FR_off_road
New member
Hello,
I started car camping with my truck (Chevy Suburban) and noticed that after a few days the battery ran low. Opening the door and closing it even with light off takes power. Same with power door locks and windows, which are even more hungry. So far this has been camping with friends so a jump is possible but I want to go solo.
Need:
This is a proof of concept system and a stop gap measure. Value system that could be repurposed as a small solar generator would be ideal. I’m saving up for making a toy hauler diy trailer. Getting solar experience here before I create that system is a plus.
I checked some top off systems that plug into the outlet but they do not seem to have charge controllers. This could be a solution but I did not find one that protects the battery or is in the 30W range. I found an inexpensive Renology setup in the 30W range but not sure if that’s the way to go yet.
I noticed that most system charge controllers seem to charge the battery and when no solar power switch to powering an output. This is not in line with primary battery and then auxiliary output configuration I want. And it seems I am not looking for the right term when I searc, since I am not finding them.
Would appreciate any insight with similar setups.
Thank you.
I started car camping with my truck (Chevy Suburban) and noticed that after a few days the battery ran low. Opening the door and closing it even with light off takes power. Same with power door locks and windows, which are even more hungry. So far this has been camping with friends so a jump is possible but I want to go solo.
Need:
- Top off car battery and maintain SOC. Required total power unknown but not huge. Power draw is from door locks, infrequent cabin light. Some window roll down and up. SWAG is 30 to 40 watts panel.
- Charge control a must. Can’t risk battery failure in the field.
- Batter soc display. Prefer LCD display. (Part of controller?)
- When charging from solar a USB 5v outlet can be powered. Can top off power bank or phone. Not critical as I can use my ryobi battery packs with 5v converter
- Small packable system. Mostly don’t want to deal with a full install this year.
- Nice to have. When battery is full switch over and power other devices like fans, usb, misc. This could expand later to a house battery.
This is a proof of concept system and a stop gap measure. Value system that could be repurposed as a small solar generator would be ideal. I’m saving up for making a toy hauler diy trailer. Getting solar experience here before I create that system is a plus.
I checked some top off systems that plug into the outlet but they do not seem to have charge controllers. This could be a solution but I did not find one that protects the battery or is in the 30W range. I found an inexpensive Renology setup in the 30W range but not sure if that’s the way to go yet.
I noticed that most system charge controllers seem to charge the battery and when no solar power switch to powering an output. This is not in line with primary battery and then auxiliary output configuration I want. And it seems I am not looking for the right term when I searc, since I am not finding them.
Would appreciate any insight with similar setups.
Thank you.
