Needing some simple help with Victron Equipment… If someone could take some time and advised best practices and equipment selection that would be great as solar is out of our realm.
Overall we are looking at no inverters needed in the system, all will be handled with a GerboGX, Solar Controller, Battery Protect, and Shunt (assuming this is mostly what we need).
We are looking at needing around 55-60watts of 12vdc power at all times. We are looking at a 200ah LiPo4 battery which is about 2400watts to my understanding. We would like to link the panels together in series although we do not plan on shading, this would ensure the panels produce the best scenario from my understanding.
Panels would be something 200w a piece x2 to make 400w array… something like BougeRV specs listed below.
We would like an option to add shore power (120v) to an enclosure so we can operate with or without solar panels as site needs change, this can be something as simple as a Victron charger that will charge the batteries since we run off the batteries. What is a safe charging amperage? Should it roughly match the panel output?
Is there a way to determine reserve power time where sunlight is not present at all? I am looking for something around 1.5 days on average backup with a high-output amperage charging circuit.
We would like to run the CerboGX to control some relays and have remote access, it looks like it keeps recommending the SmartSolar MPPT 150/70 Tr VE.Can series MPPT in this instance. Is this correct? Other MPPT would only be bluetooth capable?
BougeRV Specs:
Maximum Power (W) - 200±3% W
Open Circuit Voltage Voc (V) - 36.4V±5%
Max Power Voltage Vmp (V) - 31.7V±5%
Max Power Current Imp (A) - 6.3A±5%
Short Circuit Current Isc (A) - 6.6A±5%
Solar Cells Efficiency - 25%
Series Fuse Rating - 15A
Solar Zone 3, Arkansas specifically but normally Texas area.
In sum this sound quite good.
But I would recommend you more battery capacity. The 200Ah is about 2,4kWh, and this might be not enough as you plan a continous draw of 55-60W. This alone is about 1,4kWh. In addition you have some short time consumption, I guess. So you might have a total consumption of 2kWh per day. To get this energy from a 400Wp solar system every day will be difficult.
This might work in a region where you have 12h of sunshine every day, but as we don’t know where you are located this is hard to say.
So in best case you increase the solar power and the battery capacity. If you can guess the forecast, it might be enough to encrease the battery only.
Apologies, Solar Zone 3, Arkansas but normally Texas. I would also like to add a shore power 110/120 charger something maybe putting out like 20A, is there a Victron product you recommend?
Also What is my purchase list from Victron?
100/50 MPPT
Shunt? If so, which is recommended?
CerboGX
Battery Protect? If so, which is recommended?
Anything else recommeded by Victron?
I totally agree with your recommendation if it were local but this will be remotely managed from 10 hours away with critical systems on it so Bluetooth is a no-go.
Everyone else in my industry is doing a setup like I am mentioning, just not sure if they are running battery protects or not. Almost everyone has a shunt it seems in the mix. All are using a CerboGX, just hard to get a full list from anyone who is running systems like these because most paid to have them built.
So I guess with mentioning the above, would you recommend a battery protect? A buss bar? Etc. a lot of these devices are IP POE but we will be pushing them with 12vdc to keep the watt draw a lot lower as was suggested to me.
No, you connect the battery to the cerbo along with MPPT and can monitor it on VRM. * Victron Comms - CANBUS entire string of batteries to Victron Ecosystem
If I decided to go with the Epoch batteries, I would only need what then in addition? CerboGX and a 100/50 MPPT controller? No battery protect? As far as charging or providing a shore power I see they have a 12vdc 50a charger (Epoch) would that be recommended over lets say Victron’s 12/30 or 12/50 charger?
Just trying to guage an idea that will enable me to make this both solar and shore power when required. In that case would you recommend the 2x panels in series or parallel for a string?
Would you recommend if I am going to 300ah battery to move to more than 400watts of solar across the 2 panels? My total estimated wattage is no more than 60 watts.
Lastly if I decided to go with another lithium manufacturer to save money on batteries, I would just need a smart shunt and what a Victron VE.Bus BMS to make everything work? I am just concerned about battery replacements as I am a dealer for a certain brand of batteries that are easily accessible vs a custom battery from Epoch. I can walk in a get batteries same day vs waiting on a shipment from Epoch.
I just want to be able to weigh out the different possibilities.