Goal zero, or other comparable systems

[Skinny]

I had the same thoughts when I read your thread and have been working on one for awhile. It takes a bit of time figuring out the bits and pieces assembled.

DIY Power Box like a home made Goal Zero Yeti

So I've been working on some side projects and one of them is a home made power box like an off the shelf Goal Zero but at a fraction of the price. This isn't a kit that I will be offering, just wanted to build one for work and personal use. I can't justify spending $500 to a grand on something...

www.expeditionportal.com

 

[67cj5]

This is the best thread on ExPortal for me.
My big question is power supply. I am leaning to something like the SUOAKI G500. But it looks like it might not have enough power or connections to work. I'm going to work on my "needs" and follow this thread.

I know for cooking, coffee I'll use propane so no microwave, toaster or.... ??

These are my needs. I'll add specs to the list as I continue to research.

Refrigeration is number 1, a Dometic CRX 80
Lighting, a total of 10 LED hardwired lights. 2 bedside, 2 storage, 2 outside, 4 kitchen
Charging, my cell, an ipad, a MacBookAir, camera batteries, one by USB, one off 120v, a headlamp??

Not all lights would be on together. Charging can be rotating. But I love the convenience of everything always plugged in, hooked up, ready for use. Just like at home. So I can focus on the outdoor overlanding experience, not the geeky tasks of playing with gadgets.... which I hate.

I have easy space to add 2) 160watt solar panels to the roof of the OSB BOX. And weight is not an issue. Steady, reliable power supply is the over riding goal. I'd like to keep the vehicle electrics completely separate from the trailer/camping needs.

I think job 1 is to add up all those power draws. Hopefully 320watts of solar permanently on the roof will keep things running forever, Net Zero the goal. The easy part is finding batteries, maybe golf cart batteries?? or Lithium Ion?? The hard part for me is finding the power distribution/control components.

I should maybe start a new thread? yes?

I haven't had a chance to test my big fridge yet, But as for your CFX 80 It might be ok running on that power pack but you need you test your fridge because around 75 to 85*f it might be ok but if you are running it up in the mid 90's + it might use a lot more power Add a single 100w solar panel and that would supply more than enough power to keep the fridge happy, But if you are going to run 2x 160w panels then that will have heaps of power during the day so the only real power usage will be during the dark hours but the battery should be easily charged within a couple of hours if you are going 320w in to it,

 

[billiebob]

thanks, I was pretty sure about buying batteries and solar. It is the stuff in between I have net zero understanding of.

 

[gpxl]

Sounds about right for anything what bears the Yeti name.
Said that, there is something to be said for easy plug-n-play appliances if jobclock, liability or indifference requires it.

Yeti and Goal Zero are different companies! Yeti just coincidentally happens to be th product name of the Goal Zero generator.

 

[gpxl]

Which fridge are you running? Temps?

Dometic CFX 50 at 32 degrees

 

[ArtfulDodger]

Refrigeration is number 1, a Dometic CRX 80

From the Dometic website, the CRX 80 could draw up to 570 Watt-hours in a 24 hour period if the ambient temperature is 32C (90F). They are a reputable manufacturer, so they may have padded that number some, but it's hard to tell. Also, that number varies with ambient temperature and whether your refrigerator is empty or full. It is probably a good upper bound on energy usage.

If it were me, I would budget about 1 to 2 days of cooling ability for every 500 Watt-hours of battery, regardless of the technology. 500 Watt-hours is what the G500 provides when fully charged.

I think the laptop is the next most significant power consumer on your list. I believe the MacBook Air's internal batteries hold about 40 or 50 Watt-hours, so if you weren't running the Dometic, you could fully recharge it from a near dead state 10 or 11 times with the G500.

Another way to look at it is that the G500 will power your fridge for somewhere between 24 and 48 hours, and each time you charge your laptop from zero to full, you will shorten the total fridge run time somewhere between 2 to 4 hours.

Unless the led lights are really bright, I think the other items on your list are pretty small in comparison and are probably down in the noise.

I hope this helps.

 

[ArtfulDodger]

Hopefully 320watts of solar permanently on the roof will keep things running forever

Given the numbers I noted above, I suspect this is the case. The G500 might be about tapped out if you get a couple or three rainy days in a row. Of course, rainy days would likely come with some lower temps, so the fridge won't have to run as hard.

 

[67cj5]

I am running my ARB 47L / 50Qt from a 115Ah DC FLA battery and after 18 hours I still got 12.665v which means It is using 7.15w per hour at the moment and it is using 0.580Ah but at the end of each cycle those numbers keep getting lower and lower and the Temp is set at 3*c, but depending on how it is loaded it will use as little as 0.398Ah to 0.404Ah.

 

[john61ct]

please pay attention to units.

Watts and amps are instantanteous flow rates, can constantly vary.

Only use Ah or Wh "per 24 hours" or over whatever period of time.

And voltage does not give SoC accurately enough.

An Ah counter is not expensive.

 

[luthj]

A decent quality 50AH battery, modest charge controller, and a few misc wiring bits would do the trick for many. At least if you need to run a small fridge in sunny locations. 320W of flat mounted panels should do that in all but winter conditions (low sun angle). It would also be pretty cheap to make, and easy to upgrade/modify to suit your needs. A sub 200AH lead (or 100AH lithium) won't take full advantage of long summer charging/harvest with a 300W panel. But that isn't a big deal with low consumption from a few lights, phone charging, and a sub 50L fridge.

 

[67cj5]

please pay attention to units.

Watts and amps are instantanteous flow rates, can constantly vary.

Only use Ah or Wh "per 24 hours" or over whatever period of time.

And voltage does not give SoC accurately enough.

An Ah counter is not expensive.

