Simple, portable solar setup?

[dreadlocks]

anyone who thinks that 100W of solar is plenty for a 200AH+ bank is either abusing the living crap outta their batteries with their head in the sand ignorant of whats really going on, or are real casual and never go out for more than a handful of days at a time and just get an extra day or two of use thanks to solar.. either way thats hardly adequate for any kinda true grid independence and serious boondocking.

A pair of GC2's take 7-8h to recharge from a low SOC with a 25-30A shore charger, 5A of solar for 8h a day if your lucky enough to achieve that is pissing into the ocean.. All its gonna take is a few days of overcast or other poor solar conditions and you'll never be able to catch back up.. you also have to consider that when your fridge or whatever is running during the day, its subtracting that charge from the batteries.. so with a really nice 3A fridge, your charging your battery with a whopping 2A/24W when the fridge is running, on a 200AH+ bank that's a trickle charge at best, and because the sun is baking on your rig its probably running more often than it would be in the shade or at night.

Its one thing to build a battery bank assisted by solar that can go out for 4-5 days, mebe a week.. its another thing to build a battery bank that can run basically indefinitely out in the ever changing environments that dont leave you with a flat battery in BFE when you need it the most.

 

[john61ct]

anyone who thinks that 100W of solar is plenty for a 200AH+ bank is either abusing the living crap outta their batteries with their head in the sand ignorant of whats really going on, or are real casual and never go out for more than a handful of days at a time and just get an extra day or two of use thanks to solar.. either way thats hardly adequate for any kinda true grid independence and serious boondocking.

Or has high amp ICE available as a fallback. But LFP much better for that model.

 

[dreadlocks]

yeah I tried that with FLA, driving for 500-600 miles to recharge the battery is kinda inconvenient, its a nice oprounitistic charge source to use but its hard to work with as a primary charge source, at least in a trailer.. perhaps for a Van or Truck camper where you can bulk up just putting around trails.. tho LFP would be amazing getting 90AH of charge back in 2-3h of tooling around or hopping between camps.

even on 10k mile+ trips I'd only get a FLA recharged on those long legs of crossing deserts or badlands.. most of the hopping between camps was just a few hours in tow.

Gensets with FLA idle all day long and ratio of energy stored to fuel burned is abysmal.. LFP at least can run at a constant load and use a tiny fraction of total runtime.

 

[Martinjmpr]

A 100W panel should put 25-30Ah into your bank in decent conditions.

Meant to say 5a per hour. So yes, on a sunny Summer day with 12+ hours of sunlight, 25 - 30 AH per day is very do-able and will keep the battery topped off.

 

[WVI]

SUNGOLD has a 130w suitcase panel at Amazon that can be had for $225 or so with the discount code from HOBOTech.
It has a controller with it and supposedly made by the same folks as make Renogy panels.

 

[moose545]

You dont need a DC to DC charger* and read the '$50 dual battery setup' topic.
I'm running a 200A solenoid as a dual battery combiner, solenoid triggered by a keyed-on accessory fuse circuit. Turn key on or start the car, solenoid triggers, batteries are combined. vehicle charges both batteries. Turn key off, batteries separated. And I don't have to remember to turn a switch off or on. Then I have the rear cargo power ports, accessories, various inverters from 5VDC USB to 12v cig sockets and also a 1000W inverter all powered off the Second / Aux battery, as 'house' functions. And I've also got a folding panel mounted on the roof but can be deployed on the ground, and it's PWM controller is connected to the main feed in the back that runs to the Aux battery, charging that Aux or feeding power to whatever else I have plugged in back there. I have a lot more going on that just that, but what I described seems to do everything you want and it didn't cost very much to piece it all together.


*get one if you'd like, I'm just saying it isn't required to do what you are describing

Appreciated, post up some pics and name of that switch if you can, I’d be interested in seeing what you’ve got set up. How big of a solar panel do you use, what type?

 

[rayra]

Appreciated, post up some pics and name of that switch if you can, I’d be interested in seeing what you’ve got set up. How big of a solar panel do you use, what type?

Here's the solenoid I'm using. Been in place for a ~3yrs now, working just fine. Makes a satisfying clunk when it's activated and wired to a keyed accessory fuse so I never have to consider it. At some point I might add an activation wire from the Aux battery into a dash switch, so that I could manually 'self-jump' with a flick of that switch. But a console switch panel is fairly far down my list still.

