Portable Solar Generator Build in Progress. Few questions though.

[vartz04]

Alright so because of the frequent power outages at home, and my desire to go camp more as my boys get older and possibly do some expeditions, as well as just curiosity and my love to tinker I decided to build a small goal zero type of solar generator. Here are some specs on it (ill take some photos when i get home from work)

• 
  Pelican 1450 case houses everything but the inverter and solar panel.

• 300 Watt Powerbright Pure Sine Wave Inverter

• Battery Tender 35 AH LIFPO4 Battery

• Battery Tender 4 Amp Lithium compatible battery charger

• 3 Place marine Power Outlet set up (2- 12V and 1 port with 2 USB Ports) Typical Amazon deal.

• 2 Place Marine Power Outlet Setup (1- 12V and 1 Volt Meter) for solar input

• AC marine Power Inlet

• Through Panel Battery Terminals for connecting inverter or other high draw devices

• 10 place fuse block

• 10 Amp Solar Charge Controller

• 50 Watt Moohoo Solar Panel

So my questions are this:
1 - Chaining additional batteries. I have a 12v Deep cycle that i just leave on the trickle charger. I have a 1000 Watt Cheepo inverter and leave this by the sump pump if we have a shorter term power outage at home. I would like to be able to utilize this battery in addition to the one in the case. Can i just connect this to the same place i would hook up the power inverter (pending both batteries are charged?) will it cause issues with the different battery sizes/types? any special fusing/diodes ect needed? I would like to make up the cables before this actually becomes a need.

2 - Car charging. Right now my solar panel connects with a standard 12V cig lighter port/plug. Can i just make a double Male Ended cig lighter plug and plug this thing into my car the same way to charge? it would then use the solar controller to regulate the charging right? I would have to fuse it at the less than 10 amps so i don't blow the controller but otherwise should work right? if not do they sell a 12v to 12v charge controller that I can install?

 

[vartz04]

Finally took some photos. I still need to clean up and bundle the wiring so it looks a little more "pretty" but it's all good to go

 

[john61ct]

Nice work

 

[vartz04]

Thanks. It works pretty good. Solar controller says 2.6 or so amps coming in on a charge so depending on temps it'll run my Della freezer indefinitely I am sure I could get a few more amps out of it once I clean up the cord for the solar panel and switch from a cig lighter connection to Anderson power pole connection.

Anyone have any ideas on the D.C. Charging? Can I plug a cig lighter into my car and into the same input as the solar panel and run the D.C. Charge through there?

 

[NevadaLover]

Anyone have any ideas on the D.C. Charging? Can I plug a cig lighter into my car and into the same input as the solar panel and run the D.C. Charge through there?

Hook the wires from the cigarette lighter plug in the car to the twist knobs, they are direct to the battery so there are no worries about too many amps.

 

[vartz04]

Hook the wires from the cigarette lighter plug in the car to the twist knobs, they are direct to the battery so there are no worries about too many amps.

Yeah I'll probably just make up a little cable for that. Thanks

 

[john61ct]

Use Anderson connection and direct good gauge wiring for charging purposes.

 

[Little Foot]

That's a pretty cool setup. Really simple and fairly compact.


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[Ozarker]

Very nice and neat, I'm thinking of something similar, but I'm using an old cooler box with latches on the top.

 

[vartz04]

Yeah one of those engel dry boxes would be a good set up for this too. Cheaper than the pelican case waterproof and almost as heavy duty.

 

[john61ct]

Hardigg and Pelicans can be bought on eBay for very little.

 

[Ozarker]

Hardigg and Pelicans can be bought on eBay for very little.

Not as cheap as a used Coleman for $3.00 at a garage sale, $4.00 for locking hasps, rubber weather around the top glued on, $5.00 and you're done.

I float old coolers with beverage down the river, lock the lids down and they are water tight, just don't lose the drain plug or plug it up. They can take a beating too

 

[DLTooley]

I like your set up very much. If I read the specs correctly it is not a 35ah battery, but a 26-35ah 'lead battery equivalent', with 95 watt hours. 95/12 = 8 ah - no word if that is 80% net or gross.

 

[vartz04]

I like your set up very much. If I read the specs correctly it is not a 35ah battery, but a 26-35ah 'lead battery equivalent', with 95 watt hours. 95/12 = 8 ah - no word if that is 80% net or gross.

Well crap. Not only do I feel dumb but also angry. $200 for a tiny little battery of about 1/4 the capacity I thought.

Can't return it either. And the 8 AH isn't going to cut it for my needs. I guess my kayak is getting a really fancy fish finder battery.

 

[john61ct]

Always best to clarify components here before pulling the trigger.

A 12V "drop-in" LFP cell (internal BMS) usually goes for proportional to $500-700 per 100AH.

Don't ever use a drop-in as the only load dump off an alternator.

Any lead chemistry batt like SLA or AGM, if you can carry it around comfortably, it won't have much capacity or longevity.

2-3 20AH in parallel might be a good compromise if you can't carry a 100AH around.

If you can, then the Battle Born for LFP or Firefly Oasis for lead are a good foundation.

OT I know, but both slot right in to an ArkPak 730