Roof mounted Solar panels

Hi everyone!

I recently bought a Prinsu roof rack and my plan is to have solar panels on there and then have a cable running from the panel to a battery pack in the bed. The bed has a cap on it and I have built some custom drawers for storing gear in there. Eventually I plan on having a power station inside that is charged by the solar panel(s), and from there I can charge whatever I need while on long back country trips.

I would like to see how others have mounted their solar panels and if anybody has suggestions. Any and all are welcome!

Thanks so much!

 

Not a permantent solution, but while we're in camp the solar lives up on the Prinsu:



I used a pelicase for the controller, and have it hard wired into the RV batteries, plus alligator clips incase I need to charge the trolling motor, or anything else. Gives me the flexibility to move around the campsite, and get the angles right.

 

290w of solar baby. Don't ask why, ask yourself why not.

 

I have gone four years with a flexible solar panel on my cap attached with industrial strength Velcro. Allows me to remove it and place truck in shade, solar panel in sunlight when I am at campsite. The only two times it blew off were both in drive-through car washes with high velocity blow dryers. Road dead brain was my excuse for not removing prior.

 

200w of rigid solar on the roof

7-23 weekend by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Solar Panels Installed by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

 

This is fantastic! Thank you for sharing! Look like Renology 100 W panels. If you don't mind my asking, where do you store the collected energy? How did you organize your cabling? I really like this panel set up. Looks like they are level with the crossbars so they don't attract too much attention. And that panel on the hood!?!? Was not expecting that! Very well done!

 

Can you share which panel you used? Also, how did you store the collected energy? Did you have to get creative with how you routed the cabling? Thank you for sharing. A flexible panel is something that I had not yet thought out, but you've given me some food for thought. Thank you!

 

Impressive set up! What type of solar panel is that? Did it come with the kickstand for angling, or did you add that yourself? Thank you for sharing!

 

Thanks man! Yea these are Renogy 100w panels, wired in parallel to a Victron MPPT controller. I actually have 2 separate controllers, one for the two panels on the roof and one for the hood panel, but they are synced together. I have a dual battery setup(2 90Ah X2 Power batteries) under the hood connected by a Blue Sea ML-ACR and when my voltage is high, they all link up and charge together.

I'm pretty happy with the way the renogy panels sit up there. It's almost flush with the crossbars and you never really see them unless the truck is at an angle. My wires come down both sides of the windshield, in some KC wire hiders.

 

It's a basic Coleman 100w kit, with their 7a controller. Came with the kickstand but I added the extension cord.

 

Had shortage of roof space so made it retractable- it has a telescoping post underneath to angle it up to 45 degrees in either direction:

It’s a 50 watt Renolgy panel that just tops off my “house” battery for my auxiliary lights, refrigerator, etc., and the main is reserved for the truck only. I have 2 ways to charge the house battery, solar and with a Blue Seas charging relay that charges it when driving.

 

80w panel mountes with homemade brackets.

 

Here's a spoiler with my portable setup = $771 OTD

Spoiler

$122 Renogy Flexible Solar Panel 100 Watt 12 Volt Monocrystalline Semi-Flexible Bendable Mono Off-Grid Charger for Marine RV Cabin Van Car Uneven Surfaces

Panel

$29 ACOPOWER 20 Feet 14AWG Solar Extension Cable with Female and Male connectors for 50W 70W 80W 105W 120W Portable Solar Panel (HY-EXT-20FT)

Extension

$9 BERLAT Solar Panel Extension Cable,10AWG SAE PV Extension Cable to Solar Panels with 2 Pack SAE to SAE Polarity Reverse Adapters-30cm

SAE Connector

$10 10Gauge Sae Extension Cable 10AWG - 3FT Sae to Sae Cable Battery Charger Extension Cord Heavy Duty 10AWG Quick Disconnect Sae 2Pin Connector Solar Panel Power Connect Plug Harness with Waterproof Cap

Wire

$47 Renogy Voyager 20A 12V/24V PWM Waterproof Solar Charge Controller w/ LCD Display for AGM, Gel, Flooded and Lithium Battery, Used in RVs, Trailers, Boats, Yachts, Voyager 20A

