Solar Van with micro inverters

[Sunking]

Brad you are getting in way over your head asking for the impossible. You cannot have it all. Solar is extensively limited. Refrigeration and cooking is done with LPG in a RV and camper. The large loads like refrigeration, cooking, heating, and air conditioning are just possible or feasible. Solar part is just for lighting, TV's and some lite cooking is possible with a large bank of batteries and generators to back things up and supply the bulk of the power. You do not have the money, space, or knowledge to pull it off. The amount of battery you are going to be able to fit and afford can only drive a 500 watt Inverter. You need to tap the breaks. If you continue on you run a very high risk of a fire trying to make equipment do what it cannot do.

[jony101]

I have a 240 watt panel on my astrovan roof and it takes up almost the entire area, so from my view, I see 4 x 100 panels being a very tight fit. My advice would be to just get a single large panel, it will be easier to install (only 4 bolts.)

A single 240 watt panel with mppt will get you about 11 amps lying flat on the roof. A 12 volt fridge set at 40 degrees uses about 25 amps total in a 24 hour period. For cooking just get a 12 volt roadpro lunch bucket cooker (uses about 11 amps) will heat up most food in 30 minutes. You can probably find a 12 volt teapot or comparable.

A 120 ah agm battery should be good enough for the fridge and lights and laptops, as long as you stay away from the microwave and large inverters.

I use to run my 12 volt fridge edgestar fp430 24/7 on a 120 watt panel and 75ah agm battery, it was below the bare minimun needed, but It work for months at a time. No need to spend too much on the solar system, as long as you can get the right energy efficient 12 volt appliances. You might not even need a battery isolator if your energy needs are low, I never used one, not even when I had a 75 ah agm house battery.

[donald]

I have a 240 watt panel on my astrovan roof and it takes up almost the entire area, so from my view, I see 4 x 100 panels being a very tight fit. My advice would be to just get a single large panel, it will be easier to install (only 4 bolts.)

A single 240 watt panel with mppt will get you about 11 amps lying flat on the roof. A 12 volt fridge set at 40 degrees uses about 25 amps total in a 24 hour period. For cooking just get a 12 volt roadpro lunch bucket cooker (uses about 11 amps) will heat up most food in 30 minutes. You can probably find a 12 volt teapot or comparable.

A 120 ah agm battery should be good enough for the fridge and lights and laptops, as long as you stay away from the microwave and large inverters.

I use to run my 12 volt fridge edgestar fp430 24/7 on a 120 watt panel and 75ah agm battery, it was below the bare minimun needed, but It work for months at a time. No need to spend too much on the solar system, as long as you can get the right energy efficient 12 volt appliances. You might not even need a battery isolator if your energy needs are low, I never used one, not even when I had a 75 ah agm house battery.

That's good advice. Also install a voltmeter that you can easily read at a glance. This reading is the primary way you will know in the evening if you need to worry about power consumption.

You may not need an alternator connection. But the connection does allow your house battery to reliably get through absorption charging from solar on some days when you drive in the morning. How much this complete charging extends AGM battery life is unknown. Economically it is more important on a larger battery bank. With one battery, good arguments can be made both for and against the value of an alternator connection.

[Sunking]

A single 240 watt panel with mppt will get you about 11 amps lying flat on the roof.

Then you do not have an MPPT controller. 240 watt panel should generate about 18 to 19 amps to a 12 volt battery. A 240 watt with a PWM controller will only give you 11 amps. Very simple math.

[inetdog]

Then you do not have an MPPT controller. 240 watt panel should generate about 18 to 19 amps to a 12 volt battery. A 240 watt with a PWM controller will only give you 11 amps. Very simple math.

Or else the reduction from 19A to 11A corresponds to the reduced effective area and reflection losses from flat mounted panels (0 degrees elevation). The OP can check out the effect of panel orientation easily using PVWatts for his area.
No idea what latitude jony101 is at.