Amazon.com: PAC PAC-200 200 Amp Relay Battery Isolator, standard: Car Electronics

Buy PAC PAC-200 200 Amp Relay Battery Isolator, standard: Jump Starters - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

The solar anel is smallish, a rigid framed folding panel of <100W. I get ~5-6A out of it here in SoCal, flat mounted. From a defunct company but it might as well have been a prototype for the GoalZero folding panel kit. Came with a no-brand PWM controller, canvas bag etc.
I made a roof-deck mounting frame for the panel which has one long edge hinged and locking, so the panel can be taken in and out, set on the ground at a distance and plugged in (too). Panel lives on the roof. I bought a new Renogy Wanderer PWM controller for it and that's mounted in the vehicle in the cargo area power box. The old PWM still works, jsut wanted something of knowable origin and a manual so I knew wth was going on with it.
LInks, pics, build notes in my build topic in my sig below.

Panel mount fabrication starts about here -

Los Angeles -Class Attack Sub(urban), Build / Collected Werks topic - '02 k1500 Z71

Fiddled around with vehicle solar today, still waiting on mailorder parts. Been using powerwerx.com for Anderson Power Pole (APP) connectors and other electrical connection tidbits. I got this bargain used folding panel kit last year and have been (very slowly) working to integrate it with my...

www.expeditionportal.com

Bought the panel kit 3rd-hand used, can't find any trace of the company branding. Panel works fine and has been on the roof for over a year, sometimes at very high speeds. My home-made mounting frame idea seems to work ok.

 

[moose545]

Here's the solenoid I'm using. Been in place for a ~3yrs now, working just fine. Makes a satisfying clunk when it's activated and wired to a keyed accessory fuse so I never have to consider it. At some point I might add an activation wire from the Aux battery into a dash switch, so that I could manually 'self-jump' with a flick of that switch. But a console switch panel is fairly far down my list still.

Amazon.com: PAC PAC-200 200 Amp Relay Battery Isolator, standard: Car Electronics

Buy PAC PAC-200 200 Amp Relay Battery Isolator, standard: Jump Starters - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

The solar anel is smallish, a rigid framed folding panel of <100W. I get ~5-6A out of it here in SoCal, flat mounted. From a defunct company but it might as well have been a prototype for the GoalZero folding panel kit. Came with a no-brand PWM controller, canvas bag etc.
I made a roof-deck mounting frame for the panel which has one long edge hinged and locking, so the panel can be taken in and out, set on the ground at a distance and plugged in (too). Panel lives on the roof. I bought a new Renogy Wanderer PWM controller for it and that's mounted in the vehicle in the cargo area power box. The old PWM still works, jsut wanted something of knowable origin and a manual so I knew wth was going on with it.
LInks, pics, build notes in my build topic in my sig below.

Panel mount fabrication starts about here -

Los Angeles -Class Attack Sub(urban), Build / Collected Werks topic - '02 k1500 Z71

Fiddled around with vehicle solar today, still waiting on mailorder parts. Been using powerwerx.com for Anderson Power Pole (APP) connectors and other electrical connection tidbits. I got this bargain used folding panel kit last year and have been (very slowly) working to integrate it with my...

www.expeditionportal.com

Bought the panel kit 3rd-hand used, can't find any trace of the company branding. Panel works fine and has been on the roof for over a year, sometimes at very high speeds. My home-made mounting frame idea seems to work ok.

Thanks for posting. So educate me a sec, an isolator prevent draw from aux to primary, and any possible loss from primary by means of unregulated draw from the aux or any accessories attached downstream correct? As such, this is a very necessary component to have right....

 

[rayra]

Thanks for posting. So educate me a sec, an isolator prevent draw from aux to primary, and any possible loss from primary by means of unregulated draw from the aux or any accessories attached downstream correct? As such, this is a very necessary component to have right....

Yes. It's a simple solenoid that engages when electrically triggered and while energized / connected will pass amperage at whatever the solenoid's rated amperage. Mine is 200A. They come with both lower or higher ratings. Most alternators are around 100-140A at max output. I intended to have dual batteries and be able to mount a winch at both bumpers. So 200A throughout the setup was my design goal and thus the 200A solenoid / isolator.