I have a kickass type meter hooked up to my battery 24/7/365 that records watts peak, Amps peak, Volts minimum, Ah used, Wh Used and the Voltage and the Amps Live/while in use, etc and as a back up I have the top of the line Fluke DMM hooked up as well.

 

[67cj5]

A decent quality 50AH battery, modest charge controller, and a few misc wiring bits would do the trick for many. At least if you need to run a small fridge in sunny locations. 320W of flat mounted panels should do that in all but winter conditions (low sun angle). It would also be pretty cheap to make, and easy to upgrade/modify to suit your needs. A sub 200AH lead (or 100AH lithium) won't take full advantage of long summer charging/harvest with a 300W panel. But that isn't a big deal with low consumption from a few lights, phone charging, and a sub 50L fridge.

Why won't 300w of panels charge it, each 160w panel can put out 112 Ah per day in the height of summer and in the worst winter condition they put out 8Ah per day Each, So that's 224Ah in summer and 16Ah in winter, So on an average day they should be able to keep up with that battery even more so being lithium because of their willingness to except charging better than any other type of battery.

 

[Grassland]

What Type of lights are you using ? Do you have a TV in there? My lights use a total of 7.3 watts My Portable TV uses between 6.6 to 8.3 Watts, If your lights are only lasting 1.5 hours then either your battery is on it's way out or you have a parasitic Drain somewhere ?

If you need to upgrade your battery bank and have a good system Just buy some good quality AGM Batteries with enough AH to last 3-4 or 5 days, I personally have 3 X 115Ah FLA Deep Cycle batteries, That gives me 4140 Wh add a couple of solar panels they would last for ever,

I have four lights that are used in the camper. Two typical RV style ceiling fixtures that I converted the dual 194 baae bulbs to radially mounted LED arrays, a cylindrical LED bulb that replaced the exterior porch light maybe a 917 base I forget), and a small 194 base style LED bulb in the fan/light that we can plug in at the bed end.

When I say lights about 1.5 hours of use per day that's not how long they last, that's how much use they get. The roof vent fan use varies based on weather, same with the fan/light fan.

After about 5 days the battery will be about 11.5 volts if not charged up. So my concern is there is a parasitic draw somewhere, and that it's the hardwired propane detector that is drawing power so long as there is a battery hooked up.

Again, the cheapo Coleman 90w panel and charge controller can mostly deal with the camper battery for now, and the next camper will have dual batteries and solar, and that system will have thought put into it beforehand. New camper isn't in the budget for another year or two, unless Canadian dollar gets near par to USD (not holding my breath) but even then just lights, fan, fridge. No TVs no microwaves no coffee machines.

What I'm looking for now is a portable solutions to charging cell phones (wife has iPhone 8, I have OnePlus 5) an iPad, and maybe the Kobo. Ideally I'd like to be able to recharge this thing in the field with solar, but 3-4 day trips I guess not being able to do that isn't a big deal.

Will have to do some math I guess and figure out all the loads to see how many AH would work and then look at doing a FLA battery DIY job if the battery will be light enough.

Lots of useful information here, and basically I have to read more and figure out more things before I can decide but sounds like off the shelf stuff has premium price tag, and may not be best for large loads

 

[67cj5]

I have four lights that are used in the camper. Two typical RV style ceiling fixtures that I converted the dual 194 baae bulbs to radially mounted LED arrays, a cylindrical LED bulb that replaced the exterior porch light maybe a 917 base I forget), and a small 194 base style LED bulb in the fan/light that we can plug in at the bed end.

When I say lights about 1.5 hours of use per day that's not how long they last, that's how much use they get. The roof vent fan use varies based on weather, same with the fan/light fan.

After about 5 days the battery will be about 11.5 volts if not charged up. So my concern is there is a parasitic draw somewhere, and that it's the hardwired propane detector that is drawing power so long as there is a battery hooked up.

Again, the cheapo Coleman 90w panel and charge controller can mostly deal with the camper battery for now, and the next camper will have dual batteries and solar, and that system will have thought put into it beforehand. New camper isn't in the budget for another year or two, unless Canadian dollar gets near par to USD (not holding my breath) but even then just lights, fan, fridge. No TVs no microwaves no coffee machines.

What I'm looking for now is a portable solutions to charging cell phones (wife has iPhone 8, I have OnePlus 5) an iPad, and maybe the Kobo. Ideally I'd like to be able to recharge this thing in the field with solar, but 3-4 day trips I guess not being able to do that isn't a big deal.

Will have to do some math I guess and figure out all the loads to see how many AH would work and then look at doing a FLA battery DIY job if the battery will be light enough.

Lots of useful information here, and basically I have to read more and figure out more things before I can decide but sounds like off the shelf stuff has premium price tag, and may not be best for large loads

Are you running a 12v Cooler of a 12v Fridge ?, Reason I ask is because I have been running my 12v fridge non stop for 41 hours now with no charge going in to it and I still have a few days to go before I hit the 30% limit recommended by the battery company, You have some thing going on there that is eating your battery because running LED lights for 1.5 hours a day for 5 days should only scratch the surface with your battery, Either that or your battery is dying.

 

[Grassland]

Are you running a 12v Cooler of a 12v Fridge ?, Reason I ask is because I have been running my 12v fridge non stop for 41 hours now with no charge going in to it and I still have a few days to go before I hit the 30% limit recommended by the battery company, You have some thing going on there that is eating your battery because running LED lights for 1.5 hours a day for 5 days should only scratch the surface with your battery, Either that or your battery is dying.

All of the loads are mentioned. No fridge or cooler.
Battery is two years old. Interstate group 24.
140 RC and I think was 660 CCA. Stored indoors during winter. Never been recharged with anything faster/larger than 2amp. Usually recharged by the converter, and the trailer is left plugged into shore power when at home during the summer.