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StirCrazy's avatar
StirCrazy
Moderator
May 30, 2026

Stuffs starting to show up.

so last week I got my tiles from amazone for putting under the mattress.   I was originaly looking at the froli system, but at 600 bucks I'll pass.  this is what I ended up getting, they are a flexible pvc grid with feet to allow airflow under the mattress.  I also used some left over peices to line my outside storage floor.  

 

then the solar stuff astarted showing up.  after much debate and going back and forth (with myself of course) I ended up going with the blue boxes. not because I like them better than renogy, the renogy setup I was going to go with would have been cheeper and offered more features.  but in the end physical size wone out.  the victorn 150/45 will just be enough to handle my panels, but with renogy the 40amp rover is to small, so jumping up to the 60 amp version is a huge size increase.  they do make a renogy lt wich is only a little bit bigger than the victron but it lacks some features and the compatability with the renogy 1 system I was going to go with.  so here are my blue boxes

I also revived a bunch of other stuff, mounts wires and breakers and a new pressure regulator

and finaly my panels came last week but I didnt get a chance to open them and test them untill two days ago.  they all tested fine but one of them has a bent rale that happened during shipping.  so after 2 days of back and forth with the company they are shipping me out a replacment.  here is the rail on the panel, looks more like a hocky stick than a frame.  I am actualy surprised how flexible the actual solar panel is.  didn't crack still puts out full power.  I may try fixing the rail and donate it to one of a few people I know that are wanting to put solar on their rv's, as the company doesnt want it back.  

I did get roof structure drawings from adventurer but what they show me is I will be able to get two of the mounts into structure, maybe a third  but the other side will just be into the rood deck.  

4 Replies

  • cathanas's avatar
    cathanas
    Explorer III
    Jun 03, 2026

    I couldn't justify the cost for the Cerbo GX and screen either. I purchased an $65.00 refurbished 8" Lenovo tablet (android OS), loaded the Victron apps and can manage/monitor my Battery Monitor, Shunt, MPPT Solar Controller and soon Multiplus-II. It works well. I don't get the neat graphics of the power moving from AC and Solar to Batteries and I am OK with it.

    • StirCrazy's avatar
      StirCrazy
      Moderator
      Jun 04, 2026

      from what I am seeing its not just the neat graphics, but rather it ties everything togeather and let them work togeather, I can even tie my JBD BMS into it and eliminate the smart shunt for now as the BMS will do everything it would and more.  but the interesting part is when you have them tied togeather through the cerbo you can use the smart shunt(or BMS if it is compatable) to control the solar charger and inverter and backwards. yes you can marry your individual peices with the bluetooth, but that doesnt give you neer as many options from what I see, and you can use node red to setup "if/and/or" functions, add sensors for temp and such and have them give readings to the system.  so I could set up a fan, and a temp sensor and have the fan turn on if the temp hits a set value and turn off at another value.  being able to tie my BMS into it, I may be able to have the BMS turn chargeing off when the battery is at 100% and that way the solar can still supply everything else during the day with out worring about the battery over charging.  the more I read into it the more it is kinda neat.  I get that the cerbo is 300ish cdn so what 150 US 🙄, I don't think you realy need the display you can look at it on your tablet by entering the port on any browser and it will give you the same thing as the touch screen except you need to use a mouse..  me, already haveing the raspberry pi sitting in the box new still, its a no brainer to try it out.  I would have to buy a couple jst to usb patch cables, so that will cost me about 60 bucks CDN.  but somthing to play with I guess. 

  • cathanas's avatar
    cathanas
    Explorer III
    Jun 03, 2026

    Always fun when the UPS truck shows up. I purchase all Victron for my setup except a Renogy 3000w Inverter/Charger. It was Black Friday and way better priced than a Victron MultiPlus-II. Well, 2 years in and about 25 nights in the RV, I notice the Renogy is no longer charging my batteries or providing 12volt power. Inverter is working fine, converter not so much. I contacted Renogy Tech Support and they had me run some tests to confirm that the AC converter was out. No warranty (1 year), no parts, no way to repair it. They offered a 6% off coupon for my troubles. Signing up to their newsletter gets you 10% off. I am waiting for my new Victron MultuPlus-II to show up, with a 5-year warranty and 20 pounds lighter. Enjoy your blue boxes.

    • StirCrazy's avatar
      StirCrazy
      Moderator
      Jun 03, 2026

      I have no issues with my renogy stuff, like I mentioned it came purely down to the size of the MPPT for what I needed for amp output.  theroeticly if my panels put out 100% of their rating and the full 30% extra from the bifacial gain I would be pushing 53 amps, they way I am mounting them I will probably see a 5% gain from the bifacial so that will put me at 43 amps to the battery.  so that is more than the renogy rover 40amp can do, so I would need to jump up to the 60 amp modle and the size increases substantualy as it has a display and built heavier.  the victron 150/45 hits that sweet spot as it can put out 45amps to the battery.

      the biggest issue I had is I had to buy off amazon as the two retailers listed for where I work, one is out of buisness, the other has no stock on the shelf and when I asked them the price of the 150/45 they quoted me 600 cdn, when every other place was listing 300.00 so I walked out on them, verified the amazon supliers I was buying from were authorized resellers and bought them there.  

      I did want to go with renogy for one reason, it has worked good for me, is a lot cheeper than Victron, and I like the "core one" add on.  it is the equivelant of cerbo and the display, but it adds a 6 axis leveling system that you can pull up on your phone and see when your unit is the most level as your pulling into a spot and so on. so by going victron I gave this up.  

      now having said all that, there is stuff I like about victron, I worked with it quite a bit in the late 90's and early 2000's when I was changing navy boat systems to more moderen setups.  

      I found out yesterday that when you put the victron connect app on your phone it comes up on android auto so I can check stuff from my car.  and I found out I don't have to spend 600 bucks on a cerbo and display , I have a raspberry pi 4b in the box still so I can use the venus os and turn my Pi into a cerbo, the only thing I will have to buy is a screen if I want one, and thats under 100 bucks cdn for a 7", or I can just use a old tablet.   and the 4pin jst to usb victron patch cables to put my smart shunt and mppt into the pi.   so I can so a whole cerbo gx and display (600 cdn value) for about 120.00 if I splurge for the big screen.  

      I wish they made just a 2000 watt inverter with out the multiplus stuff, I don't need a charger, I don't need a power sharing system, just a 2000 watt inverter hahah

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