van Solar & generator installer in CA?

[rogercouture]

[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Hey Electrical, Battery and Solar Forum (& yes I did post in the VAN Forum section )[/font]

[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]New to the group and I am looking to see if anyone knows a good van to solar conversion/installer expert in CA?  an individual or company?  I would rather pay someone that has done this 10 times rather than the time and frustration of going through the learning curve myself, or paying someone else's time to learn; as you can tell by an entire forum of question on how to install solar.[/font]

[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]My plan is to take my 1995 Toyota Previa, well maintained since I was the original owner, and surf around the world, North to South.  My thoughts are to keep things very simple, (manufacturers are for name only) Renogy panel (a single 200+ WATT would be excellent!) (Renogy could not recommend an integrator nor a re-seller) Inergy K-2 generator (not till May),  Dometic CFX 40w fridge, Secura 9100MC cooktop, etc. etc.  Anyhow, all this stuff integrates together, along with surf racks, pull-out awning, etc. 1st 6 months will be the summer of Baja's full sun, followed by the shade of rain forests, and it is soooo much more helpful if you have done this before.  So, if you have a good guy, or you, I can pay to do all this, with my help if you like, fantastic![/font]

[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif](my local RV guys will do this, but I suspect there is a different mind set for powering a full house with a roof area of 360 sq ft vs.a van of 26 sq ft.)[/font]

[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Roger J. Couture[/font]
[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Ventura, CA[/font]
[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Surfing with Snakes & Dragons[/font]
[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]   & other Tales of Suburbia [/font]

 

[highdesertranger]

I would get ahold of member JiminDenver,

https://vanlivingforum.com/mem...e&uid=9147

his website,

http://jimindenver.com/

he is not only a member here but has done many videos with Bob. he is also a good friend and all around great guy.

BTW go to the "Newcomers corner" and give us an intro and we will give you an official welcome.

highdesertranger

 

[Seminole Wind]

not a big fan of the inergy k2 "generator" or any of the similar products. they are not generators. they are just fancy packaging around a battery/inverter/controller with a bunch of plugs bells and whistle. the k2 at approx 100 amp hours matched with 200 watts of solar will in the baja summer sun, handle your fridge, but not with much to spare. when you get to the rainforest, forget it. the cook top you mention will only run at 1000 watts on the K2, and they are 1500-1800 watt units. the K2 fully charged will only run it an hour. you might think about doing your own battery and inverter so you can get full use of what you have already talked about using.

if you dont HAVE TO HAVE lithium. you could get 2-3 times the battery bank 2 times the solar with controller and a good pure sine 2000 watt inverter for less than the list price of the inergy K2 "generator" if lithium was mandatory for the batteries, you could start out with a single battle born 100amp hour battery which would be about the same size as the K2 but much easier to expand the battery capacity with another battle born or 2 as your budget allows. i know space and weight is a limiting issue in a minivan. i lived and traveled over a year in a plymouth voyager. i had 470 watts solar on the roof, 4 golf cart batteries with 300 amp hours of usable energy. i had a chest freezer twice the size you plan to have and still had room for a nice bed, chuckwagon cook station and all my toys including fishing, skindiving gear and my kayak (inflatable) i only had a small inverter to charge my laptop as cooking was propane and everything else was 12 volt.

if you dont connect with Jim and you are far enough north in CA that you would be tempted to cross the boarder i might be able to help you in person. i am coastal southern oregon for now. am helping with a big owner instal of solar on a 25 foot rv near brookings