New Power Build | Mission: 3 weeks off grid remote work | Input? Specifically - solar panel mounting solutions?

[clintium]

The goal of this build is to support three weeks off grid providing remote work and living for me. I won't be doing that all the time but that's the extreme case I'm planning for.

All of my components are in, except for the camper shell! So I'm still waiting. I ordered some adhesive spoiler things to easily mount the solar in a pinch. But I'd like to find a better solution to take advantage of the roof rails on my camper shell (alu-cabin, accept M8 carriage bolts per post #982 on this thread).

Something mechanically mounted seems way superior to the adhesive approach I'm currently prepared for. If nothing else, I'm sure I'll want to reposition the panels with time.

Components:

Charge Controller and Battery Management - REDARC Manager30

Power Box - I haven't exactly sorted this out yet. The idea is that I'll build a wooden 'bench' to hold everything. That way I can pull it out and lug it around for convenience and storage if it won't be in use in the truck for an extended duration. I'm thinking I'll include some USB outlets and 120VAC NEMA outlets on the side as well. Possibly a little CPU fan to keep air flowing, but I'd wager that's overkill.

Battery - 12v 100Ah LiFePO4 from Battle Born (x1)

Solar Panel - 200W panel from redarc (x1)

Solar Panel Mounting - these little adhesive spoiler things from redarc. I found this thread looking for a better solution. I really want to mount via the roof rails. Any advice? Per post #982 on this thread the roof rails readily accept M8 carriage bolts. But what is the actual mounting hardware to hold the panel in place? The M8 bolts have to attach to something, right? Or should I keep it easy and use the adhesive spoilers?

Inverter - Renogy 1000W 12V Pure Sine Wave Inverter with Power Saving Mode (New Edition)

Fridge - ARB 63Q 12V Portable Fridge Freezer

Other Stuff - The redarc manager30 and ARB fridge came as part of this kit from redarc.
60A Fuse Kit
2x Fuse to Battery Cables
ARB Fridge Wiring Kit
ARB Fridge Tiedown Kit

 

[tacomabill]

Is solar the only way you have to charge the lifepo4 battery?

 

[clintium]

Is solar the only way you have to charge the lifepo4 battery?

Nope I'll have shore power and alternator charging.

 

[clintium]

Little update on my plan:

• Create a 'portable' battery pack like is shown here.
• Have quick connects to truck infrastructure
  • Inputs: solar charging, shore power, alternator charging,
  • house power (right now this is just the lights and water pump)
• 'Permanently' install a lockable utility box or junction box for all the truck infrastructure (something like this).
  • 'permanent' home of my charge controller. I really want surface mounted receptacles on the outside of the utility box so I could plug in my whip/cord to the junction box and bring the other end over to a quick connect at my power bank. I still have to figure out exactly how my charge controller works so this whole thing may not work like I'm imagining. I don't want to have 10 different wires running back and forth, so I may end up needing to bring my charge controller into my power bank. If so, I'll get a much smaller utility box which is basically just the quick connects mentioned above.
  • Alternator charging - I'll be running 4awg from the alternator (honestly embarrassed to admit I'm not sure if this connection happens at the bus bar on my battery or if it happens somewhere on the output of the alternator). I want it to terminate to this junction box in some sort of receptacle. Then have wires going from that outlet over to my charge controller. Worst case it's just hardwired to the charge controller.
  • Solar charging - the alu-cabin is already internally routed for solar, but I'm not sure where it comes into the cabin. Based on all the install videos it seems like it's always installed at the rear drivers side, so maybe there. I'm envisioning my utility box being on the driver side near the front of the bed. Either way, same as above for alternator.
  • Shore power - I think I'll make a little whip that actually coils up/hangs/mounts in the space between the bed sides and the truck bed. So I could plug into shore power via an extension cord while everything else stays locked up.
  • Power supply for house loads (this takes power back from my battery bank and distributes to any infrastructure related loads like pump, lights, etc.
    • stributes to any infrastructure related loads like pump, lights, etc.
• Where do I mount the digital display for the redarc manager30? Maybe surface mount it either to my power bank? Or in my utility box? It has a lot of control features so I should probably place it somewhere out in the open. I like where tiny rig puts their controllers at the drivers side rear panel beside the door. I'll probably leave it stowed away and use the bluetooth features until I feel really confident with my layout.
• I'm thinking I should put in breaker switches for each input to the utility box. Not sure if I have my terminology correct, but what I want to do is be able to throw the breaker to either solar, shore, or alternator to "OFF" if I've removed any of those components, as well as to turn them all off when I remove the battery bank. Do I need to provide fuses as well before the breakers? In my understanding the breakers can have integrated fuses. Based on advice in this thread all this stuff will have fuses at each end.

