New here from Sacramento 2002 Ford E350 4x4

[BigRed4x4]

Hello everyone,

Been creeping on here for a while but just signed up as I brought home this 2002 Ford E350 4x4 5.4L. Picked her up off of eBay last week and had her delivered to me in NorCal on Saturday.

Before I even start the insulation of the van, I want to get it wired for solar. I would like some help pointing me to a good solar solution. She already has a full rack with ladder. So I thinking something in the line of 200W to 400W of power. Looking for a complete kit. I am looking to run a small frig/freezer, power inverter for cameras, phones and laptops (need help there too), induction cooktop, plus some LED interior and exterior lighting.

I am looking for the following recommendations. I will build around the fridge location.

1. Complete Solar Kit
2. Good power inverter
3. Frig/Freezer Combo

Here are some pics of Big Red

 

[rallypanam]

Congrats, looks like a great deal... lots of info on these topics, spend some time searching around!

 

[Bbasso]

Welcome,
Fit as many watts as you can on the roof since you have plans on so many appliances.
100wt solar = 100ah battery.

 

[7oaks]

Welcome!
I'm new here too and in the process of installing solar and an inverter also in a 2002 E350. I've found great information posted on the forum on each of your topics as RallyPanAm suggested. It's helped to answer all my questions on the solar equipment and install, inverter, ACR, house batteries, etc. and all with great advice from people that have done it before and know what they're doing. Browse the site and do some searches and you'll find the answers you're looking for. I wasn't able to find a solar kit that I liked so I went with an MPPT solar controller, MC4 cables, and solar panels from different suppliers. After that it's just wiring which you will find here too. There's good information on inverters also. That's a nice looking rig you have!

 

[marret]

Congrats and welcome. As others have mentioned there is a lot of info in the forums. You might consider starting a new thread in the Homemade SMB - Ground Up Builds forum. Questions on solar are best in the Electrical forum.

 

[daveb-SMB]

Welcome from down the street.

 

[gcvt-SMB]

Welcome to the forum, officially. Quite a few Renogy solar fans around here, including myself. I installed their 200w RV kit with the Adventurer controller and I'm very pleased with it.

 

[REF]

Has anyone here installed one of the induction cooktops? Seems like you’d either need a fairly large battery bank, be plugged into shore power or run a generator to be able to use it, 1500W element?
All your other appliances and power needs are fairly common, people have liked the Truckfridge units for a built in fridge.
Fit as much solar up on the roof as you can, 200W minimum. I currently only have a 137W Kyocera panel with a Blue Sky SC30 controller, I recently added a 100W Renogy suitcase panel I can plug in that helps keep things charged up when I’m running my Engle 12V fridge/freezer. I’ll probably be upgrading my mounted panel when they make something I can fit in the same space that’s 200W at min.



'03 Ford E350 7.3L Diesel
SMB RB50 w/CCV top
Quigley 4X4 w/Deavers & Agile RIP kit

 

[BigRed4x4]

Big thanks for all the help and the warm welcome. I am already getting in on group buy for an awning.

May have an inveter I will buy as well. Thank you everyone and I look forward to this wonderful adventure!

 

[GAR-SMB]

Nice rig, enjoy the adventures!

Gar

 

[boywonder]

May have an inverter I will buy as well. Thank you everyone and I look forward to this wonderful adventure!

As far as inverters go....there are several choices in addition to wattage....


First one is modified sine wave vs true sine wave; they both work, although some folks claim to have had trouble powering certain things with MSW. I've installed a couple of MSW inverters for others with zero issues. These days due to advancement in semiconductor technology nice TSW units are quite inexpensive. Samlex units on Amazon are a nice solution if you are on a budget.



The other question to ask yourself is do you want a combo inverter/charger?? You can always install a separate charger to run 12V things off of shore power when you are plugged in and to charge the house and starting batteries. If you have little need for shore power and typically remote camp, you may not need a charger, especially if you do a reasonable amount of solar, like 200 watts or more.