Going solar

[threedogs]

Hi TD,
I am going to mount the Arkpak in the car for now and later on put second battery in the back so I can take the Arkpak out and use for lighting etc. I was taking the fridge out of the car when we went camping but getting to old and fat for that.

What Ive done to my Patrol is I pulled out the passenger seat behind the driver
and made a platform for the Engel, No need for over priced drop down fridge slides.
Mine is a 40 ltr any bigger you may struggle with the lid fully open. I have some Engel hinges
from years ago, the boss of Two-zone posted me a set so I could hinge my engel the other way..
Ive also installed a LED light that comes on when the lid is moved, thats fused to the dead side of the power fuse
Best mod Ive even done, even made one for my ice box [Baileys]

Flat is fine ideally you want them facing the sun and then follow the sun during the day

[Covo71]

Not much chance of taking out the back seat with a 4 & ar old. I have a 65lt Waeco so it is still quite high even if at the floor level. Would love a drop down but can't afford a second mortgage to get one. Not sure I can just $800+ For one.

[stevemc181]

Just sold my MSA drop slide as we found it a pain in the arse to use, and think the fridge is much better off down low. It was only the DS40 small drop slide, but it weighed 30kg's, so they aren't light either. I'm now in the process of modifying a 2nd hand set of ORS stacked drawers with the fridge slide down low to suit our needs.
On the longer trips we remove the 2nd row seats and set another 38litre engel up on the passenger side.

[threedogs]

I'm a cheap barstard but I really like this unit over my elcheapo , I have a 40 watt solar panel which is regulated by a cheap regulator sending power to crank battery side of dual battery solenoid .
While mine works ok and can keep fridge running and cold I need more solar now that I run two gel cell spare batteries and I like the specs on this unit only I do have a battery isolator already .
Attachment 71228

Im going to mount my 10watt panel on the roof,[flat] do I just mount on of those mppt regs 30a
in the engine bay. Would that set up work,

[GQtdauto]

A whole 10 watt ! Geez you might blow something up with that .
My reg is an elcheapo mppt on the car panel , my folding and 200 watt fixed on camper are the cheaper pms and I have no trouble with them at all .
As a matter of fact I find that they're programable and give useful information about voltage and amps etc .
I'll get a photo tomorrow of how mines set up and post it here for you , I'm no expert but do know the 250 watt solar rule per battery is spot on for regular use but you can get away with less for infrequent use .
For the double spare battery setup I have in the GQ I can charge via alternator , higher amp than OEM or 40 watt panel which keeps fridge going if stuff cold going in and fridge cold to start with .
But that was with old single lead acid deep cycle battery that was on its way out , two new gel cells should easy Peasy keep fridge cold , can also charge from 200 watt solar on camper trailer as I've made it Anderson plug .
I have an Anderson plug front and rear on GQ so if I need to connect solar panel either portable or trailer camper one it gives me a bit of room to move .
I have connected wires for charge from solar panel to main battery side of red arc battery isolator , not sure if this was a good idea but so far it seems to be improving crank battery charge , I can also switch between batteries if my crank gets flat for any reason .
So if I'm hooked up to camper I can use power from four gel cells to charge my crank battery if I want to , cable size is important and mine is bigger than needed for this even though a sparky poo pooed the extra large cable size saying it was a waste of money and not needed but if I ever want to I can hit a switch and start the car by using power from the back be it two or four batteries .
10 watt would be ok for maintenance charge but not for regular use in my opinion .

[GQtdauto]

Forgot about the amps my elcheapo mppt is ok for 8 amps the others are 25 ish from memory so 30 would give you room to adapt later .

[Cuppa]

I was just going to get a foldout panel and only use when we go camping but now thinking of mounting on the roof. Would it need to be angled up or sit flat on the racks? Just a bit worried of damage if angled up.
I was thinking of it sitting flat for day to day driving but hinging it so I could prop it up when camping.

Mounted flat you will get approx 70% of rated output. (Eg. 120w panel will give a max of around 7 amps. 120w divided by 12 volts = 10 amps, multiplied by 70% = 7amps. Easier approximation using nominal voltage than actual voltage & gives a close enough result to be practical as a rule of thumb). Angling it on a hinge will get you a little bit more but only if you keep it pointing to the sun. For my money it's not worth doing the hinging, moving the car to follow the sun is as much, if not more hassle than moving portable panels around. If you can, just go a bit bigger panel to compensate & mount flat ..... or better still on a very slight angle to assist water run off.

Funnily enough I got asked if the forward sloping panel I have over my cab (I reckon it assists in allowing branches to brush over it, rather than getting caught on it's frrame) had ever been stone chipped today. Answer was no. Had similar on our bus previously & covered 1000's of kms on unsealed outback roads without a problem. If a stray rock ever made it up that high I reckon it would be just as likely to damage a flat mounted panel as it would an angled one.

IMG_7834.jpg

[GQtdauto]

That's a decent amount of panels cuppa , looks close to 300watt , would like more on GQ but have to keep roof rack flat area free .

[Cuppa]

An advantage of having a pod & just driver & passenger. 425w - 5 x60w + 1 x 125w.

[Covo71]

That's a decent amount of panels cuppa , looks close to 300watt , would like more on GQ but have to keep roof rack flat area free .

I was thinking of just laying flat in the roof rack as it would not need to be working while driving as it would be charging off the alternator and when you stop and unpack it will pick up the sun. Thoughts?