How much is enough? (2 Viewers)

[WESTY66]

Just how much solar power and battery power is enough to throw the ehu cables away??
300w solar 600ah lithium???
680w solar 900ah lithium???
50a B2B??
Or is it just a case of fill the roof and battery compartment and empty the wallet??

 

[suavecarve]

300 watts of solar and 200 ah of lithium is more than enough for us charging a couple of ebike batteries a day......in southern France in summer ..... Haven't really wanted to try UK in winter

 

[Dolmen]

As always, depends! I have a 230ah lithium and no solar, a b2b to recharge in the move. I never stay more than 2 nights before I move on and fridge works off gas so have never seen the battery drop below 50%. If you have a compressor fridge, hair dryer, inverter for kettle and air fryer, and stay off grid for two weeks without moving then clearly you are into a larger lithium battery and matching solar. Guess you need to define your needs and someone will no doubt have it covered

 

[Richard n Ann]

There are many variables, I think the biggest one is if you use the van in winter. We don't and 150w solar is more than enough usually, even with the compressor fridge

 

[Millcourt]

It depends……how full is your wallet…..how long do you want to stay off-grid……. will you be mostly in summer sun or expecting sufficient independence from EHU in cloudy winter….. what are you seeking to power - microwave, air fryer, compressor fridge & freezer, aircon……?????

My ideal would be sufficient lithium battery storage to be without EHU in gloomy weather for at least 7 days without moving to use B2B. Also, no LPG…..good-sized compressor fridge/freezer….. twin induction hob…… combination microwave oven……diesel powered heating (Alde rather than Truma to reduce the dust blown around), but think I could probably manage without Aircon. Have not thought through what this might need, but possibly around 1000 Ah of lithium and maybe upto 1000 watts of solar - if there is enough roof space. Perhaps Lenny HB has thought about all of this for his new Gin Palace.

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[Al n Val]

560ah Lithium, 630 Watt Solar, 90ah B2B

We can cook, air fry, kettle (a lot), charge all day whatever we want, TV and lights, toaster, microwave

you name it we can do it Ade and up to now that’s just in the UK

 

[headlight]

Just how much solar power and battery power is enough to throw the ehu cables away??
300w solar 600ah lithium???
680w solar 900ah lithium???
50a B2B??
Or is it just a case of fill the roof and battery compartment and empty the wallet??

230 watts solar, 230AH LifePo4 and a 60amp B2B means we never need EHU even in winter in the UK.
However it obviously depends on your use as what suits one won't suit another.
You need to work out your electric use.
In winter we use around 50 amps a day (heating, hot water and fridge on gas) so we can do 4 nights static with no solar or B2B charging.
In summer 230 watts of solar more than covers our use.

 

[Lenny HB]

Have not thought through what this might need, but possibly around 1000 Ah of lithium and maybe upto 1000 watts of solar - if there is enough roof space. Perhaps @Lenny HB has thought about all of this for his new Gin Palace.

I've gone for 2x 230 ah Lithium they are coming up at 240 & 245 ah, 350 watts of solar room for another 200 if needed. Changing the Schaudt B2B for an Orian XS.
And fitting a Multiplus 3000.

 

[VXman]

Just how much solar power and battery power is enough to throw the ehu cables away??
300w solar 600ah lithium???
680w solar 900ah lithium???
50a B2B??
Or is it just a case of fill the roof and battery compartment and empty the wallet??

Depends on your use. 350 watts solar and a couple of lead acid batteries (180 ah) works for me. Electric use is really just just led lights, water pump, charge phone, tablet, laptop and electric bikes.

Gas for fridge, heating and cooking.

Don't travel too much in winter.

 

[Captain Yoghurtpot]

560ah Lithium, 630 Watt Solar, 90ah B2B

We can cook, air fry, kettle (a lot), charge all day whatever we want, TV and lights, toaster, microwave

you name it we can do it Ade and up to now that’s just in the UK

Crikey!
That would power our Bungalow, but probably not my outdoor Christmas Lights

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[stewartwebr]

You can have as much as your roof will take but if the ball of fire doesn’t make an appearance then at some point your lucked out. We have 1Kw of Solar and 1200ah of lithium (3 x 340ah SuperB’s) 2 x 40 amp B2B and a heavy demand. But even with all of that we need to run the generator sometimes in winter

 

[Al n Val]

Crikey!
That would power our Bungalow, but probably not my outdoor Christmas Lights

The outlay was quite a bit but I was happy to pay it, no need for hookup for the foreseeable future so i’m happy
Thinking about going back down to see RogerIvy for a Multiplus and that should be it hopefully

 

[Captain Yoghurtpot]

The outlay was quite a bit but I was happy to pay it, no need for hookup for the foreseeable future so i’m happy
Thinking about going back down to see RogerIvy for a Multiplus and that should be it hopefully

May I ask what a Multiplus is, and what does it do?
Will it power my outdoor Christmas lights and Inflatable Santa?
Never too early to get prepared.

