Eurovan Camper mods

Victron SmartSolar 100/20 MPPT Solar Charge Controller

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This page currently under construction...

Updated 2021-05-24 : First version.

Introduction

In 2020, I installed a Lithium house battery. In Spring 2021, I followed this up with a major renovation of the Eurovan Camper's 12V system.

Parts:

• Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100/20
  Note: the SmartSolar comes in a range of amperages and solar panel voltages. The amp rating is the battery amps, not the amps from the solar panel. Also, the 30 amp and higher models do not include the optional Load output.
• Appropriate wire. I like to use Marine Grade Duplex wire as it's very high quality and comes in a jacket which is UV resistant.
• (optional) Anderson PowerPole connectors. Most solar panels come with MC4 connectors which are very high quality, but large and more intended for permanent installation. I wanted to be able to remove this panel easily, so using PowerPoles made more sense.

Tools:

• (optional) TRIcrimp Anderson PP crimper
• Nothing special needed: screwdriver, screws, wire strippers, etc.

Step-by-Step:

(click each picture for full size)

1. SmartSolar 100/20 box
   
   
   Note: no wiring is included, so make sure you purchase what you need.
   
   



2. SmartSolar shunt mounted behind Eurovan Camper Electrical panel
   Notes:
   1. It's mounted with double-sided velcro sticky tape. Not perfect, but probably adequate.
   
   
   



3. Using the SmartSolar with Victron Connect on iPhone
   
   The Victron SmartSolar can be controlled via iPhone, Android, Mac or Windows laptop via bluetooth.
   This test is using the old 85W solar panel - harvesting 79 Watts is 93% efficiency, which is pretty good real-world performance.