I've wired it to a keyed-on accessory fuse / circuit, so the solenoid connects when the key is ON, and it's off when the key is off. I don't have to remember a switch.
And with my rear power accessories wired to the Aux, my Aux serving as the House battery, those power drains are isolated to the House battery.

There's a huge amount of info and design diagrams in this topic, which covers the budget basics -

How to make a cheap isolated dual-battery setup for $50

So there are a lot of kits you can buy to have truly isolated dual-battery setups. Those are VERY NICE kits. They are also very expensive. I try and replicate those kits without spending as much money, while still having a similar level of quality and/or reliability. There are constantly...

www.expeditionportal.com

 

[IdaSHO]

A few ways to do it.... I have mine wired in such a way that it can be energized even with engine off.

Its not the "proper" way to do it, but this way allows the truck batteries to be charged via the camper mounted solar.

I use a 200 AMP continuous duty relay.

However, the most current I have measured with engine running, relay engaged,
and discharged camper batteries (2- 6v deep cycle lead acid), is in the neighborhood of 28-30 amps.

 

[rayra]

One of these days I'm building a ~6 switch panel, between my radio console and dash proper, mostly for light controls, but there's room for an OFF-ON-OFF which can let me energize the solenoid from either battery for such a no-key / non-running combining. As I have it arranged right now my rooftop solar only feeds the Aux. And when the Batteries are combined the vehicle is running and the solar doesn't matter. But having the dash switch would also allow me to self-jump when the Starter is dead, with just a flick of a switch to juice the solenoid from the Aux instead.

I've also been researching trailer brake controllers and such a switch panel would be a good place to incorporate that.

Right above the radios console, where the factory power ports and ash tray are located

 

[rayra]

anyone who thinks that 100W of solar is plenty for a 200AH+ bank is either...

I don't think anybody here has said or thinks anything of the sort.
Some people don't have or want a large battery bank or a large solar array, are just looking for a little supplemental power for a couple days. Not boondocking, or intending to live 'in their van, down by the river.' Or driving in Mongolia / Patagonia / Siberia / the Veldt. Just looking to extend a little.

/that said, if anyone knows of a decent value rigid panel that's no longer than 44", I'd like to double the size of my roof mount and have a fixed panel to the fore while retaining my removable folding panel setup to the rear.

 

[john61ct]

People need to actuslly measure and quantify their needs

energy consumed
inputs from solar, as opposed to what other sources

in Ah per 24hrs

and then days' buffer needed for storage

in order to get useful advise relevant to their specific situation

 

[FJR Colorado]

Hello,

I've been playing with the following idea for a while but I'm completely ignorant on solar panels and related equipment.

Is there a solar panel I can simply connect to my battery directly via clamps when not using the vehicle? Say I arrive at camp and park the vehicle, deploy the solar panel on the roof, hood, windshield or whatever, connect it directly to the battery and be done with it?

It needs to be powerful enough to charge/maintain my battery with my fridge running.

Is there such a thing? I run a single battery, not much draw on it aside from the fridge..

Thanks for your input!

Luis

First, I believe this is a bad idea. In short, you could ruin your food or your car battery or both. Yes, you can likely set a protection setting on the fridge but discharging starter batteries is bad news.

If you haven't yet gained knowledge of solar systems, a good way to get semi-acquainted is to buy a small Schumacher kit that includes a 15W panel, integrated controller, all plugs together easily with nothing mount, solder, etc. Costs about $60.

It could either feed an expensive Lithium "generator" (misnomer), or something as simple as a 35Ah AGM battery that would cost about $50.

If you had the battery charged before you go out, and use the small panel to help top off the battery, and stock the fridge with cold stuff, maybe a frozen water bottle or 10, you could keep yourself going for a day or 3.

You could mount the panel on a piece of plywood and then position it in the sun. You could even add a leg on the back so you can tilt it better.

I use a set-up like this as a BACK-UP at my off-grid cabin. I just added a little thing made for a motorcycle that gives me amps/volts monitoring plus USB and cig plugs.

I have a primary system but this gives me piece of mind that if something fails in the weeks between my last visit, I know I can at least run some basic lights and stuff for a few days,

 

[Gunner207]

There are Solbian solar panels with integrated mppt charge controllers available. They are not bargain panels, but rather top of the line marine rated, thin film, and walkable panels that are high efficiency. I do marine electrical troubleshooting and have come across these panels on a few boats and they are impressive.