Reddit mentions of Sun YOBA Tracer MPPT Tracer1210RN Solar Charge Controller Regulator 12/24V Input 10A

Using solar in a van is simple if your expectations are in line, and unworkable if not.

First, the bad: If you want to run devices that heat or cool with electricity, such as coffeemakers, hotplates, A/C, toasters, hair dryers, etc., you will not make your numbers or anywhere near them. Give that all up. There is a reason whole-house systems cost $30k, it is heating and cooling.

For a quick example, say you have a tiny 700 watt A/C unit. This represents half a normal small window A/C, or half a hairdryer. A 100Ah marine cell (basically a car battery that swaps maximum acid/lead contact area for thicker internal lead plates) from Wal-Mart ($100) has 100Ah, which translates to roughly 1200 watt hours. You do not want to run a wet cell like this below 50% or so; a fully-charged marine cell will run a unit like this for about 50 minutes. So, if you want to run it 10 hours a day off batteries, you will need 12 fully-chrged batteries, costing $1200 and weighting 700 pounds. You would also need a semi-sized trailer covered in panels to charge them. Oh, and the A/C compressor takes double the load when it starts up — which will tire the batteries out quickly, so expect that $1200 in batteries to be a yearly thing.

Now, the awesome: IT WORKS. I ran 30 feet of LEDs, a laptop, a small but nice stereo, a PoE wireless antenna, a wireless hub, iPhones and iPods, 18v DeWalt battery packs, a fan — plus whatever I am forgetting — off of 2 x 100W solar panels and 2 x 100Ah marine cells while boon docking in my camper for ten weeks.

To run a full system you will need a solar panel, an inverter, a battery, and a charge controller.

First you must go ahead and do all the math of your usage, because we are are still at the stage where we must all do all the math, and math is good, but when you are doing all the math to the third significant digit, and looking up the model of that rechargeable flashlight you like for its charging amperage requirements, maybe say screw it and start with half what works for my boon docking setup; one beefy panel, one solid battery. You can then add another panel later if your location or climate require it to keep the battery charged.

As to wiring, your charge controller will have connections that include a legend where to hook up your batteries, panels and inverter, so easy peasy there. See the link below for an example. I recommend spending the extra on an MPPT controller, which converts some of your extra juice (the 12V panel below can run almost 19V) that normally is dumped when charging into increased amperage of the charging current. Do the math of your expected load, it's possible you will want a 20A.

YOU WILL WANT TO DO THE MATH on wire sizes. There are calculators online. For your small setup, the important run is going to be between the battery and the charge controller. This is where the fires start. If you think you will EVER add another battery dig deep and wire for it. Also, fuse your system correcly, there is a schematic on the charge controller link below. Don't skip this, you can get the fuse holders and fuses at your local auto parts store.

For inverters, I feel better about everything by getting a well-respected pure sinewave unit. I run a Cotec 350W for the solar, and it seems bulletproof. I also run a Xantrex 600 in my 4Runner and it seems just as solid. You could save a ton by getting a cheap modified sinewave one and seeing if it meets your needs. Either way they will have outlets on them, so you don't need to wire it further.

Also, no wet cells inside the vehicle unless properly secured, sealed to the inside, and vented to the outside.

Solar panel:
http://www.amazon.com/RENOGY-Monocrystalline-Photovoltaic-Battery-Charging/dp/B009Z6CW7O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417553121&sr=8-1&keywords=100W+solar+panel

Charge controller (10A likely okay, do your math, I got the 20 amp)
http://www.amazon.com/Tracer1210RN-Solar-Charge-Controller-Regulator/dp/B008KWPGS6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1417552788&sr=8-2&keywords=mppt+charge+controllers

Inverter:
http://www.amazon.com/COTEK-SK350-112-INVERTER-OUTLETS-CABLES/dp/B006W9IPA0

You'll need cables, a battery, and a charge controller https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008KWPGS6

This model of charge controller has settings for turning on power to the load after dark, and shutting it off after some number of hours or at sunrise.

Just make sure buy the correct size battery, and correct gage of wire. You will also need a waterproof enclosure for your battery and charge controller.

After considering our discussion on this I can tell you for sure what I would do if I were in your situation. Since you already have a solar system in place and not starting from scratch you will need a DC-DC switching power supply to replace the AC inverter. I still have never seen one for sale that is suitable for mining so I would build my own to run a single ant s9 based on the design I have tested extensively running 2 ant s5. The design to run 2 s5 is pulling about 700 watts so we need to scale that up to do about 1400 watts. To get right to it these are the parts you'll need, I'll explain in a bit how it will need to be put together and how I came to this design in the first place. After I get all that out I will try to answer some of the other questions folks have about a fully stand alone system. For your needs you will only need the DC power supply/switch/regulator.

2 of these (note it's a 5 pack so you'll be getting 10 relays total. 8 will be used) about $28
https://www.amazon.com/Pack-EPAuto-Relay-Harness-Bosch/dp/B017VDI0GY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468169603&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=12v+relay&psc=1

1 of these about $70
https://www.amazon.com/Tracer-Tracer1210RN-Charge-Controller-Regulator/dp/B008KWPGS6/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1468170133&sr=8-5&keywords=mppt+charge+controller

10 of these about $200
https://www.amazon.com/Nextrox-Converter-Regulator-Step-Down/dp/B00BWKXTUU/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1468169653&sr=8-11&keywords=12v+voltage+regulator

Those three items are an mppt charge controller that will be used to control the relays. The 12v relays which will allow you to safely control the power switching and voltage regulators to make sure the power stays clean so as not to damage your gear.

Here's how it goes together, note that all regulators and relays will be hooked in parallel to allow us to get to the desired total amperage;

• DC 12 volt power bus (battery main) gets hooked to the charge controller, powering it up in the 12v range.
  
• Negative bus lead connects to the regulator negative.
  -Positive bus lead connects to relay pass in
  
• Relay pass out 12v positive lead connects to regulator positive.
  
• Relay 'activate power' leads get connected to 'lamp controller' on charge controller.
  
• Regulator positive and negative out connect to miner power cables (pci-e)
  
  Once this is connected as such pressing the orange button on the charge controller front panel will activate the relays allowing power to flow to the regulators which will then even it out and pass it to a secondary bus which will then have the miner power cables hooked to it and power the miners.
  
  By using the lamp controller feature of the charge controller you get low voltage protection. If the batteries get low (even though sounds like you won't have much of a problem with that) the lamp controller will power down the relays and therefore stop the miners. It will automatically reconnect when the battery charge comes back up to safe level.
  
  The idea is to have all this in a box with cooling fans (12v dc case fans) and size it to power a single miner. This box of parts gives you about a 15% efficiency boost over using a big inverter. The cost of an inverter to do this is about $2000, my solution costs about $300, thus dramatically reducing total system costs and allowing a modular approach that will scale while limiting down time due to equipment failure.