I am not new to solar. but I am new to fun van projects.
Had a panel on my camper many years back, and have 10K array on my house.
From the camper days, I have an aluminum frame 85W 12V panel, and I bought
another solar controller within the past 2 years thinking my old one died (turned out the battery was dead) which is completely sealed and water proof 15A.
I haven't really started sizing the battery bank I need yet, but I found out how you can max out your E350 frame battery space right here on the forum
http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...box-12337.html
I am thinking of finding a similar panel (unfortunately, UL-Solar seems to be no longer in business, but I am sure I can find something similar).
My thoughts are as follows:
Mount 2 panels on my construction tubular rails running perpendicular to van length (previous owner installed to mount ARB awning)
Run them to MPTT controller along Aluminess ladder via zip ties below the body.
Mount controller somewhere below the van and connect directly to battery bank.
Monitor battery charge via cigarette plug, such as
palumma car charger
Since usually the van site is more desirable to be in shade than in sun, I would prefer to be able to remove the panels.
Even better would be to have removable batteries but that's a project to consider down the line.
so 2 questions
1) anyone have similar setup or thoughts?
2) do I need to worry about alternator burning out MPPT
P.S. to take care of #2, i might be able to wire this through sPOD, but I would need to remember to 'disconnect' panels when starting the vehicle. Should be a more elegant solution for this.