Hey everybody, so we had a lot of comments that our last full system set up was a bit over the top for most peoples needs and to be fair it was all singing all dancing. Another complaint we had was that is looked really complicated however we are just going to put that down to people on facebook just looking at the post thumbnail rather than reading the post as we have been told by far more people how awesome and easy to to follow it was.
The set up was aimed at full time van lifers who wanted all of the luxuries of a home but in a van and we think we smashed it.
If you haven't seen it yet take a look it might be exactly the sort of thing you want for your van conversion, it is in four parts but all are available to see on our blog now. This is part one...
So we have decided to reply to the comments with a totally awesome but super simple fully off grid set up that we hope will be an awesome solution for many of you.
We hope you all find it helpful...
The first thing you are going to need to be off grid is somewhere to store your energy and for that we use a battery, for this set up we are going to recommend an AGM (absorbent glass mat) battery.
AGM batteries are perfect for Vans as they are sealed so there will be no dangerous fumes leaking into your van whilst you are sleeping at night.
This battery is quite expensive but literally one of the best AGM batteries on the market anywhere in the world, at its recommended 50% depth of discharge it will give you 1400 cycles (and probably a lot more).
Rolls S12-290AGM Deep Cycle Series 12 Volt Battery
YOU WILL NEED ONE OF THESE
As we mentioned above these batteries are quite expensive, but they are the best AGM batteries on the market in our opinion and they store about three times more power than your average leisure battery. However if this battery is too expensive for you check this post out for a few more good options...
This battery will give you 260AH @ a 20 hour rate of discharge however don't forget that you should only discharge an AGM battery to about 50% of its capacity so in actual fact this battery will give you 130AH of useable power. Please see picture below...
Leisure batteries are very easy to install and basically they just need securing into place so they do not move when you're driving and then you need to earth them somewhere on your vans chassis.
To do this you will need a cable and some lugs, when it comes to batteries that have the ability to supply very high amps all at once it is always best to be safe rather than sorry and over size your cables so they have no chance of getting hot and starting a fire.
It is also a very good idea to run the shortest length of cable possible to each and every component in your build for the same reason as above and to minimise volt drop.
With that being said to earth your battery to your chassis we recommend using 50mm2 cable.
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All Trade Direct 1M Metre Black Battery Starter 50Mm2 Cable Kit Car Van Truck Marine 240A 240 Amps
YOU WILL NEED ONE OF THESE
SELTERM 50 mm² M10 Hole UL Marine Grade Wire Lugs, Battery Cable Ends, Tinned Copper Eyelets, Tubular Ring Terminal Connectors [B68] - 15 Pack
YOU WILL NEED 1 X SET OF THESE
Building your battery cables yourself at home will save you lots of money and is very simple to do, first you remove just enough of the cable sleeve to fit securely into you lugs. Please see picture below...
Next you need to securely crimp it into place however these things are huge and quite solid so you will need a specific tool for the job or improvise with a hammer and punch. We suggest using the correct tool for the job. Basically you put your cable and lug in it, whack it with a hammer and it is done...
Draper 64335 Battery Terminal Crimping Tool
To earth your battery bank you need to either find an earthing point that is already there or make your own, it saves a little bit of time if you already have an earthing point near where you want to install your battery bank but it only takes about a minute to make your own.
To find one that is already there you just need to find somewhere on your vans chassis that already has a bolt in it, the most common places to find them in the back of a panel van would be near your light clusters where your lights have been grounded but they are usually quite hight up.
To make your own drill a hole into a bit of your interior bodywork that is connected directly to your chassis, remove all the paint from the area around the hole with a grinder or some sand paper so it is bare metal, pop a bolt through the hole, attach the earthing cable, screw a nut onto the bolt and you are done.
So first take your 50mm2 black earth cable and securely crimp a lug to each end, then bolt one end to the negative - terminal of your battery. Next take the other end and bolt it to your chassis earthing point and you should have something that looks like this...
The next thing we are going to add to this set up is an awesome bit of technology called a SOC (state of charge) shunt that will let you accurately monitor the state of charge of your battery in a few different ways, we need to attach this to the negative battery terminal before we attach anything else so now is the perfect time to do it
For this you will need...