Lastly, on the solar panel mounting, I keep thinking of this idea and I'm not sure it makes sense. I want to mount the solar panel with one of these lift top coffee table mechanisms. Of course those *want* to lift so I'd need to secure it during normal operation. It's probably more trouble than it's worth. But the idea is it could help me get a little more range of motion for better sun 'tracking'. In it's base form it just lets me move it really in one dimension relative to the sun (either forward or backwards) and it's not by much (~13.5 inches in the attached product). With some tinkering it *could* let me rotate the whole panel around the short axis of the truck such that I could aim the panel almost directly backwards. If I mounted the panel to the lift top mechanism with pinned arms such that I could detach the rear end of the arm and swing the now loose end of the arm toward the front of the truck and bolt/connect there, well I would have effectively lifted the front side of the panel and pointed the solar face of the panel toward the back of the truck. I don't have access to a fab shop right now so probably not feasible. But it's a fun concept to daydream about. Also... could I get a degree of freedom in the other direction? It's not impossible! Haha.

Taking the solar panel mounting discussion a totally opposite direction, is anyone aware of a 'quick disconnect' type of approach where I could just pull the whole thing down and go put it in the sun somewhere? I mean it's very doable if I'm willing to get up there with a drill or socket wrench. Curious on different approaches. Existing products?

Theft - any solution that lets me easily remove the panels also makes theft a lot more likely. I live in a city so I'm thinking I'd like to be able to take it inside to store when I know it's not going to be used for a while. Other anti-theft considerations - create a roof-rack type of thing that mostly conceals the solar panel from below.

 

[Wallygator]

You have many options for the solar mounting. Those Redarc mounting things are crazy money. (seems everything Redarc is?) You could also get a foldable panel, keep it locked up in the truck, and just pull it out when you are parked.

On my last vehicle I bolted the panel to a roof rack. Now I have a truck cap and I'm going to use 3M tape with eternabond tape over it like this guy in this video did. I think he is up to 3 or 4 years now and no issues. I even bought the 3M tape primer (he did not use it) so hopefully this works well because I do not want to drill holes in the top. Hope this helps.

 

[4000lbsOfGoat]

If you are going to be depending on them for long periods then I would highly recommend going with portable solar panels, not hard-mounted. Especially since you only have a single 100Ah battery you are going to need to get good, direct sun on most days. I've gone close to 4 weeks without ever plugging my camper into shore power but I am diligent to keep the solar panels optimally facing the sun as the day goes by.

It's also hugely beneficial to be able to keep your rig in the shade while the panels can be kept in the sun.

 

[clintium]

If you are going to be depending on them for long periods then I would highly recommend going with portable solar panels, not hard-mounted. Especially since you only have a single 100Ah battery you are going to need to get good, direct sun on most days. I've gone close to 4 weeks without ever plugging my camper into shore power but I am diligent to keep the solar panels optimally facing the sun as the day goes by.

It's also hugely beneficial to be able to keep your rig in the shade while the panels can be kept in the sun.

Totally. Great points I see what you're getting at. I think what I'd really like to make is a solar panel mount that I can 'easily' remove. Totally brainstorming but imagine something like this with me... Instead of a bed slide I have a roof slide. All unistrut construction. Static rail attached to roof rack. Nested inside of that is another unistrut frame, but this one is self supporting and connects to the external/roof rails unistrut via a bed slide / heavy duty drawer slide mechanism.

This will allow me to slide the whole roof rack back for an easy disconnect from below. I think this would prove to have many uses beyond just the solar panel easy disconnect. But if that's all it provides, still very valuable. And then I just get a long wire and move my rigid solar panel around when I'm parked for days.