Oftentimes new caravans come to us deficient in meeting the off the grid power needs of their owners, as was the case with this Crusader in want of a Solar upgrade
We set about relocating one of two awkwardly situated original 170W panels and added four 140W Victron Solar Panels, switching up the Solar capacity from 360 to a more respectable 900 Watts.
Additionally, we removed the roof solar input from the existing BMPro all-in-one battery management system and added back in an external yellow Anderson plug for a 200W portable solar blanket, keeping it completely separate from the roof solar.
We then installed 3 x 20A Victron Smart Solar Bluetooth MPPT Solar Controllers and linked the roof solar.
2 x 170W original panels to one controller
2 x 140W panels to another controller and
2 x 140W panels to the remaining controller
Referring to the image below and highlighting the superior performance of Victron panels, you'll notice the 140's are outperforming the 170's.
(LF) = Left & Front 140W panels
(O) = original 170W panels
(RC) = Right & Centre 140W panels
The above readings are typical for an April day when the sun is lower on the horizon however during summer, these readings will reach in excess of 18A's of solar coming from two 140W Victron Panels.
We also attached a Victron Smart Battery Sense to the existing batteries to wirelessly transmit absolute accurate battery voltage and temperature data to the three Victron Solar Controllers.
With the design of this system, we can also see if any one pair of panels underperforms and there are no adverse effects to the whole solar array from shadowing of only some panels. Nifty!
To meet your need for power off the grid, contact us.