Charger

$10 YETOR SAE Connector,SAE to O Ring Terminal Harness with 15A Protection Fuse for Safety, 2-Pin Quick Disconnect Plug,SAE Battery Extension Cable with 2FT 10AWG for Motorcycle Cars. (60CM)

Connector

$490 Lynx Battery 12V 100Ah Lithium Iron Phosphate LiFePO4 Battery, BMS, (68) 32700 High Redundancy HQR Cells, Provides Long Life/Heat Dissipation/Non Swelling/Extended Life

Battery

$253 GoWISE Power 1500W Continuous 3000W Surge Peak Power Pure Sine Wave Inverter w/Digital LCD Display, Black/Green, 1500w Cont/ 3000w Surge Digital (PS1008)

Inverter

 

Panel:

$122 Renogy Flexible Solar Panel 100 Watt 12 Volt Monocrystalline Semi-Flexible Bendable Mono Off-Grid Charger for Marine RV Cabin Van Car Uneven Surfaces

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BMNGVV3?ie=UTF8&th=1
Energy storage: https://www.goalzero.com/collections/portable-power-stations/products/goal-zero-yeti-1000-core
Cable:

JoinWin MFG 10Ft Solar Charge Extension Cable Compatible with Anderson PowerPole connectors to Work for GZ Yeti,G500 Solar Generator Power Inverter and for Renogy,Boulder 200 Solar Panels

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GYNNZ4X?ie=UTF8
Adapter to go from MC4 on solar panel to Anderson plug on energy storage: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GC8HVRC?ie=UTF8

Few years ago the Goal Zero bottle neck was at the charge controller. Only allowed 70 W input. Not enough to recharge the battery even with 400W anytime mod on the bed outlet. Would not recharge fully even when driving 8 hr days. Had to buy a separate charge controller that allowed 300+ W input. Choices were limited back then. Now, you have an explosion of choices. Whichever you choose make sure it can input enough wattage. You might have to dig into the product's spec/manual as they typically don't advertise it. 1000W can run my Instapot.

I run a cable from the solar panel mounted on cap through sliding front window on cap to my energy storage. The underside fasteners for the rail roof rack mounts act as a convenient storage:


When driving the input is from the bed outlet with 400W anytime mod. When I get to the campsite, I physically change to the solar panel. And I can move the solar panel and the energy storage from the cap and bed to where max sunlight is. In case you don't know, the quoted wattage of any solar panel is only in direct sunlight with even more optimism thrown in. My panel brand new and to this day only puts out 70 watts.

I feed the cable through the sliding front window of my cap. Closed against the cable, it hasn't allowed any water in all these years. Even through torrential rains and the already stated zombie state car wash drive thru.

I initially chose this ghetto version, because I wanted the flexibility of moving things around. Decided against a second battery as it was another thing to try to recoup if I was to move on to the next great vehicle. And it would be a dead weight when I wasn't needing it. Just wanted to be able to get out when the Greatest Thing That Runs On Pixie Dust would appear. The cult of EV here at TW tells me it is here. I don't think so. It has been four years. Still works and keeping it for now.

 

This is brilliant! Thank you so much for the details and the links! Helps me a lot

 

WHOOOOA! Ok, seems like that flexible Renogy panel is popular! Thank you for going into detail with your set up! Gives me lots to think about. How does the Tacoma do towing that trailer? I have played with the idea of a camper trailer for when I get tired of sleeping on the ground or in a hammock. Thanks again!

 

oh wow! You got creative! I like it! Very cool set up. I appreciate you sharing

 

Honest question here as I had no idea this was a thing for vehicles. Do these solar arrays feed some sort of battery bank or is it a "use it as it's made or lose it" kind of thing.

 

Most people running stationary vehicle solar setups will use Deep Cycle marine batteries with an inverter, however if you do go the route of buying a portable power station, buy a Bluetti. Any company like Jackery that is not using LifePo4 batteries in 2022 is not a good buy.

https://www.bluettipower.com/collections/power-stations