Here are some obsevations and what I am currently up to with my solar power systems.
I have been living off grid for over 10 years and have set up solar power in a bus, a cargo trailer, a number of buildings,
a boat and my Sprinter
Not sure exactly what you already have (Just the red highlights?) but there is a new 5k watt hour Lifepo batt for
about $1500, (Gyll Signature Solar) you can't come close to that with anything else on the market now, but Bluetti is working on a similar sized all in one unit. If it were available now, I might consider it, but the problem with the all in one solar generators is that if one component quits, the whole thing is probably shot. The separate component system is far more serviceable.
For about $450 you can get an Outback FM 80 charge controller that is extremely robust and programmable.
it makes most of the others look like toys.
I use 5 Outback FM 80s in my off grid facility and one in the sprinter for the 800w solar system that runs the rear AC, espresso machine, microwave, etc. I have only had 1 in 7 have a problem in over 10 years.
I have a Freedom inverter in a bus installation, it is fairly dirty, but it is an older square wave, sort of usefless really.
If I was willing to carry that size inverter (Physical size) I would use a Magnum. Not sure what I will switch to when I go 48v on the Sprinter. i currently have a 2000w 12v. in the Sprinter, but it is temporary.
I am about to buy the large Gyll battery (4 space 19" rack mount 100lbs) and convert the system to 48v. on the DC side, this presents Rube Goldberg challenges on the alternator recharging side, but everything else gets more efficient. The simplest transfer switch is to have the entire 120v. circuit on a big corded plug end, so you either plug it in to the shore power side, or the inverter side, the 2 can never mix... There are plenty of good switches out there, but with a 5kwh battery, you may not ever need shore power. All the power systems are a bundle of compromises, you just need to figure out which ones fit your usage the best.
My current 12v components are in a rack in the R rear corner of the van with 2 deep cycle flooded batts just to keep the system running. I set it up last summer and so much was changing so fast in the Lithium realm that I couldn't commit to anything that was available. my plan is to build an insulated housing where the spare tire lives with a floor hatch for access.
I will move all the large components to this area and vent it with cabin air supply for climate control for the batts.
The spare will have to move outside to a folder on the hitch... I found 220w panels that were the perfect size to maximise the roof area without hanging over, they were "Newpowr" and about $200 per panel.
I have a 2x00 cable running from the 220A alternator to the back of the vehicle. It goes to the rear batts through an isolator with a 300A breaker across the outputs. If you close the breaker, the batts are combined. This lets my current solar keep the starting batt and the bank topped off. flip the breaker and they are isolated.
This won't work when I go 48v. There is no elegant way to go DC to DC without mega $$, so here's the Rube Goldberg
part of the equation.
The current 2000w 12v. inverter will be reconfigured to run a 120v AC charger in order to charge the 48v batt from the alternator when driving. this will result in at least 20% losses while charging, I have not found a good way to get around it.
I considered bumping the whole system to 24v, or 48v then using a DC to DC converter for the 12v to run the van, but again, it gets expensive above 60 amps and you need at least 90 to run the van.....
I hope you can get something useful out of this. it's been my experience that it is better to remain a bit flexible in your design and execution, because you may find your needs are different, or change and you will want to re-configure the system accordingly. I build in a way that allows change, try not to box yourself into a corner..
www.bluesea.com
