I've been doing some shopping around and have been considering this inverter.
http://www.amazon.com/TN-1500-112F-INVE ... B005T7NWH2
It's a 1500w pure sine wave inverter that also has a 30 amp solar charger and an AC charger. This thing looks to be almost perfect for my van conversion. It gives me 1500w pure sine wave, the ability to add solar and the ability to plug into AC power when available.
Then I saw this thread discussing the pros and cons of this unit
http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthr ... x-inverter
The two most legitimate concerns that I saw were that the AC charger only charges @ 5.5 amps (ie you would still need a battery charger to recharge quickly) and that the solar charger is not MPPT.
But since I don't have any hands on experience with 12 volt electrical and solar systems I'm not sure how much these concerns will matter for me. I really like the idea of knocking out essentially 3 birds with one stone for $600 (inverter, solar charger and shore power hook up) but I wonder if the fact that the solar charger isn't MPPT makes a huge difference. How much would this matter in terms of performance and the types of solar panels I could choose from?
If I don't get this inverter I will probably go with something like Xantrex prowatt 2000 in which case investing in solar will take a back seat for now. But if the solar charger on this unit is adequate to keep my system topped off with say 1-2 of those 100w panels from costco you mentioned then maybe I'll go ahead and get solar now.
So far my basic electrical setup will be 2 6V golf cart batteries in series (~220 AH) to run lights, laptop, a modest sound system, a small Dometic fridge/freezer and a water pump. I want to be able to use these 4-6 hours everyday and be as independent as possible through solar and charging from the alternator.
Basically hoping someone can clue me in on the MPPT vs non-mppt or any other reason why I shouldn't buy this inverter.