Renogy 500A Battery Monitor
YOU WILL NEED ONE OF THESE
https://amzn.to/3gZA0CQ
All Trade Direct 1M Metre Black Battery Starter 50Mm2 Cable Kit Car Van Truck Marine 240A 240 Amps
YOU WILL NEED ONE OF THESE
Once you have the bits above you are ready to install it, so first take your 50mm2 cable and cause 30cm off of one end so you are left with two cables, one short (30cm) and one long (70cm)
Take the small 30cm length and just like before securely crimp a 50mm2 M10 cable lug to each end. You should have some of these left from the pack I recommended earlier. Please see picture below...
Next bolt one end directly to your negative terminal of your leisure battery.
please see picture below.
Once you have done that you will need to find the 500 amp shunt that will have come with your Renogy battery monitor and connect the B - (battery side) to the cable.
Please see picture below...
AMENDMENT
We got something wrong, because of something we will be adding later on in the set up we have to change the way we earth the battery and we have only realised when it was too late.
So instead of earthing your battery from the negative terminal on your battery like in the picture above. We now need to earth it via the P- (load side) of your shunt.
Please see picture below...
Next find your remaining 70cm length of 50mm2 cable and again securely crimp a 50mm2 M10 cable lug onto each end, then connect one end to the P- (load side) terminal on your SOC shunt.
Please see picture below...
To power your battery monitor and for the shunt to be able to measure how much power you are using you will now need to connect the shunt to the positive terminal on your battery, the kit comes with the correct cable with the correct size lug attached.
So find the red positive power cable that came in the kit with your battery monitor and attach the side without the lug on it to the B+ terminal on the battery side of your shunt.
Next take the end of the cable with the lug attached and bolt it directly to the positive terminal on your leisure battery.
Please see picture below...
And the final thing you will need to add to finish the shunt install is the battery monitor itself, this is pretty self explanatory really as it has a plug on each end. One connects to the controller and the other one connects to the shunt, it couldn't be simpler.
Please see picture below from Renogy...
You should now have something that looks something like this...
For the shunt to work properly and register all of the power being supplied by your chargers or used by your accessories it is very important that everything you install to be connected to the load side of your shunt instead of directly to your battery, to do this you are going to need to use some bus bars.
Because we need to attach so many bits and pieces to the shunt it would be very hard to find a single bus bar that has a high enough amp rating with enough terminals to fit everything onto, so we will need to be a little bit creative to make sure everything has its own separate terminal.
So for this you will need...
VTE 7753N7N14 BLACK 700 Amp Super Heavy Duty 3 way bus bar 1 x M10 & 2 x M8
YOU WILL NEED ONE OF THESE
T Tocas 300A BusBar Box - Heavy-Duty Module Design Power Distribution Block with 4 x M8 Terminal Studs
YOU WILL NEED 2 X OF THESE
All Trade Direct 1M Metre Black Battery Starter 35Mm Cable Kit Car Van Truck Marine 240A 240 Amps
YOU WILL NEED ONE METER OF THIS
All Trade Direct 10 Copper Tube 35Mm X 8Mm Lug Battery Starter Cable Welding Crimp Terminal Ring
YOU WILL NEED 2 X SETS OF THESE
Once you have all of the bits above the first thing you are going to need is your 3 way 700 amp bus bar. I know 700 amp seems a lot but that is its maximum load its nominal load is much lower making it perfect for this set up.
So take your 3 way bus bar and attach the cable that is attached to the load (P-) side of your SOC shunt to the biggest terminal (M10) and both securely into place.
Please see picture below...
Next take your 35mm2 negative (black) cable and cut off 2 x 200mm (20cm) lengths.
Take both pieces and securely crimp a 35mm2 M8 cable lug onto both ends of each cable, you should now have 2 x very short battery cables with a lug on each end.
Please see picture below...
You now need to bolt one of these cables to each of the remaining terminals on your 3 way bus bar, make sure you do it in the same direction as in the photos so the T-Shaped cover will fit on correctly.
Please see picture below...
The next step is another really easy step, you now just need to attach one of your 4 way 300 amp bus bars to each of the cables you have just fitted. They have 3 x M8 terminals and 1 x M6 terminal, you want to connect the cables to one of your M8 terminals.
Please see picture below...
Now we have finished the negative bus bars and you now have somewhere to earth everything that we are going to add to the set up so it will register on your battery monitor.
Next we are going to add some positive bus bars to the set up too to keep everything tidy, cables lengths as short as possible and so we don't have to run everything all the way back to the battery.