 

[Lenny HB]

Depends on your use. 350 watts solar and a couple of lead acid batteries (180 ah) works for me. Electric use is really just just led lights, water pump, charge phone, tablet, laptop and electric bikes.

Gas for fridge, heating and cooking.

Don't travel too much in winter.

We were happy with 3x 80ah Gels and 300 Watts of solar in the last van.
New van we decided not to have an oven so need to power a air fryer oven so Lithium essential.

 

[Lenny HB]

May I ask what a Multiplus is, and what does it do?
Will it power my outdoor Christmas lights and Inflatable Santa?
Never too early to get prepared.

An inverter charger, it can combine the inverter output with the mains so if you are on a 5 EHU and want to run a 10 amp device it syncs the inverter output with the mains and combines them. Once you have finished with the load it goes back to charging the batteries. It also does auto switch over between inverter output and EHU.
Im fitting a Multiplus 3000, a 3000va inverter with a 120 amp charger.
With the Lithium 2x 230 ah costing a bit over £3k but if you need it installing that will be at least another £1k.

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[Captain Yoghurtpot]

An inverter charger, it can combine the inverter output with the mains so if you are on a 5 EHU and want to run a 10 amp device it syncs the inverter output with the mains and combines them. Once you have finished with the load it goes back to charging the batteries. It also does auto switch over between inverter output and EHU.
Im fitting a Multiplus 3000, a 3000va inverter with a 120 amp charger.
With the Lithium 2x 230 ah costing a bit over £3k but if you need it installing that will be at least another £1k.

Wow!
With that set up I could put up 2 light up Santa's, a Snowman and some grazing Reindeer and still have spare to power Mrs Yoghurtpots sunbed and blow-up jacuzzi.
Could even wire it direct to the jacuzzi for added enjoyment!
Electricity and water is OK........
Isn't it?
That's some clever piece of kit!

 

[Carpmart]

It’s an impossible question to answer as everyone need different amounts of power. For some context I can tell you our situation which may help?

So over the last nine months we have given our set up a good test.

It’s 600w of solar on the roof, 160w folding and angleable mono free standing panel (only used when on site for extended periods) 2 x 204A KS and one 105A Fogster lithiums and 80A B2B.

We use Starlink, induction hob, 4K TV, elec kettle, compressor drinks fridge, solar hot water and all the other ‘usual’ motorhome ‘stuff’. In the last nine months we generated 0.6 Mw of electricity (586 kWh to be precise) and managed to store or use all of that (obviously).

When in touring mode, we pretty much always ended up fully charged thanks to the 80a from the B2B (&solar) Static in SE Spain in Dec and Jan I did plug in a few times but used €37 of electric in four months!

I haven’t plugged in or used the onboard Gennie since early Feb. So Ade, I basically see us as energy independent now, which was the aim.

 

[daveclare]

We have 2 x 230 lithium, 1 x 200w + 3 x 100w solar panels, 3000w inverter and 30amp b2b. This set up powers in order of importance:
Dyson hairdryer
Air fryer
900w microwave
Truma Aventa ac
500w mini kettle

Although never tried them all at once we rarely use hook up. Wintering in Spain and so far through this arctic summer, the batteries are always sufficiently charged. Fridge and heating are still multi use. Batteries are Roamer, panels and inverter are Renogy. Still have battery master in box.

Just sat down and worked out how much we have and how long we use it. In addition we wild camp a lot abroad.

 

[chatteris]

depends how you use van, i mostly go off grid but usually move on most days no fixed solar only a 60w portable panel which i have only used about 3 times in 5 years and 2x110amp lead acid batteries i occasionally use a microwave through an inverter. it works for me i have only been on ehu 3 times in 5 years

 

[MichaelT]

So in Spain last winter our 200a ks battery went down to 17% as we were on a site with a lot of shade for a few days but once moved on and with some sun it recovered OK and that was without a B2B.

On the new carthago I've installed the 200ah ks underseat battery and a 280ah fogstar. Getting B2B fitted next month so just using the schaudt 25a for now. 400w of solar (4×100) is charging stuff OK. We don't have gas oven so reliant on air fryer and remoska, mrs t uses hair dryer and we have coffee maker all off our 2kw inverter, i may get a bigger air fryer maybe 1500w as the 1000w works ok but is a bit small and basic. I have not added a charger (not allowed to spend anything else) but turned the cbe one off and would use it in emergency to get batteries up to 70 or 80 percent. I may get a folding solar for Spain in the winter.

