Latter this year we will need to lock down the configuration of our new van, I think I have most aspects worked out, so I would like to run it past the knowledgeable people on the forum. I will welcome feedback, alternative approaches, etc.

The van starts as a traditional rear en-suite, center kitchen, front bed van from a well respected Melbourne van builder.

We want to change from the island Queen to a pair of singles, and move the robes to the front between the beds, it just makes the van so much more spacious.

We plan to make the van efficient and electrically self sufficient, to do this we will move to a compressor fridge (efficiency), move to a Fujitsu split system air conditioner (efficiency and clear space on the roof). We are considering changing the standard microwave to a Panasonic inverter unit (reduces start up load), but we are unsure how much we will use it.

The electrical self sufficiency will come from a large solar array (800 or 1,000w) charging a large modern battery (480 Ah Lifepo4) through a 80A MPPT charger. Sitting beside this will be a 1,500W/4,500W Low Frequency Inverter Charger.

There will be all sorts of monitors and alarms to pull things up if anything goes wrong electrically.

I hear many people questioning why?

We like the luxury of the van we have chosen, and we want to be able to take advantage of it regardless of where we are camping. We will have a generator with us, two actually one being the tow vehicle, and the second being a stand alone petrol unit. I hope we never have to start it, I do not want to burden our neighbors with listening to a generator.

The air conditioning compressor will be built in at the rear of the van, I was considering mounting it on the drawbar, but the manufacturer was uncomfortable with this (yes it can be done legally, still keeping the gas bottles there).

I would love to hear people's thoughts?

Thanks Doug.

I still feel that there are big gaps in my knowledge, that can only be filled by experience, either mine, or by picking other people brains.

I have started buying bits, I bought the solar panels last week, a new lightweight semi flexible style, each one weighs about 1.5Kg instead of the normal 10Kg, important when you plan to put eight or ten on the roof.

I have also identified the MPPT controller, it is an 80A PCM-80CX from MPP Solar.

The inverter charger is likely to be a 1500W Low Frequency unit from Tortech (it is 240v so needs to be Australian supplied).

Hi Plendo,it sounds like you know what you want,you seem to have a massive amount of solar and battery storage,it will certainly keep you going for a while.Have you considered the weight of the batteries ?  I would think carefully   about the rear fitting of the air conditioner unit, vunerable to  damaged.How much water(fresh and grey )are you considering to carry?.Just keep in mind the total weight of the van. It all looks good ,would like to see progress reports .cheers Peter

Thanks Peter,

The 480Ah battery will weigh 90Kg (12 cells @ 7.5kg).

We plan to go with standard tanks, plus a grey water tank which will not add much, as the water in it will have been in the standard fresh water tanks (2 *90l)

Using a Fujitsu split system will save me about 20Kg. I was cautious about mounting the compressor at the back, actually within the profile of the van, not added on the rear bumper. Van dynamics tells me I should consider moving the spare to the drawbar.

All up I expect the van to be about 40 Kg heavier than standard with factory solar. The weight will be lower, but unfortunately it will be at the ends (increased polar moment).

Hi Plendo,It looks like you have done  some research,and that's good.As a matter of interest,what  size van are you building and will it be normal road clearance or for off road?. I wish you well with the project.cheers Peter.

Hi Peter,

               the van is a Retreat Brampton, which is 21' 6" internal, about 22' external. This may get slightly longer if we build the compressor into the rear of the body, Retreat have done this before, and it works well.

I am planning normal height at this stage, having said that their normal height is reasonable, and it does have straight axles, and shockers so it would be able to handle a limited amount of off road with care. 

We did consider sticking it up on high set independent suspension, but I thought it more important to keep the weight low for stability.

Geeee David, I didn't think the weight of that battery system you told me about would be that heavy mate, I could only imagine how heavy the usual ones would be.

Is Carol designing the inside stuff. I hope she is getting a say. 

Doug I would not be brave enough to suggest a colour scheme, that is the bosses domain. 

I will stick to the nuts bolts and volts.

Re battery weight, a 60Ah LifePo4 is roughly equivalent to your 100Ah lead acid, and according to the EV Works web site that weighs 11kg.

I am planning to have 480Ah (a lot of amps) which I worked out wrong earlier, it would be about 70Kg. (the manufacturers web site quotes a different cell weight).

I plan to start with 320Ah, and if that is not enough grow it to 480 or 640Ah. I will provide space for 820Ah just in case, but I think 480 is the right number.

 Sounds like you have done a hell of a lot of research.

I suppose then that your hopefully never used generator is a pure sign wave type and that all of your low voltage cabling is well over specification, as short as possible and with as few LARGE connectors as possible.

Great approach.  Enjoy.

Thank you o wise Guru Cupie, they are indeed wise words you speak.

I have considered increasing my battery voltage to 24V to reduce the current, but have rejected the idea as it is much easier to keep it aligned with the tow vehicle.

Using an MPPT controller allows me to push the solar voltage up over a hundred volts, thus significantly reducing the current coming down from the roof, but I have to bring it back to battery voltage, and then I will need the high wire diameters, with really good connectors. Considering using a bus bar with threaded holes to make solid connections easier.

I met with the manufacturers electrician on Wednesday, and he is genuinely excited by what I am doing. He was aware of the technology but had not had time to explore it. WE now plan to bolt it all together on the ground at some point in October, just to make sure we have not missed anything.

It will be great to see it all coming together.