Just to keep things as simple as possible for everybody we are going to pretty much replicate everything above again but with a few added extras.
For this you will need...
All Trade Direct 1M Metre Red Battery Starter 50Mm Cable Kit Car Van Truck Marine 345A 345 Amps
YOU WILL NEED 1 X METER OF THIS
All Trade Direct Mega Fuse Holder
YOU WILL NEED X 3 OF THESE
HELLA 8JS 742 902-071 Fuse - MEGA - 300A - Grey - Quantity: 1
YOU WILL NEED ONE OF THESE
All Trade Direct 200 Amp Mega Fuse Blue
YOU WILL NEED 2 X OF THESE
VTE 7753N7N02 RED 700 Amp Super Heavy Duty 3 way bus bar 1 x M10 & 2 x M8 BUSBAR
YOU WILL NEED ONE OF THESE
All Trade Direct 1M Metre Red Battery Starter 35Mm Cable Kit Car Van Truck Marine 240A 240 Amps
YOU WILL NEED 1 X METER OF THIS
T Tocas 300A Bus Bars Heavy Duty Module Design Power Distribution Block Busbar Box with 4X M8(5/16") Terminal Studs Red Cover
YOU WILL NEED 2 X OF THESE
The first thing you will need to do is take your 50mm2 positive (red) cable and cut into two pieces
1 x 30cm length and 1 x 70 cm length.
You should now have 2 x separate cables, then take both cables and securely crimp a 50mm2 M10 cable lug onto both ends of each cable. You should have some of these left over from earlier.
Next bolt one end of the short 30cm cable directly to the positive terminal on your leisure battery.
Please see pictures below...
The next thing you will need is an inline fuse to protect your cables from over heating and starting a fire in your van if anything goes wrong. With the correct fuse fitted if anything goes wrong the fuse will blow before any of your cables get hot and will break the circuit so these are 100% essential.
We already know from the diagram above that 50mm2 cables can carry 345 amps safely, and our load will actually be under 300amps for this cable we are going to use a 300 amp mega fuse and a mega fuse holder
These are very easy to install, you put your 300 amp mega fuse into the holder then bolt the red positive cable that you have just connected to your battery to any side of your mega fuse holder.
Please see picture below...
The next step is just as easy, bolt the 70cm red positive cable to the other side of the fuse holder.
Please see picture below...
Just like we did with the negative side to make things as tidy and simple as possible we are now going to add some bus bars to the set up, and again just like before we are going to start with a 700 amp 3 way bus bar.
To do this all you need to do is take the red positive cable that you have just fitted to your fuse and attach the other end to the largest (M10) terminal (the middle one) and bolt securely into place.
Please see picture below...
The next thing we are going to add to the set up is the 2 x 300 amp bus bars, for this you are going to need to find your 35mm2 240 amp red cable.
You should have 1 x meter of this but we are not going to use all of it we just need to cut a few bits off of it.
When we installed the negative 300 amp bus bars we used 2 x 20cm lengths of cable however on the positive side we are going to need to install fuses in the circuit so to keep all our cables the same length so for this we are going to need 4 x 10cm lengths.
So cut yourself 4 x 10cm lengths of red 35mm2 cables and securely crimp a 35mm2 cables lug onto both ends of each cable.
You should now have 4 x very short battery cables that look something like this, please see picture below...
Take two of the cables and bolt them both directly to the 2 x remaining terminals on your 700 amp 3 way fuse holder, make sure you do it in the same direction as pictured so the t-shaped cover fits on correctly.
please see picture below...
Next find your 2 x remaining mega fuse holders and your 2 x 200 amp mega fuses, put a fuse into each of the fuse holders and then bolt one fuse holder to each of the red positive cables attached to your 700 amp bus bar.
Please see picture below...
Next find your 2 x remaining 10 cm battery cables that you just made and attach one to the remaining terminal of each fuse holder.
Please see picture below...
And the final step to finish your positive bus giving you an awesome foundation for the rest of your set up is 2 x 300 amp 4 way bus bars just like we did with the negative bus.
This again is very easy as you have already attached the cables you will need so all you need to do it bolt one cable to each 300 amp 4 way bus and it is good to go.
Please see picture below...
Ok so now you have a battery installed and an awesome battery monitor so you can accurately monitor your batteries condition without having to guess, you have a full negative bus so you can earth EVERYTHING in your system through your shunt so your battery monitor works and you also have a full positive bus with cables more than thick enough to run EVERYTHING in your van at the same time without anything getting hot. Congratulations that's pretty impressive give yourself a pat on the back.
