Aircooled VW South Africa

Hi everyone, I can't wait to finally take delivery of my 1981 Autovilla. My hope in this post is to get advice from those who have any knowledge of adding solar to their campers. I will be living in the Autovilla for a time and ideally I would hope to have a set up that allows me to be completely off the grid. This would of course need to be tempered by practicality and cost considerations.
I have a small 220V fridge that would need to run 24/7. Additional 220V needs are 4 lights and occasional use of a toaster and kettle.
I am also wondering if it would be worth the expense of rather buying a new 12V powered fridge that will not loose the inefficiencies of running through an inverter as well. The Villa currently only has the 1 vehicle battery. How many and what power solar batteries and panels would be required?
I would welcome any replies about your own set up and its capabilities.
Thanks very much.

What is the power draw on the items you want to run and how long per day do you want each item to run?

Going off the grid in your case, should mean going off 220v. You should get yourself a 12v compressor fridge/freezer combo. You should also change all lighting to 12 LED, no need for 220v. Kettle should be gas and who needs a toaster? Setup should include:
1. DC to DC charger, preferably one with built in charge controller with solar input
2. 2 x 180 Watt solar panels
3. 2 x 105ah 12v deep-cycle batteries or better
4. Small inverter to charge all your battery operated tools' batteries.
The list can get long but your question was short

Alternator fitted to the missis's exercise bike parked in the lean-too



Herman

Thanks Retrovan, that's exactly the kind of advice I'm looking for. The list is short because my current knowledge of solar systems is even shorter. I have not seen the Autovilla in person yet (buying it from a good long time family friend), so I don't yet know what all it does currently have. I think there are already some 12V lights that may be sufficient. I hadn't even thought of the need to recharge my cordless power tools, so I like your psychic abilities as well. ; ) . I hope there isn't too much else I might not be considering. Thanks again and keep the advice or suggestions coming.

As a comparison...
An acvw's starter uses 700 watt. Typical kettle uses 2000-2200 watt. So it draws power like 3 starters in parralel.

You will need to simplify your energy needs so as to reduce the cost and demand off one supply.

So what do I mean.

Well get a 3 way fridge, so if you run out of power you can run on L.P.Gas.

The heating of water is more economical with Gas,

Gas will also do your toast, and your braai on a rainy day.

Get as much on 12 V DC as possible as you lose energy via a inverter. This will also reduce the size of the inverter, so reducing cost.

Smaller solar panels with hinges reduce packing space as the flexible solar panels are not as good as fixed panels.

Get a good charger so you can top up your deep cycle battery's from mains power when available.

Enjoy your trip.

Herman

More good stuff, thanks Herman (the shed run alternator was the best idea but may be a bit cumbersome to travel with ; ) )

Ill Find pics of my Syncro setup and post

retrovan wrote: ↑Fri Apr 17, 2020 9:45 pm Well get a 3 way fridge, so if you run out of power you can run on L.P.Gas.
Herman

3 way fridges are actually only two way.....220v and gas. The 12v will never be useful to run the fridge on as it is meant to only maintain for short periods.

Eugene wrote: ↑Sat Apr 18, 2020 11:54 am

retrovan wrote: ↑Fri Apr 17, 2020 9:45 pm Well get a 3 way fridge, so if you run out of power you can run on L.P.Gas.
Herman

3 way fridges are actually only two way.....220v and gas. The 12v will never be useful to run the fridge on as it is meant to only maintain for short periods.

Totally ...........Disagree, ....with respect of coarse, SIR

The 12 v is used to run the fridge during travel from the engine.

The fridge will maintain set temp as long as you can supply it with power.

The 3 way fridges are ;-
1st = 220 V ac Not Compressor but heating element (run indefinitely)
2nd = 12 dc also heating element (run indefinitely)
3rd = L.P.Gas , and again heat (run indefinitely)

Not sure but I think the new type 3 way fridge has a compressor system as well.

OMO

Herman

Just as a matter of interest, when a kid on the farm,My dad fitter a Genny (and later an alternator)

to a pole and fitted a truck fan to it, and we charged the 4 Locomotive battery we has on the stoep with it.

This was our lights and ran the fridge, when we ran out of battery power the old man went over to paraffin.

as L.P.gas was not always available in HalfWay House,

He made a frame under the fridge and we could slide a Paraffin lamp under the heating coils of the 12v /220 v element

So in fact we had a 4 way fridge.

As the youngest in the family, it was my job to crawl around the fridge to trim the wik as she would smoke like a steam train if not trimmed correctly.

Which meant lots of hidings.

Sorry, just brought up lots of lovely memory's.....

Herman

One question
Are you going completely off grid?
Will you have no Access to a top up 220v charge,?


If you want to go completely off grid
I would
1-Buy a off road type camping fridge freezer (they are more gentle with power consumption)with duel compartments ,One for low temp cooling and other side For freezing food I have a 110L Snomaster and in 7 years have not had a days issues off roading Botswana and Zim areas
2-spent the money and buy a decent duel input DC-DC charger so when you drive you still charge the minimum of 2x105a/,h deep cycle bstteries
And wen stationary you deploy minimum of 2x150w panels to take over charge
3-change all lights to LED and most Appliances to 12V
4-in my camper I installed a 5L gas geyser with a out side deployable Quick pitch shower cubicle


My bus
First a 7A 220v charger to charge Vehicle battery that in turn power the Cteck duel input charging the duel battery system
As Priority is not to drain vehicles starting cranking battery
2x Flex solar panels ( just as efficient as solid panels "you get what you pay for" they are not easily available and stupidly expensive so just use normal 150w for yourself

From the panels I have short cables with solar plugs 1 sied and Brad Harris plugs
Now with the Brad Harris plugs everything is now easily changeable

Then I have a volt digital guage and average input voltage of the two panels is 25V
Going in the Ctek duel battery charger
And from Cteck split to the 2x deep cycle batteries

All assesories connected from duel batteries

My 2and duel battery is removable with a separate Solar charge controller to charge and leave the Fridge at a base when we do 4x4

My geyser is gas and work wonderful

If certain things are not clear you welcome to give me a call
0826008663

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

Very cool setup Bugger. I like.

You may find an Autovilla in its stock form is all that you need.

You have a gas oven and stove which is perfect for kettles, toasters and even baking a bread.

The fridge also runs on gas.

The lights run off the battery. The original fluorescent lights work just fine for me, but I don’t ever stay longer than 2 days. You could change to more efficient LED globe should you want to conserve more.

The last item is one of those USB chargers that plug into a cigarette lighter for charging phones etc.

This all works fine for me.

I don’t like batteries. They expensive to buy, lifespan is limited and you have the possibility of being without power if there is no sun to charge them etc. Running the engine to charge them is extremely inefficient and the stock alternator in a kombi can only handle its own battery.

One gas bottle lasts for ages for the items in an autovilla.