Goal Zero Nomad 13.5 Vehicle Battery Charging Setup

[tdesanto]

... would encourage you to spend the money on a decent 60 to 90 watt panel and charge controller.

I couldn't agree with Luis more on this. This is the way to go for your scenario.

 

[GZ_walker]

GZ engineer available

I'm an engineer at Goal Zero. We have been experiencing a problem with some Guide 10s. The protection circuitry, which allows you to put cells of varying charge in at once, which is a unique feature to this product, can in rare cases prematurely engage, causing extra heat which can melt the plastic enclosure. Any units with this problem will be promptly replaced. We are committed to our products, and strive to provide very responsive customer service. Feel free to also contact me directly, especially if you have any technical questions. And please keep posting about your experiences. We're here to make sure you have a great experience.

 

[expdtnoffroad]

I couldn't agree with Luis more on this. This is the way to go for your scenario.

Another option would be to daisy chain 4 Boulder 30 or Escape 30 panels together and then run that to a controller. There are a number of variables including battery type, sun light, etc. but you could potentially charge a 12 volt battery in a day to a day and a half with this set up.

 

[expdtnoffroad]

I'm an engineer at Goal Zero. We have been experiencing a problem with some Guide 10s. The protection circuitry, which allows you to put cells of varying charge in at once, which is a unique feature to this product, can in rare cases prematurely engage, causing extra heat which can melt the plastic enclosure. Any units with this problem will be promptly replaced. We are committed to our products, and strive to provide very responsive customer service. Feel free to also contact me directly, especially if you have any technical questions. And please keep posting about your experiences. We're here to make sure you have a great experience.

Walker- Glad to see you here on ExPo

 

[tdesanto]

I am interested in using a Goal Zero 13.5 solar panel to keep my Optima Yellow Top secondary batt topped off when stopped at camp. I would like to still use my Battery Tender charger but am open to suggestions on how to set this up.

For a really compact setup, have you considered the Powerfilm foldable panels like these at AT?

They're very rugged and provide a lot of power for their tiny footprint.

 

[GeoRoss]

GeoRoss I would love to hear more about your experience with the Sherpa 50.

I will be happy to. I do think I will be able to get 4+ hours of MacBook Air use out of a the Sherpa 50 once I can directly power the laptop without the inverter and tweak some of the energy saving features. My computer usage will be downloading GPS data, pictures and digitizing field notes. I have some other stuff like aerial photos and the like that I will have to refer to and those uses will be power hungry. I need to see how hard it is cache those photos for use in google earth as I won't have Internet. I may have to dual boot and use PC software for that.

I really like the inverter. It is silent and doesn't really even get warm while powering the laptop. I have noticed that the universal plug-in bows out the prongs to my power supply. I'll get a sacrificial plug adapter to deal with that.

I'm eager to test the 13.5M panels. If it can recharge the battery pack fully most days I'll be happy. Lots of sunshine at high elevation will help I'm sure. I have a 42 day field season planned so I should have plenty of time to become acquainted with this product.

I should have contacted Goal0 to see if they need anything tested. :lol:

 

[Fireman78]

A couple of these.. http://www.goalzero.com/shop/p/18/Light-a-Life/4:4
attached to an Escape 150 makes for a really nice camp lighting set up.

 

[Martyn]

AT sells the foldable solar panels. Never had any issues with them, very reliable. I like the fact that they are individual components, in the event of an issue you can isolate the problem and replace just one part. So far we have never had an issue.

Great low light power, packs away small enough to put in a day pack, the 60 W panel is powerful enough to run a fridge all day.

I'd be happy to work with anyone interested in doing a power consumption work sheet so we can work out what your needs are and how we can address them. Once we know what your needs are we can recommend either running off your existing battery, adding a second battery, or going with solar.

Unfortunately solar is the most expensive option, and should to be justified by your requirements. For expedition vehicles the pros of a second battery that can be used as a starter battery also need to be balanced in the equation.

Lots to think about.

 

[Ash]

I'm hoping to get to 120w for my needs. Unfortunately, this equates to $1800 of Powerfilm, or I could do it much cheaper with 4 Goal Zero foldable 27W panels, which would come to around $1000.
I would rather have only two panels to worry about, instead of four, but Goal Zero don't offer anything larger than 27W foldable.

EEzi-Awn need to make a rain fly out of solar panels... :sombrero:

 

[lostworldexpedition]

EEzi-Awn need to make a rain fly out of solar panels... :sombrero:

Now, that would be awesome :exclaim:

Or an awning that uses flexible panels... Maybe some day the cost for flexi panels will come down...

 

[expdtnoffroad]

I spent some time this afternoon talking with Walker who is one of the lead development engineers over at Goal Zero. We had a great conversation and discussed the needs of the typical overlander. After the meeting Goal Zero decided to that they will be stocking and selling an off the shelf 10 Amp charge controller, with Goal Zero jacks pre-installed, for $49.99. Goal Zero will be making this product implementation immediately. We will also be stocking these charge controllers as well. This is fantastic news as you will now be able to have a true plug and play option for the spectrum of Goal Zero panels available with the purpose of charging an automotive 12 volt battery. You could potentially combine 4 of the Boulder 30 panels and the charge controller for $1250. This would give you an on hand 120 watt plug and play system. If you need less power just go with a few less panels.

