs as much as the fridge for a day. You'd be better off to fire up a generator.
Running ac off solar is pro class. It would take a lot of solar. Easier to park in the shade or use a generator.