Next we are going to add solar to your set up.
Before we do that though we have an exciting announcement to make, we have just launched our very own BRAND NEW Youtube channel and we have some amazing content planned for you over the next few months including...
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Ok that is enough with shameless self promotion, let's start on the solar...
The battery that we suggested for this set up has a recommended charge rate of 52 amps and a maximum charge rate of 91 amps so when it comes to solar we want to go big but not so big that we exceed the maximum charge rate with both the solar and the 60 amp B2B charger (we will be adding later) working at the same time.
So for this set up we are going to go for a 365w solar panel by LG as they are the perfect size for a MWB van with a roof fan at either the front or back or a LWB with a a roof fab both at the front and back. If we go much larger than this panel you would have no room for anything else on your roof and for a camper this would not be good.
So for this set up we recommend this panel as they are very powerful for the size...
365W LG Solar Panel - Mono NeoN2 Black frame - New A grade - 60 cell
YOU WILL NEED 1 X OF THESE
So now we know how many watts the solar panel is (365W) we can do the maths to work out what size SOLAR MPPT CHARGE CONTROLLER we will need.
So it is
365W ÷ 12V = 30.5 Amps
This means that we can't use a 30 amp controller as it is slightly too hight so we need to take the next step up to 40 amp. This is a good thing though as it is alway good to oversize your MPPT so it does't have to work flat out to keep up with the demand so should last longer and not get hot
For this set up we recommend this MPPT controller...
Renogy Rover 40 Amp 12V/24V DC Input MPPT Solar Charge Controller with Bluetooth
YOU WILL NEED ONE OF THESE
Next you will need some cables and connectors to join everything together, for this you will need...
BougeRV 6M/20 Feet 10AWG Solar Panel Extension Cable with Female and Male Connector Solar Panel Adaptor Kit Tool (20FT Red + 20FT Black)
YOU WILL NEED ONE SET OF THESE.
All Trade Direct 1M Metre Red Battery Starter 16Mm Cable Kit Car Van Truck Marine 110A 110 Amps
YOU WILL NEED 1 X METER OF THIS
All Trade Direct 1M Metre Black Battery Starter 16Mm Cable Kit Car Van Truck Marine 110A 110 Amps
YOU WILL NEED 1 X METER OF THIS
All Trade Direct 10 Copper Tube 16Mm X 8Mm Lug Battery Starter Cable Welding Crimp Terminal Ring
YOU WILL NEED 1 X SETSOF THESE.
10x Tube Crimping Lug Uninsulated 16mm² ; Tube Terminal M10
YOU WILL NEED 1 X SET OF THESE
Cable Lug 16mm2 M6 20x Cable Shoe
YOU WILL NEED 1 X SET OF THESE
8X BM 00343 Ring Terminal M10 Ø: 10.5mm 4-6mm2 Crimped for Cable tinned BM GROUP
YOU WILL NEED 1 X SET OF THESE
All Trade Direct 1 X Strip Link & Midi Fuse Holder For Striplink & Midi Fuses Fuseholder Fits All
YOU WILL NEED ONE OF THESE
All Trade Direct 2 X 100 Amp Midi Fuse High Current All Midi Amps 40-150Amp & Fuseholder Stocked
YOU WILL NEED 1 X SET OF THESE
Mirocle Life Battery Disconnect Isolator Switch 12V 24V 48V 60V Waterproof Cut Off Kill Switch
YOU WILL NEED ONE OF THESE
So to start installing your solar to your awesome off grid set up the first thing you are going to need to do is connect your MPPT charge controller to your batteries.
NEVER connect your solar panels to your MPPT controller before you have connected your MPPT controller to your battery.
First find your 16mm2 negative (black) cable, using the full 1 x meter is fine as it is thick enough however keeping cables as short as possible is good practice so it you can try and use a maximum of 50 cm if possible.
So with that being said take you 50 cm length of 16mm2 negative (black) cable and securely crimp a 16mm2 M8 (8mm) lug onto one end of it.
Please see picture below...
Next bolt the cable and lug to any of the terminals on your negative bus bar that we built in part 1 of this post.
