You should be fine. Your framing looks good on the inside. Insulation wise, rock wool is ok. I used compressed polycell with foil either side, but i was looking for maximum insulation without taking up a lot of room and then covered it in bubble wrap. Which worked fine for UK winters, might not work for you if your winters are colder. On both my last two builds I used a cheap Sikaflex alternative that is available in the UK called Stixall. I used it both for the gland boxes and the solar panel mounts (no bolts through the roof). Still stuck on solidly three years later on my current van. On my last van I had to remove the panels from the roof as the guy who bought it wanted them off. Had to use a chisel and hammer to get past the adhesive. The 800w of solar was how I came across your video. I'm looking to put in around 850w of panel on my next build, probably using two 425w panels, into a Victron MPPT, 24V 600Ah LiFePo4 battery and 2kw inverter. Requirements are it needs to be able to run a mid to high level computer system that i can edit videos on, play games, etc. So I need a lot of power. Time will tell if it works. :)
You're right, rock wool wouldn't be sufficient if we were to stay for Swedish winter. But our van is built for southern Europe, as we'll head off south in a month or so and stay in warmer climates only, hence going with rock wool. 24v 600Ah is a dream to have! Will you also be having shore power to charge that build, as 800W solar might be a bit tight for 24v 600ah? Do you also plan on filming your progress and putting it out on Ytube?
@@trippinthirties Yes. Charging will be Solar, DC-DC and Shore, possibly also a backup small generator for winter usage. Right now, it looks like I will need two Victron Orion DC-DC to charge while the engine is running. My van will be a Transit and the alternator is 140A and generally has about 70A spare, so I should be able to do either two of the 12-24-15A Orion's (60A draw @ 12V) or two 10A (around 40A draw @ 12V). I would prefer to not overcook the alternator, so leaning more towards a total of 20-25A. Shore power will be used for charging only. My aim is to run everything from the Lithium no matter what power source is being used. So I have one 240V AC power circuit connected to the Inverter and shore power is only connected to Victron chargers or if I get a Multiplus i'll use that. Also looking into getting a 10L Surecal calorifier that will be connected to the engine cooling line, so hot water from driving the van and probably a 24V immersion element, set to run when the batteries are full and I still have power from the panels. I haven't fully planned this one through yet, but hot water for a shower would be nice and if I can get it just by driving the van or from spare power, that would be ideal.
Depending on when you're starting your build, you'll might be able to use the new Orion XS DC-DC charger, as from what I've read, Victron will release a 24v version of that as well. The new Orion XS is a lot more sufficient than the old DC-DC model. But as said, I'm not sure when the 24v version will be released. I did heaps of research before buying my system and I couldn't find a better alternative than the Multiplus. You can of course purchase separate components and get the same outcome, but having the Multiplus doing it all for you, in one box, is super helpful, IMO. Good idea with the hot water. I looked into something similar; but ended up going with a 24v 400W water heater. Check out Svans Hot Water Boiler, they have a lot of sizes.
Let us know what you think! Leave a comment, like the video and subscribe to our channel if you want to help us grow 🙌
You should be fine. Your framing looks good on the inside. Insulation wise, rock wool is ok. I used compressed polycell with foil either side, but i was looking for maximum insulation without taking up a lot of room and then covered it in bubble wrap. Which worked fine for UK winters, might not work for you if your winters are colder.
On both my last two builds I used a cheap Sikaflex alternative that is available in the UK called Stixall. I used it both for the gland boxes and the solar panel mounts (no bolts through the roof). Still stuck on solidly three years later on my current van. On my last van I had to remove the panels from the roof as the guy who bought it wanted them off. Had to use a chisel and hammer to get past the adhesive.
The 800w of solar was how I came across your video. I'm looking to put in around 850w of panel on my next build, probably using two 425w panels, into a Victron MPPT, 24V 600Ah LiFePo4 battery and 2kw inverter. Requirements are it needs to be able to run a mid to high level computer system that i can edit videos on, play games, etc. So I need a lot of power. Time will tell if it works. :)
You're right, rock wool wouldn't be sufficient if we were to stay for Swedish winter. But our van is built for southern Europe, as we'll head off south in a month or so and stay in warmer climates only, hence going with rock wool.
24v 600Ah is a dream to have! Will you also be having shore power to charge that build, as 800W solar might be a bit tight for 24v 600ah?
Do you also plan on filming your progress and putting it out on Ytube?
@@trippinthirties Yes. Charging will be Solar, DC-DC and Shore, possibly also a backup small generator for winter usage. Right now, it looks like I will need two Victron Orion DC-DC to charge while the engine is running. My van will be a Transit and the alternator is 140A and generally has about 70A spare, so I should be able to do either two of the 12-24-15A Orion's (60A draw @ 12V) or two 10A (around 40A draw @ 12V). I would prefer to not overcook the alternator, so leaning more towards a total of 20-25A. Shore power will be used for charging only. My aim is to run everything from the Lithium no matter what power source is being used. So I have one 240V AC power circuit connected to the Inverter and shore power is only connected to Victron chargers or if I get a Multiplus i'll use that.
Also looking into getting a 10L Surecal calorifier that will be connected to the engine cooling line, so hot water from driving the van and probably a 24V immersion element, set to run when the batteries are full and I still have power from the panels. I haven't fully planned this one through yet, but hot water for a shower would be nice and if I can get it just by driving the van or from spare power, that would be ideal.
Depending on when you're starting your build, you'll might be able to use the new Orion XS DC-DC charger, as from what I've read, Victron will release a 24v version of that as well. The new Orion XS is a lot more sufficient than the old DC-DC model. But as said, I'm not sure when the 24v version will be released.
I did heaps of research before buying my system and I couldn't find a better alternative than the Multiplus. You can of course purchase separate components and get the same outcome, but having the Multiplus doing it all for you, in one box, is super helpful, IMO.
Good idea with the hot water. I looked into something similar; but ended up going with a 24v 400W water heater. Check out Svans Hot Water Boiler, they have a lot of sizes.