The ks battery gets to 205ah and the fogstar to 305 ah so in reality I've got over 500ah.

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[Roger S]

We have 230a Fogstar and 400w of solar and use a microwave everyday, kettle a few times a day, then occasionally a coffee machine, hair dryer, 400w remoska, tv etc. I often think about buying another battery but don't really need it.

 

[Wh05apk]

As has been said, it all depends on use, but have you considered the "what ifs"?
If you had a breakdown, whilst away and had to park in a garage fir a week awaiting parts? Or if one of you were hospitalised, or only pitch in the shade, for the sake of a lead, at least it gives you the ability to get a charge.

 

[Lenny HB]

turned the cbe one off and would use it in emergency to get batteries up to 70 or 80 percent.

I wouldn't risk that Michael as the CBE charger in your van has an automatic desulphastion phase that charges at 15.2v and you can't turn it off.

 

[cyberyacht]

3x100w solar and 2x 120Ah KS Energy lithiums. Orion 30A B2B. The latter isn't really enough as the fridge swallows a fair bit of it. 1500w inverter runs toaster, 600w microwave and a low wattage kettle.

 

[autorouter]

Electricity and water is OK........

Yes, it generates hydrogen. Why not help save the planet and use the inflatable Santas to store it? Maybe even the grazing reindeer too

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[Guigsy]

Piece of string question...

I'm an outlier, but I'm on only 175w solar and 30A B2B and I rarely need hookup. I use the van I've got 280Ah of lithium and a 3 way fridge and no toys that need an inverter. Even off season when the solar is virtually useless, because I move the van quite a bit, the B2B keeps me going. After about 7 days in a wet March, the battery still had more than half in it. Then we drove for 3 hours and got a bit of sun and it was nearly full again.

I might add more solar if I ever get Starlink as that's bit of an energy hog. But I'm having a hard time justifying it otherwise. What I've got appears to be enough.

 

[AdrianChen]

Piece of string question...

I'm an outlier, but I'm on only 175w solar and 30A B2B and I rarely need hookup. I use the van I've got 280Ah of lithium and a 3 way fridge and no toys that need an inverter. Even off season when the solar is virtually useless, because I move the van quite a bit, the B2B keeps me going. After about 7 days in a wet March, the battery still had more than half in it. Then we drove for 3 hours and got a bit of sun and it was nearly full again.

I might add more solar if I ever get Starlink as that's bit of an energy hog. But I'm having a hard time justifying it otherwise. What I've got appears to be enough.

Mini dish that's coming is native 12v and 25w I believe and router is in the dish itself, so I'm waiting for UK pricing.....

 

[Captain Yoghurtpot]

Yes, it generates hydrogen. Why not help save the planet and use the inflatable Santas to store it? Maybe even the grazing reindeer too

Now...........There's a thought!

 

[PDrill]

For a few years I've been thinking that many people don't seem to have any idea about electricity in a moho, what's it used for, how much you need it and especially where it comes from to all the apparatus. Every time I see someone asking a question like "I want to have thing X, how much solar do I need" I would like to be a wiseguy and answer "none".

I may be a bit dumb but I've always thought it that way that I should have battery capacity for my needs for X days and that's it. To me it makes no sense to run a fridge, CPAP or any other necessary device 'from solar'. What do you do if it's rainy and cloudy? Your sausages go bad and you die at night?

Get enough batteries to run your stuff, charge them while driving and/or on EHU. If no EHU at home or at some other long time storage, get a decent solar system to keep batteries topped up.

 

[Guigsy]

For a few years I've been thinking that many people don't seem to have any idea about electricity in a moho, what's it used for, how much you need it and especially where it comes from to all the apparatus. Every time I see someone asking a question like "I want to have thing X, how much solar do I need" I would like to be a wiseguy and answer "none".

I may be a bit dumb but I've always thought it that way that I should have battery capacity for my needs for X days and that's it. To me it makes no sense to run a fridge, CPAP or any other necessary device 'from solar'. What do you do if it's rainy and cloudy? Your sausages go bad and you die at night?

Get enough batteries to run your stuff, charge them while driving and/or on EHU. If no EHU at home or at some other long time storage, get a decent solar system to keep batteries topped up.

My first setup, I bought 300w of solar. I had no idea what my usage was. Only later I got a shunt and realised that for most of the year, my battery was full by 11am.

Now I've got a fairly modest solar and B2B setup. With a reasonable battery. But I know from testing that even if the sun doesn't rise for several days, I'll still have plenty of power.

I'm also seeing people get huge batteries, and then huge panel arrays to support them. You don't need to be full all the time! If your £2000 of lithium battery is never going below 80%, you probably bought to much battery.

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