Please see picture below... (please don't pay attention to how long the line is for the cable it is just to keep the diagram neat)
Next you are going to need to connect this cable to the battery negative terminal on your MPPT controller and this is very easy as you don't need a lug, you just need to strip enough of the insulation off for it to fit securely into the terminal.
Please see picture below...
You should now have something that looks like this...
Next find your 16mm2 positive (red) cable, as we used a 50 cm length for the negative cable and we want to keep our cable sizes the same length we are going to start with a 50 cm length of the positive cable too.
Take your 50 cm length of 16mm2 cable and cut it into a 20 cm piece and and 30cm piece.
First take your 20 cm piece and securely crimp a 16mm2 M6 (6mm) lug onto one end and remove enough insulation off of the other end to fit securely into the terminals of the MPPT controller just like you did with the negative cable.
Next remove the screw from the positive + battery terminal (far left) push the bare end of your 20 cm piece of 16mm2 cable into the terminal so you get a nice snug fit then do the terminal screw back up to secure the cable into place. Make sure you have a good strong clamp on the cable so it can't fall out.
You should now have something that looks like this...
The next thing we need to add to this system is another inline fuse to protect your cables incase anything goes wrong.
As the MPPT is 50 amp and the cable is rated for 110 amp you need a fuse somewhere between those 2 numbers. So anything from 60 amp to 100 amp would be fine but for this set up we are going to use a 100 amp fuse.
Find you midi fuse holder, remover the little nuts from inside and place a 100 amp midi fuse inside. Next bolt the positive cable coming out of your MPPT onto any end.
You should now have something that looks like this...
Next take your 30 cm piece and securely crimp a 16mm2 M8 (8mm) lug onto one end and a 16mm2 M6 (6mm) lug one the other end.
Bolt the side with the 16mm2 M6 (6mm) lug to the opposite side of your midi fuse holder and the 16mm2 M8 (8MM) lug onto any free terminal of your positive bust bar.
Now is the time to properly connect your negative cable to the MPPT controller and securely bolt into place.
Please see picture below...
Now that your MPPT solar charge controller is hooked up to your battery it is now safe to connect the solar panel.
So first find your negative (black) solar extension cable and connect it to the connector on the negative cable coming out of your solar panel.
Next simply run it directly to your MPPT controller and connect it to the PV - terminal.
Please see picture below...
Next find your positive (red) solar extension cable and connect it to the connector on the positive cable coming out of your solar panel.
Unlike the negative cable we are not going to run this straight to the MPPT controller we are going to run it to an isolation switch first. If you were paying attention when I told you earlier you will know that leaving your solar panel hooked up to your MPPT controller when you MPPT isn't hooked up to you battery is a big no no.
So just incase you ever need to take your battery out we are going to add an isolation switch so you can cut the power from the panels to the MPPT to save any damage being done to your controller.
To do this we are going to need to run the cable too close to the MPPT controller and then cut it.
Once you have cut it on the piece that is still attached to your panel you will need to securely crimp a 6mm2 M10 (10mm) cable to the end.
Please see picture below. ...
Next find your isolation switch, take the back off and connect the the positive (red) cable coming from your solar panel to the top terminal and bolt securely into place.
Please see picture below...
You should not have something that looks like this...
MAKE SURE YOUR ISOLATOR SWITCH IS IN THE OFF POSITION BEFORE CARRYING ON
Next find the piece of the positive (red) solar cable that you cut off and securely crimp a 6mm2 M10 (10mm) lug onto one end.
Now attach it to the bottom terminal on your isolator switch and securely bolt into place.
And then finally to finish your solar install the last thing you need to do is run the cable from the bottom of the isolator switch to the PV + terminal on your MPPT controller and switch your isolator switch to the on position.
You should now have something that looks something like this...
Congratulations you should now have a fully working solar set up that could keep your batteries charged off grid all summer long and it wasn't hard at all.
You might have noticed that I just wrote all summer long and that was on purpose as solar is pretty useless in the winter with the long nights and bad weather so to be off grid all year round we are going to need something to be able to efficiently charge your batteries in the winter too.
So the next thing we are going to add to this set up is a B2B charger however this post is getting really long and if I keep writing it will be huge and take forever to load on peoples phones etc so this seems like a good place to end this post and start PART 2
Don't worry PART 2 is already live on our blog and available for you you to see and you can get there by following the link below...
Ok so thats it from us for PART 1 we will see you all over at PART 2
We hope you have all enjoyed our post and we hope you will be back soon
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