Posts

Ka'a Nui - Mana (solar power and house batteries charging)

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Ka'a Nui Solar power Ka'a Nui has about 700 watts of 12-volt power on the roof.  How best to use and implement is what this blog will be about. Six panels of three different types make up the 700 watts, 2-50 watts at the rear of the van, 2- 100 watts at the front and I think 2- 190 watts panels in the center of the van roof.  . Issues to consider... Can I install and ship lithium batteries?  Not sure yet, having reached out to both Pasha and Matson, it is hard to tell what our options are. Running the 750w panels with a Renogy 50amp DC2DC with MPPT controller to the battery.   Renogy DC2DC setup to charge from cars alternator works well. How large of a house battery and what type, GMA or Lithium?. TBD Wire runs on the roof need to be cleaned up, and not be on the roof flapping in the wind. Installed as follows 750W panels to a Renogy DC2DC 50 amp MPPT converter, also added into it the input from the high output alternator as a charging source.   seems ...

RV Ka'a Nui - The Blog

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 Ka'a Nui - The Big Van Project   2024      -      www.johnconey.com/kaanui_home.shtml A blog about the setup of the RV Ka'a Nui, a 2021 Dodge Promaster van purchased on February 28, 2024.  A huge hand goes out to Howard and Tim, who drove me to Kona to meet the seller and have lunch.  Great people and tons of fun for sure.  The van is a tall 9-4" Promaster van with 136" wheelbase (wb), front-wheel drive.  For electrical, it supports a 230a high output alternator and 700 watts of solar (more on that later). Sooo, why buy a van.  The current concept is to fix and build it out into a sleeper van to include a bed, toilet, sink, fridge and other amenities and ship it to the mainland in a few years when done. June 22, 2024 Progress happens, finally got a weekend of sunny weather to work on solar.  Cut three holes, added grommets to protect the wires, and cleaned up the solar wiring.  Now bringing 8awg line into ...