Hey, thread drift is what we do around here, no worries.
I don't have a build thread. I have a 1976 Ford camper van that I paid $200 for many years ago. It's a beater. I suppose I could try and pimp up its image and call it a "rat rod" camper van, but the truth is I just decided I would never put a dime into a $200 camper that I didn't absolutely have to...so I didnt.
I have another project, a 1972 Superior 2200 RV that I plan to restomod one of these days. Since the van is on its last legs, I will strip off the bits I want to keep and junk it. Eventually. Maybe this year. Maybe next. We'll see.
I ended up with a 300w panel and 400ah of AGM because a guy here on ExPo who was a documentary filmmaker built a van for camping in while shooting something or another in the desert. After like a year and hardly any use and the project was done, he stripped the stuff off the van and sold it. The charge controller was a 30a Midnite Kid and it sold fast. Months later, he still had the panel and batteries.
My nephew wanted to build a solar powered backup system for his home computer network (he's an IT guy that I trained in networking), so I pointed him at the ExPo guy who was local. Told my nephew how to check the stuff. It checked out, so he grabbed 2x 4D 200ah 12v AGMs (Chinese), and the 300w panel for $300 cash out the door.
Six months later, the stuff was in his garage, unused, and he took a job out of state and was going to be in an apartment, so he no longer needed the stuff. Tried to just give it to me, but I said no, and paid him the $300 he paid for it and did a quicky install on the camper van.
But I needed a charge controller. The 100/30 plus a meter was around $300, so I bought it. One reason was Victron is good stuff at a decent price. Another was I needed MPPT because the panel is 36 Vmp. Had it been 18 Vmp, I probably would have went with a 25a Morningstar SunSaver Duo PWM. Another plus was the Victron has several default charge profiles builtin (can be reprogrammed with the app if needed). One was the perfect 14.7v bulk, 14.7v absorb that my Chinese AGMs wanted.
The 40y.o. Norcold 323 fridge was acting up (pilot would go out at random unexpected times), so some mechanics at work (Penske Truck Leasing) kept an eye out and snagged me a 12v fridge from a lease turn-in and I put that in the camper.
Which is how I ended up with a $1,000 solar system and an $800 fridge - that I paid a total of $600 for - in a $200 camper.
(Well, okay...the fridge did come at a price...a few dozen Krispy Kremes for the shop crew. A bloody good investment, since they later snagged me another identical fridge, somewhat beatup but working, so now I have a spare.)
Had the solar about a year and half, but I was working (retired, but still like to work some), and it just basically sat around, keeping the batteries topped up and keeping the 12v TruckFridge cold.
I've had some time to fool around with it this winter (southern California). Took the battery bank down for a capacity test (tested out at 370ah @ 20hr rate), then let the solar do its thing. Did it a couple times.
The most I saw with the panel flat mounted and winter sun angle was maybe 180w, and that didn't happen until the battery got up over 12v and hit its lowest resistance.
I did note that the Astroenergy panel performed just as well, if not better, in hazy conditions, than it did with bright clean sun, which was a pleasant surprise. I chalk it up to a lower operating temp for want of a better explaination.
Theoretically, this panel could exceed 30a by a bit. But it's flat mounted, so that's a negative factor, and during summer it'll be hot, which is another neg. True, the 100/30 won't allow more than 30a to flow to the battery...even IF the solar could produce that (I doubt it ever will), AND the battery could absorb it (my 400ah bank could, at least for part of the bulk stage).
So really, a 30a charge controller is just about perfect for a 300w panel, and 90% of the time (or more), is never going to hit the limit anyway.
Eventually, I'll move the system over to the RV project. But the Superior has a battery compartment with a sliding shelf that can hold two batteries, period. It is just barely tall enough for a group 31 to fit. It's wired for both starting and house batteries to be in that compartment, and I don't really want to change that. At this point I'm thinking to just keep that setup, and add maybe 200w of panel (anyone else notice that Home Depot now sells Renogy?), plus a SunSaver Duo, and keep the lights and water pump on a single 100ah battery.
Then I can use the big panel and battery bank to feed a 12v fridge. The RV has a 7cu' Dometic ammonia fridge right now, so I'll either need one big one or a couple of smaller ones. Most likely a fridge with a door, and below that a drawer type freezer.
I'll probably add a big inverter/charger as well...not that I'd really need it, but just because.
