Tacoma auxiliary battery charging system/solar inverter

[dwh]

It seems like this requirement very similar to a solar management system already, so a solar panel will be plug and play when I get one.

Not similar. A solar system consists of a PV module (solar panel) and a charge controller to stuff power into the battery. That has nothing to do with also charging the battery from the engine alternator, or a mains powered battery charger - totally separate charging systems.

Also, solar has nothing to do with an inverter unless it's a grid-tied setup - again, it's a separate deal.

You can go ahead and run a mains powered charger off the on-board inverter to charge the battery; The few watts lost to the DC->AC->DC conversion won't matter squat on a dinky little setup.

[EDIT: BUT... if the on-board inverter is Modified Square Wave, some modern chargers MAY not work correctly.]


As for your original question: Odyssey or the Sears Platinum which is a re-branded Odyssey.

But even the best deep cycle batteries are not going to live long if repeatedly drained flat. The Odyssey Tech Manual shows the relationship between DoD (Depth of Discharge) and number of cycles life-span on page 11 (Figure 1):

http://www.odysseybatteries.com/files/US-ODY-TM-001_0411_000.pdf

 

[GGimbert]

1) Get an oddessy or other marine battery and mount it under hood. Its safer there from theft and damage as well as keeping your bed space free.

2) Isolate it from the primary battery when truck is not running via a $32 module which operates on switched power like this http://www.tecknowledgey.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=57_58&products_id=1326 I like it because when the truck is off the batteries are separated with no "smart" technology to separate then at a certain voltage drop. Better safe than sorry.

3) When it comes time to add the solar do not buy some fancy system, get a new but cosmetic blem from some place like sun electric in miami (thy call them modules) here http://www.sunelec.com/ for abaout a dollar a watt and if you keep it to 45 watts or less you can use this as your charge controller - http://batterytender.com/solar/battery-tender-solar-controller.html for another $30

Now go buy some good copper strand wire, high quality connectors, an inline fuse or two (one at the battery isolator, one downstream near your appliances) from the local stereo shop, and a junction block to tie all your down stream feeds together (fridge, dvd, fan, outlet, whatever) and then post some pics.

 

[336wheeler]

Not similar. A solar system consists of a PV module (solar panel) and a charge controller to stuff power into the battery. That has nothing to do with also charging the battery from the engine alternator, or a mains powered battery charger - totally separate charging systems.

Also, solar has nothing to do with an inverter unless it's a grid-tied setup - again, it's a separate deal.
Untrue; how do you think off-grid homes use 110VAC or 220VAC appliances off of a battery bank...

As for batteries... MOST lower buck battery-based PV systems uses AGM deep cycle golf cart batteries (6V, 220 AH). Wire two in series for 12V, or get a 12V floor-scrubber battery. Go to NAPA and check out their battery catalog. I would not recommend >200AH for your application, as your PV module will probably not be big enough to recharge the battery at any fast rate. Also, AGM deep cycle batteries have significantly different life spans at particular depth-of-discharges. For example, a deep cycle battery at 20% D-O-D will probably last about 5,000 cycles. At 80% D-O-D, it will probably last about 1,000 cycles.

I would recommend a sealed AGM deep cycle battery, as there will be no maintenance required to the battery and it will be safer. Magnasine makes some fairly affordable true sine wave inverters, although a decent modified sine wave inverter will power most anything besides some ceiling fans, and 18V power tool batteries don't like to charge off of them either.

A 100 watt PV panel with 5 sun-hours a day will make 0.5 kWhrs that day. A 12V battery @ 200 AH holds 2.4 kWhrs. At 50% D-O-D, you will have used 1.2 kWhrs, and it will still take 2.5 days for your 100 watt PV panel to recharge the 1.2 kWhrs used, if the panel is in full sun.

If you have more in-depth questions about this and you're serious, PM me.

I design renewable energy systems for a living...

 

[dwh]

Also, solar has nothing to do with an inverter unless it's a grid-tied setup - again, it's a separate deal.

Untrue; how do you think off-grid homes use 110VAC or 220VAC appliances off of a battery bank...

I know exactly how they do it. They use an inverter - which is NOT part of the solar battery charging setup.

The PV modules and charge controller put watt*hours IN to the battery.
The inverter draws watt*hours OUT of the battery.
Two separate functions - AND separate equipment.


So, as I said: solar has nothing to do with an inverter unless it's a grid-tied setup.


There are inverter/chargers - but they don't charge the battery from solar...they do it from either grid power or generator power.

 

[Tim A]

Can't find any info on whether the batteries in the Goal Zero packs are replaceable or not. Anyone know? If the batteries are not replaceable, I wouldn't feel good buying one of these.

http://www.goalzero.com/shop/p/19/Extreme-350-Power-Pack/6:2/

On a separate note, how exactly do I calculate my usage (fridge, lights, fan etc.) and use that info to select a battery?

 

[336wheeler]

Estimate the amount of time you intend you use such equipment, and multiply that by the wattage of the equipment. For example, a 200 watt fridge used for 8 hours = (1600 watt-hours) 1.6 kWhrs, 60 watts of lighting used for 3 hours = (180 watt-hours) .18 kWhrs, 30 watt fan used for 3 hours = (90 watt-hours) .09 kWhrs.

Looks like the GoalZero is a 350 watt-hour, 12V 33AH battery. You could build your own system, albeit more expensive, that would sustain electrical loads for much longer.

If you felt up to it, your on board photovoltaic system would mimic what an RV photovoltaic system does. You would need a PV panel (maybe 75-100 watts)( http://www.altestore.com/store/Sola...85B-12BEA-85W-12V-Module/p8887/?from=featured ), Morningstar Sunsaver 10A Charge Controller ( http://www.altestore.com/store/Char...S-10L-12V-10A-PWM-Charge-Controller-LVD/p799/ ), 12V battery @ 200AH (~$150 at NAPA), and a 12V to 110VAC inverter ( http://www.altestore.com/store/Inve...x-PST-600W-12V-Pure-Sine-Wave-Inverter/p1045/ ).

You would probably have about $600 tied up in an on-board PV system, but you would have the ability to recharge your batteries without needing your truck, and you could draw higher wattage loads for longer periods of time from your system. Look at some RV solar electric systems; they're pretty neat. If you have a roof rack or something on your truck, you could mount your panel parallel to the ground. Not exactly optimal for getting "full sun" (southern exposure), but mounting the panel horizontally will allow it to see the sun at all times, no matter what direction you're driving. That's how most RV systems are done.

 

[Tim A]

Thanks for the info 336wheeler! That helped me.

Goal zero said (on the phone) that if their battery in the 350 power pack dies for whatever reason after the 6 month warranty period, you have to send the power pack in to them and they will make a determination whether to warranty or repair at your cost. Unofficially, they have a refurbished unit program coming soon that will be another option if the battery in your current power pack takes a dump.