Not to let the cat entirely out of the bag but I do think that Goal Zero would be open to a flexible / packable panel that is larger than the Nomad 27. I would really like to hear feedback on this if the community hear on ExPo would be interested in a bigger flexible unit? Don't get me wrong the rigid panels are great. If you were in a short wheelbase vehicle where space was an issue a packable panel would be nice.

The photo below is sort of a spy shot of a couple bigger panels that Goal Zero is working on. The one on the left is a 90 watt panel.


The picture below gives you an idea of the of what the charge controller will be. You can see the two Goal Zero plug adapters in my hand. These plugs accommodate the Nomad and Boulder series panels.


If you need Goal Zero product or have solar questions let me know. Starting next month (May) we will be offering free shipping to the lower 48 on most Goal Zero products. On the heavier items like the 350 Power Packs we will have a very attractive flat rate.

-Jim

Expedition Offroad
801-810-7632

 

[expdtnoffroad]

EEzi-Awn need to make a rain fly out of solar panels... :sombrero:

Now, that would be awesome :exclaim:

Or an awning that uses flexible panels... Maybe some day the cost for flexi panels will come down...

I'll talk with with Goal Zero and see what we can come up with. I have been planning to do a vehicle awning for a while now. It looks like it's time to make something happen. :sombrero:

 

[Salue]

I spent some time this afternoon talking with Walker who is one of the lead development engineers over at Goal Zero. We had a great conversation and discussed the needs of the typical overlander. After the meeting Goal Zero decided to that they will be stocking and selling an off the shelf 10 Amp charge controller, with Goal Zero jacks pre-installed, for $49.99. Goal Zero will be making this product implementation immediately. We will also be stocking these charge controllers as well. This is fantastic news as you will now be able to have a true plug and play option for the spectrum of Goal Zero panels available with the purpose of charging an automotive 12 volt battery.

Not to let the cat entirely out of the bag but I do think that Goal Zero would be open to a flexible / packable panel that is larger than the Nomad 27. I would really like to hear feedback on this if the community hear on ExPo would be interested in a bigger flexible unit?

Fantastic news Jim! I would also be interested in hearing about the possibility of a larger packable panel maybe in the 60-90 watt range.

Cheers,
Salue

 

[cactusjk]

Does Goal Zero offer any bags and methods to prop up the Boulder 30 panels? Will you offer the 20% off in May?

I spent some time this afternoon talking with Walker who is one of the lead development engineers over at Goal Zero. We had a great conversation and discussed the needs of the typical overlander. After the meeting Goal Zero decided to that they will be stocking and selling an off the shelf 10 Amp charge controller, with Goal Zero jacks pre-installed, for $49.99. Goal Zero will be making this product implementation immediately. We will also be stocking these charge controllers as well. This is fantastic news as you will now be able to have a true plug and play option for the spectrum of Goal Zero panels available with the purpose of charging an automotive 12 volt battery. You could potentially combine 4 of the Boulder 30 panels and the charge controller for $1250. This would give you an on hand 120 watt plug and play system. If you need less power just go with a few less panels.

Not to let the cat entirely out of the bag but I do think that Goal Zero would be open to a flexible / packable panel that is larger than the Nomad 27. I would really like to hear feedback on this if the community hear on ExPo would be interested in a bigger flexible unit? Don't get me wrong the rigid panels are great. If you were in a short wheelbase vehicle where space was an issue a packable panel would be nice.

The photo below is sort of a spy shot of a couple bigger panels that Goal Zero is working on. The one on the left is a 90 watt panel.
View attachment 56199

The picture below gives you an idea of the of what the charge controller will be. You can see the two Goal Zero plug adapters in my hand. These plugs accommodate the Nomad and Boulder series panels.
View attachment 56200

If you need Goal Zero product or have solar questions let me know. Starting next month (May) we will be offering free shipping to the lower 48 on most Goal Zero products. On the heavier items like the 350 Power Packs we will have a very attractive flat rate.

-Jim

Expedition Offroad
801-810-7632

 

[expdtnoffroad]

CactusJK, Goal Zero will be coming out with protective cases for a variety of their products later this year. They also have a very cool tripod for the Boulder 30 panels. We should have pricing and availability on the tripod soon. I have attached a crappy cell phone pic of the tripod below. As far as our pricing goes we are currently working on our pricing structure to become much more competitive than we are currently. The other thing that we will be offering is unique package deals oriented for the overland community. We will update the community as the packages become available. I will post up more pictures of the tripod and other accessories when I get back from the desert this weekend. Please let me know if you have any additional questions or feedback. I will continue to speak with Goal Zero about future product development. Feedback from the community is helpful and seriously considered.