Van of enormous power Mk 4

[Joeboy]

Culinary equipment tests continue. The original £5 secondhand induction hob that swmbo bought for us during our will we/won't we go full induction has been remembered and pulled from storage.








Boiled water quickly at half setting. That is about 1/2 the power our travel kettle demands. We have now pretty much relegated gas to a fallback position which is great. I'm glad I have the gas as a choice but hope the bottle lasts a long, long time.

We also have a camping gaz single burner tripod unit and a low single burner in a plastic box with a 1/2 dozen gas cartridges. We'll be OK to cook for a while offgrid! The only thing I can't cover is the domestic hot water unit. It runs on 230AC or gas. Solar as is now on the van doesn't have the oohmff. No matter as showers readily available on sites.

[Joeboy]

A speedy solar cook of two onion lorne in amongst the working mess. New flyscreens installed yesterday on skylights, went surprisingly well and discovered we have obscured blinds too!

Gotta love a clean solar cook.














Tidied up. I'm running on extension leads and this year I'll cross the gap to get solar power to kitchen. Hence the long lead.



Also picked up a 2 speed Matsui fan which runs at 23W! Closest I'll come to van aircon. Secondhand, a fiver.

[Joeboy]

Oooh, swmbo just brought up an RV carport idea again. That would mean a solar roof, right?

[Moxi]

Absolutely - nothing else makes sense or would be cheaper, looking forward to seeing the photos in due course. about 8kWp approx 4m wide and 8 meters long at a guess ?

Moxi

[Joeboy]

Absolutely - nothing else makes sense or would be cheaper, looking forward to seeing the photos in due course. about 8kWp approx 4m wide and 8 meters long at a guess ?

Moxi

Mmmn, Permitted development.

It would only generate in the first half of the day. Could be interesting though. The appealing part is that i'm reasonably sure that panels will be cheaper to install than 'real' roof materials.

It would be nice to have an outside covered workshop type area, plus I could nip out and sleep in the van and get some of that camping feel during banishment.

Longi 440's are £67.99 (15.4p per W)
Longi 535's are £79.61 (14.88p per W)
Dmeg 500's are £67.40 (13.48p per W)
Longi 425's are £57.08 (13.43p per W)

I'll leave those prices up for reference later, building in unit of solar panel isn't that different from building in straw bales!

[Stinsy]

Absolutely - nothing else makes sense or would be cheaper, looking forward to seeing the photos in due course. about 8kWp approx 4m wide and 8 meters long at a guess ?

Moxi

Mmmn, Permitted development.

It would only generate in the first half of the day. Could be interesting though. The appealing part is that i'm reasonably sure that panels will be cheaper to install than 'real' roof materials.

It would be nice to have an outside covered workshop type area, plus I could nip out and sleep in the van and get some of that camping feel during banishment.

Longi 440's are £67.99 (15.4p per W)
Longi 535's are £79.61 (14.88p per W)
Dmeg 500's are £67.40 (13.48p per W)
Longi 425's are £57.08 (13.43p per W)

I'll leave those prices up for reference later, building in unit of solar panel isn't that different from building in straw bales!

https://www.bimblesolar.com/SUN-405

?

[AGT]

I think timber with OSB roof and torch on felt would be the a good option.

Then lets you use normal hardware onto joists which you have already sized to take the extra weight.

It’s what I did on my garage!

[Stinsy]

I think timber with OSB roof and torch on felt would be the a good option.

Then lets you use normal hardware onto joists which you have already sized to take the extra weight.

It’s what I did on my garage!

My garden office is dimber frame with 19mm OSB3 covered in cheapo felt. Been there nearly 10 years now and all fine. Screwed 3x2 through the felt and put the panels on that.

[Joeboy]

I think timber with OSB roof and torch on felt would be the a good option.

Then lets you use normal hardware onto joists which you have already sized to take the extra weight.

It’s what I did on my garage!

My garden office is dimber frame with 19mm OSB3 covered in cheapo felt. Been there nearly 10 years now and all fine. Screwed 3x2 through the felt and put the panels on that.

Thank you guys, Noted as the way to construct. Genuinely appreciated. I've sent a message to see if I can source more Storm Arwen felled timber from the back country sawmill.

Looking at the power side, the LF280's are 280A charge rated. The Pylontechs in a bank of 6 are 150A charge rated but have internal protection.

The Victron solar controller will throttle at 85A. I've seen that in action last week.
The Solaredge system is about the same at peak season although at different times of day and not so strong a duration due to
its West/Easy aspect.

So i'm already horsing some serious power into the batteries for peak moments. I've not seen the Pylontechs throttle but maybe that's due to the export settings which are constantly sending power to the grid?

I can see me going up to about 200A DC and crossing my fingers. That's only another 4 of 585W panels on the DC side but would be ok. (fingers crossed).

I could tie another 4 585's back to the AC side via a Hoymiles and tagged back into the ASHP garage CU for a total set of 8 panels.

Thoughts? Am i properly up into mental territory and just appearing normal compared to Nowty? Input sought!

[Stinsy]

Given the 15p for exporting I’d go AC. IIRC you’re already filling your batteries fast and throttling generation on sunny days.