Simple Solar for Camping - Help please

[OneHungLo]

wow , thanks everyone for the information! I may just hook up the charge controller to the battery in the truck , its a Northstar I bought six months ago so its good to go.
Or , a small battery just to run the camping accessories off of and used the panel to keep it charged for over night use. I found a small
Mighty Max Battery 12V 75Ah SLA Battery that may fit the bill. I will use the USB pack over night as needed , i just like having multiple options in case one fails.
I have no doubt that this will evolve in to an obsession and i will be planning multiple panels , large LiPo battery banks , and hydo greneators in the near future.

 

[biggoolies]

Thank You!
I am still trying to absorb some info on this subject. The Renogy controller i ordered has 2 USB ports , so I will need a battery after the controller to power devices from the controller ?
This is unit i bought

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NPDWZJ7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You can contact Renogy and ask these questions if you like. They have an excellent customer service and knowledgeable people. You can also download and read the manual from their website for your particular model.

 

[biggoolies]

But I looked at your model controller and the USB outlets are only 2 amp so you will be missing some of your charge if you don’t connect it to a deep cycle like the previous poster mentioned unless you are NOT getting full sun. I believe a 100 watt panel usually gives about 5 amps per hour in full sun with the panel pointed directly towards that gas giant.

 

[67cj5]

wow , thanks everyone for the information! I may just hook up the charge controller to the battery in the truck , its a Northstar I bought six months ago so its good to go.
Or , a small battery just to run the camping accessories off of and used the panel to keep it charged for over night use. I found a small
Mighty Max Battery 12V 75Ah SLA Battery that may fit the bill. I will use the USB pack over night as needed , i just like having multiple options in case one fails.
I have no doubt that this will evolve in to an obsession and i will be planning multiple panels , large LiPo battery banks , and hydo greneators in the near future.

You can't just hook up a charger controller to the vehicles battery and call it done, You will need a way to Isolate the Alternator via a relay or some kind of switch,

Also you can't use the trucks battery all the time because even without the fridge draining power under normal driving conditions the vehicles battery is never a 100% charged,

I am doing a power test at the moment, I have my 50Qt fridge hooked up to 2 110Ah batteries and the Ambient temp is 22*c or 71.6*f and the fridge is set to -10*c or 14*f and even though the ambient temp is quite cool it is still using around 26 to 28Ah per 24 hours, So if your vehicle battery is only 75% charged and you hook up a fridge to it then you are going to have to drive for at leased 5 hours a day to have any chance of keeping it anywhere near topped up,

Listen to the guys here because they know more than me because what you are thinking is going to leave you with a flat battery, It might work if you are travelling each day but not as a static situation.

 

[4x4tripping]

For beginners I would always suggest a out of the box "mobile" solution:

Eine mobile autarke Solaranlage

Eine autarke mobile Stromversorgung mit Solar, 12V und Landstrom Lademöglichkeit.

www.4x4tripping.com

For everyone who is wants to build for their own, there are severall detailed "how to`s " arround, which all have been testet.
Here is my own "how I would build it today:

Die Stromversorgung im Reisefahrzeug

Die Stromversorgung im Reisefahrzeug: Landstrom, 220v Konverter, B2B Ladebooster und Solar - alle wichtigen Komponenten für die Selbstschrauber....

www.4x4tripping.com

But the mobile solution works well too, a girlfriend use it since a month, no problems to staying remote for over a week, fire up a compressor fridge, Smartphone, notebook over 110/220v. Too the travellers in the video use that this way.

The own buildup linked above is better, but it looks that the mobile path with more than one "weakness" is enough for many travellers. Too when using Macbook pro`s over 220v instead of a notebook over 12v adapter. Looks most Solarsetups are good enough to handle a lot more....

There is a translate button on the right, but most here just the wants to see the components I guess.

I was not able to build the mobile solution with other components without using more weight and size - that is pretty sweet...

4x4tripping