No need for all that expense on batteries. 2 6v GC2 at about $120 or so each and a couple $100 dollar renogy 100 watt panels with a good controller and your set here. GC2 batteries are great for the money... they are cheap because of the volume they produce for all those carts running around. I use US Battery model 2200. Great American made battery.. 230 amp hours.
Isolated solar set-up for fridge. questions / help needed.
- Thread starter blackohio
- Start date
sounds like a plan. i'll source those locally. Any issues on those with off-roading? It's going in a truck that sees regular 4x4 expeditions.
Heres what I settled on:
Renogy 150 Watt 12 Volt Monocrystalline Solar Panel
Renogy 40 Amp Commander MPPT Solar Charge Controller w/ MT-50
Renogy Battery Interconnect Cables
(Size: 4AWG, Length: 12 IN.)
Renogy MC4 Waterproof In-Line Fuse Holder w/ Fuse
(Fuse Amp: 10 Amp)
Renogy Solar Adaptor Kit
(Cable Length: 20FT, Cable Size: 10AWG)
Renogy Solar Adaptor Kit
(Cable Length: 30FT, Cable Size: 10AWG)
Renogy Solar Tray Cables
(Tray Cable Length: 8 FT, Tray Cable Size: 4AWG)
Saturday i'll go pick-up 4 US Battery 6V 2200 236ah batteries.
2 panels, q controller and 2 batteries and controller go to trailer
1 panel, 1 controller and 2 batteries to my truck.
Renogy 150 Watt 12 Volt Monocrystalline Solar Panel
Renogy 40 Amp Commander MPPT Solar Charge Controller w/ MT-50
Renogy Battery Interconnect Cables
(Size: 4AWG, Length: 12 IN.)
Renogy MC4 Waterproof In-Line Fuse Holder w/ Fuse
(Fuse Amp: 10 Amp)
Renogy Solar Adaptor Kit
(Cable Length: 20FT, Cable Size: 10AWG)
Renogy Solar Adaptor Kit
(Cable Length: 30FT, Cable Size: 10AWG)
Renogy Solar Tray Cables
(Tray Cable Length: 8 FT, Tray Cable Size: 4AWG)
Saturday i'll go pick-up 4 US Battery 6V 2200 236ah batteries.
2 panels, q controller and 2 batteries and controller go to trailer
1 panel, 1 controller and 2 batteries to my truck.
dwh
Tail-End Charlie
Nice. 
A trick, dunno if you'll need it or not. The panel +/- will have one MC4 male and one female.
So you buy a short MC4 extension cable that has a male on one end and a female on the other. Then cut it in half. Now you have one MC4 male to bare wire adapter, and one female to bare wire adapter.
You can strip the bare wire ends to go into the screw terminals of the controller.
Also, there's a special tool for MC4 connectors.
A trick, dunno if you'll need it or not. The panel +/- will have one MC4 male and one female.
So you buy a short MC4 extension cable that has a male on one end and a female on the other. Then cut it in half. Now you have one MC4 male to bare wire adapter, and one female to bare wire adapter.
You can strip the bare wire ends to go into the screw terminals of the controller.
Also, there's a special tool for MC4 connectors.
Nice.
A trick, dunno if you'll need it or not. The panel +/- will have one MC4 male and one female.
So you buy a short MC4 extension cable that has a male on one end and a female on the other. Then cut it in half. Now you have one MC4 male to bare wire adapter, and one female to bare wire adapter.
You can strip the bare wire ends to go into the screw terminals of the controller.
Also, there's a special tool for MC4 connectors.
Nice. Thanks for all the info and help. Should have all the parts by this weekend or Monday and then it's off to fab shop to make the battery boxes/mounts, under rack solar mount that spins around rack and onto top so when rtt isn't there I can have solar and lastly making by a fox ifp bumpstops bracket.
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So I ended up running 2x 232ah 6v batteries fed by renogy 40amp mppt controller charged by a 150watt panel on the roof. So far fridge has been running in a closed loop 24/7 for 12 days. Never seems to dip below 12.4v and runs as high as 14.5-14.7 during the day.
Inside my power box is:
Batteries
Controller
Inverter running 2 ac infinity fans one intake and 1 exhaust.
2X US 2200 XC2 @ $120/each it seemed like a no brainer to give these a shot as I'd have to kill 7 batteries to equal the cost on one AGM 12V 234ah battery
I'll get some new pics this weekend, it'll be over at offroad expo
After some changing of things, i've settled on this set-up. Lo-pro 56 snomaster, 150wt renogy roof mounted panel, 40a mppt renogy controller. Originally I ran 2X US Battery 2200 but after about two months of use in the back of the truck they seemed to be loosing charge a little bit. No matter how much sun theyr ended up not charging over 12.2v+/-. Since Im running a Pelfrey bilt Group 31 cage in the engine bay and using an optima battery, I decided to run 2X 27F yellowtops at 66ah each. The solar set-up has been running now totally isolated only fed off the optima batteries and sunlight.
Since I had the bedslide I made best use of it as the fridge slide as well as the storage drawer. I built a simple platform with a single center support at rides on a rollerblade wheel on the bedslide platform. batteries and controller are in the rear behind the fridge. Overall im pretty happy with this set-up and looking to make continuous tweaks.
Since I had the bedslide I made best use of it as the fridge slide as well as the storage drawer. I built a simple platform with a single center support at rides on a rollerblade wheel on the bedslide platform. batteries and controller are in the rear behind the fridge. Overall im pretty happy with this set-up and looking to make continuous tweaks.