I need a Cheap solar unit for my truck trailer. Any ideas?

[Luckychase5]

Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone had some input on a solar setup to help keep my batteries charged on my trailer at night. My deep cycles usually give me about 3 days without being charged but I want to stop draining them to give me a better battery life on them. These could be just put out during the day and mobile or affixed to my roof. I can fabricate mounts if need be. Thanks for any and all help.

 

[MINO]

I've been pretty happy with my peel and stick Unisolar dual 68 watt (136 total) panels so far.
$ per watt is not nearly as good as a conventional panels and Unisolar is no longer in business.

However, the ease of installation, low profile and able to walk on them on my roof were worth it to me.

I'm using them on my pop-up camper with a 215AH battery. Not sure how long your camper is, but the 144W panels are 18ft long.
You can find them on ebay usually.

I plan to supplement my unisolars with a conventional 100W panel since I'm out of roof space.

 

[Luckychase5]

Sounds like a cool solution, my trailer is 18 ft. My wife and I are rock climbers and often are in very remote locations and would love a way to keep our stuff charged with out running our truck all the time.

 

[HenryJ]

Great price on these right now: 100 Watt Foldable 12 Volt Solar Panel

We had been using a 40w folding panel and that is enough to have us fully charged by 10am or so usually. Adding another accessory we moved up to the 100w panel. Well that and the price was hard to beat.
This set comes in a nice bag.
EDIT: Our load now is 12V fridge, furnace, water pump, CO detector, LED lighting, charging small electronics and sometimes a radio. The 12v fridge was the added accessory and the reason I bumped up to the 100w panel. Here is our trailer: BLT Offroad Evolution E1

 

[MINO]

Sounds like a cool solution, my trailer is 18 ft. My wife and I are rock climbers and often are in very remote locations and would love a way to keep our stuff charged with out running our truck all the time.

With what I've learned, the trailer plug puts out 12.7 or so volts - not enough to charge my AGM - requires at least 14.5v to get a full charge. I found it's really a joke in my application.
Solar definitely top's off the batteries. Unlike HenryJ, 40w won't get me topped off since we use a lot of juice, especially in winter: laptop, fridge, bunk warmer, phone chargers, cell booster. Voltage has dropped to 12.0 on heavier use, winter nights.

 

[Luckychase5]

This won't be too heavy of a load. We use the cooking fan, and lights a lot, and the water pump, heater fan, and the small roof fans. We have an inverter in the truck to charge our laptop, phone, and cameras. Just looking to really use this as a trickle charger to keep my deep cycle from bottoming out all the time.

 

[crismateski]

I got a 125 watt panel with charger controller and wire harness for 157.50 with free shipping off of ebay from a seller called ULSolar http://www.ebay.com/usr/ulsolar Been on the truck for about 6 months and have not had any issues. This is the kit I got http://www.ul-solar.com/UL_Solar_RV_Solar_Power_Kit_125_Watt_12_Volt_p/stp125p-rv.htm but when i got it it had a different controller with it

 

[Luckychase5]

I can't find that kit, could you help me out with a link please

 

[crismateski]

I dont see the exact kit I got on on the auction right now, but everything they have for sale is at http://www.ebay.com/sch/ulsolar/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=

looks like they have a 100 watt kit with the controller I just upgraded to today which will charge dual batteries, cables, mounts, and remote display for $229 http://www.ebay.com/itm/RV-Solar-Pa...580?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd592f074

or you can piece together a kit 120w panel $108 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Solar-Panel...arm-Traffic-/261369697138?hash=item3cdad91372

20ft cables $9

20a controller $12.13 (different seller)http://www.ebay.com/itm/20A-MPPT-So...375?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20d2b67cf7

all with free shipping totals about $129

 

[Luckychase5]

So to hook the panel up to my battery all I will need is cable and a controller?

 

[Luckychase5]

Great price on these right now: 100 Watt Foldable 12 Volt Solar Panel

We had been using a 40w folding panel and that is enough to have us fully charged by 10am or so usually. Adding another accessory we moved up to the 100w panel. Well that and the price was hard to beat.
This set comes in a nice bag.
EDIT: Our load now is 12V fridge, furnace, water pump, CO detector, LED lighting, charging small electronics and sometimes a radio. The 12v fridge was the added accessory and the reason I bumped up to the 100w panel. Here is our trailer: BLT Offroad Evolution E1

Will I just need a controller and cable to hook it up to my battery, or does this come with everything I need? Thanks for all the help, total newbie to all this solar stuff

 

[HenryJ]

Will I just need a controller and cable to hook it up to my battery, or does this come with everything I need? Thanks for all the help, total newbie to all this solar stuff

Everything you need is there! The controller is on the back frame. It has two cables. One with clamps and one to plug into a power port. Those use the quick connectors seen in the photo below. Cables are nice and heavy. Those and room for more fit into the pocket on the padded nylon panel case.
I added a triple power port to the back of mine.

You can see it on the right in that photo. That makes it easy for me to charge up my power pack, accessories, or add my other panels to the mix.
I like that you can toss it out anywhere. Chase the sun a little to maximize the benefit. I usually move mine twice in the day if I am around camp. Morning sun. Then set up for high noon. Lastly evening sun.
The suit case panels are very convenient. I added a female power port that hangs from my battery box. Quick easy plug for the panel.

 

[mep1811]

I use a toad charger to keep the battery topped off when the trailer is connected to the truck. Also good to top off in camp when the solar is not working.

http://www.rvpowersupply.com/toadcharge.htm

For Solar I use a 60 watt Power film . It is very compact and easy to move to follow the sun.

http://www.amazon.com/PowerFilm-F16-3600-Foldable-Solar-Charger/dp/B007VRZFUK/ref=sr_1_23?m=A1VOUFSIGRIGBC&s=merchant-items&ie=UTF8&qid=1389583272&sr=1-23

 

[Luckychase5]

I think I'm going with that setup for sure Henry, looks like a great deal

 

[crismateski]

So to hook the panel up to my battery all I will need is cable and a controller?

Pretty much, you have two wires from the panel to the controller and 2 wires from the controller to the battery. I would recommend some inline fuses, but a basic solar setup is pretty simple