confused on solar

[B.G.]

I will have a dual battery setup on my truck soon. Im adding a winch, lights, stereo, on board water/air, and a 12 volt power source in the bed. I will be upgrading my alternator this week as well as doing the big 3+ upgrade. I do plan on wiring in a isolator to the between the 1st and 2nd battery.

I have all this issue figured out now this issue I cant figure out is what I need for the solar to keep both the batteries charged while we sit there and camp. Wanna be able to keep phones and other things charged maybe even run a camp projector for a small movie night in the woods. I have young kids so a weekend is kinda pushing it much less a whole week or so.

I plan on optima batteries and all. I just dunno if I need a charge controller and fuse box. I have plans for a inverter, but do I need a certain kind?

Also got to figure the watts I need for the setup!

Thanks yall

 

[workerdrone]

I'm sure others will chime in; solar works awesome as a battery charger but the system has to be planned and installed correctly since you have to maximize the efficiency of a small power input over a long period of time vs something like an alternator/generator that can make a ton of power over a short time.

Similar idea with using the power, something like a 3000 watt blender or microwave is easy to power off solar charged batteries since the use time is very short, but something like AC is extremely difficult since the use time is very long.

Don't know anything about projectors these days - are they LED and a lot more efficient than they used to be with the hot, expensive, high watt lamps?

Also can make a big difference where you are located in terms of how many watts of sun you can reasonably collect.

 

[WOODY2]

I use a CTEK 250S, it will charge the starting battery when the 2nd battery reaches full charge.

 

[Flhtruss]

Hello BG
I think you are getting ahead of yourself on picking the battery you want to use for the second battery. I see you have a list of what you are going to want to have your battery supply power to which leads to how much solar you would need to recharge during the day.
Look on Renogy site they had a form to help size a system. Or better yet call and talk to them about what them recommend. Defiantly a project you want to do right the first time.
I also think there are small companies popping up which offer assistance in solar projects.
Russ

 

[Red90]

You don't need solar for your stated usage. The battery will be fine on its own.

 

[broncobowsher]

Save money and skip the solar. Put that extra money into a bigger (better) house battery.
Solar only works when the sun is shining. The bulk of what I see of your expected loads are at night. Being you are a weekender you won't be parked long enough to use solar. Now if you start using an electric fridge, maybe solar could be benificial. But really a good house battery and if parked all week a battery maintainer while at home (providing it is a short drive between home and camp)