Adding portable solar to existing Victron setup...

[CptPalapa]

Originally Posted by Marine359

its internal inverter is more efficient than our onboard Xantrex 2,000w inverter/charger and the Ecoflow draws far less power when idling.

I absolutely would expect more efficiency out of it. When we're boondocking, we actually turn off breakers and such for all the A/C units, the "fireplace", the microwave (though we might turn it on for a time), etc. Running the generator does a power hiccup (2 to 3 phase I've been told) and only affects the Starlink when on AC power.

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Originally Posted by Marine359

It’s way more efficient to charge devices with dc adapters than using an ac brick to charge them. Just need a few usb and 12v ports sprinkled around the rig.

I've moved as many things in the rig to 12v as I can. Added USB ports (our rig had none from the build), like beside the beds so we can charge our phones at night without an inverter. (How'd they miss that.) We have a tiny digital clock near the bedroom ceiling, it's USB and I just tied into the light switch circuit. Things like that. We have found so far that we draw about 54w DC overnight with "everything off". I'm sure there is more efficiency I could add, like a switch to kill the AM/FM radio at night, and turning off the Pepwave. (But it's nice to have even weak internet while lying in bed for the phones via the cell since the Starlink is off.) The Starlink WAS on DC power, but I fried my board and will be getting a new one from Boondocker.io in a couple of weeks. I'll be adding a switch INSIDE so I don't have to go outside and pull the plug. Tons of little things like that. The only things I haven't made DC yet are the computers. The wife's monitor does have a power brick, so it's DC. My monitor has a standard computer cord, so it's not (obvious) DC. I'll need to get a DC wire over to the computer area or add a small inverter, or more likely, do something with the Bluetti.

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Originally Posted by Marine359

You can boondock for a week and never use enough ac to deplete the powerstation.

I won't know about this until I can actually test. The total in the unit is 2400w, I think. That IS quite a bit, but 2x laptops (one is a beast, web server, database server, gaming) and 2x monitors, AC powered USB hub (12 ports!) the draw might be more than I initially expect. (It will be nice to have a way to measure it, though.)

You indicated "shore power" in your message. Are you just concerned about metered shore power?

[Marine359]

The reference to shore power was only about using the powerstation as a pedestal substitute, when we’re off-grid. When we plug our shore power cable into the Ecoflow, the RV doesn’t know that it’s not a pedestal. The Ecoflow has the same output specs as your Bluetti, 2,400w max output off an internal 2kWh LFP. We prefer to boondock whenever possible, and would never stay in a commercial campground given a choice. When boondocking, we consume roughly 1kWh per day, 70% of that being eaten by our compressor fridge. All of which can be replaced with our solar unless there are more than three consecutive days of bad weather. Our low consumption owes to the fact that we use very little ac while boondocking. Occasional use of microwave for defrost. No use of tv, as we can see everything we want on the iPad. We have a laptop, but don’t use it much off-grid. We can do almost anything we want to do on our iPad, which uses only 10% of the power our MacBook requires. If we were staying in a CG with metered power, we wouldn’t use the pedestal. Your situation with the big computer ac loads (elephant in the room) is different.

Don’t know if you’re aware, but you can use a plain vanilla LFP (no install) to supplement your Bluetti. Just plug a cable from it into one of your solar charging ports. Unboosted, you’ll get 120w of charge current. But you can boost it to 24v and double the throughput using a cheap 12/24 converter. A 100ah (1.2 kWH) cheapo LFP only costs $250. Surely, that’s enough to feed your computers for a day. Recharge the LFP from the Bluetti when it’s getting some solar, or during generator run times if you need one.

[Pappion]

Originally Posted by CptPalapa

... 4x190w panels, routed to 2xVictron 100/50 MPPT controller,...

Why did they install 2x solar controllers? Under ideal conditions you would have 63A. It's OK to over panel, they will limit to 50A each. I would repurpose 1 for the external panels.

What voltage are the panels? Are they compatible with the ground mounts?

I use this XT90 panel mount for my ground mount connection. Cut the end off and reuse it for the extension wiring.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1


I have 480AH LiFePO4. Maybe you should add more. I would if I had room.
I have 690W on the roof, not tilted, Victron 100/50. Victron 100/30 for 340W on the ground, tilted makes a difference in the dead of winter. Also I like camping in the shade so the ground mounts are important.