Solar Power Newbie Question..

I'm new to the solar power world and I'm hoping someone can help me figure this out.

Do solar panels charge while the vehicle is driving down the road?

I just bought a goal zero boulder 100 solar panel, that I mounted on the roof of my camper shell, for charging a Blackfire PAC505 power station used to run an electric cooler (

$806 DOMETIC CFX3 35 Portable Refrigerator and Freezer - 36L - Powered by AC/DC or Solar Portable Refrigerator, Smokey Gray

Dometic CFX3 35) in my 2023 Access Cab Tacoma. The system seems to work well when I'm sitting still, but for some reason when I start driving, the solar panel stops charging the power station. Charging will resume if I unplug the charge cable from the power station and plug it back in, but if I start driving again charging stops, Is this normal?

Note also that if I plug the power station into the 12-volt power outlet and drive it charges just fine. It just doesn't seem to want to charge from the solar panel while I'm driving.

 

Strange...I run 2 GZ panels into a GZ 1000x on my transit for 4 years and never saw that...Have you isolated the components to which is the culprit? Sounds like the battery box...have you tried it with another? If you want I have a number of panels, battery boxes and controllers we could test with...over in Port Orchard...Ric

 

Yes it should, I have a similar setup. Solar panel to jackery battery - dometic fridge to battery. But usually I just use the cigarette lighter port whilst driving, and solar for when stopped.

 

Thanks for the info Ric. I live near Salem, OR, so won't take you up on your offer. I was thinking it may have something to do with the connection at the 8mm plug. The Blackfire plug seems to fit better than the GZ plug..

How do you like the GZ 1000x? I was thinking I might just get a larger Power station to reduce my needs to get a good charge every day..

 

Thanks for the info Islandhiker! That's what I had been doing when I was using a "briefcase" style portable solar panel, but was hoping to go full solar by mounting the panel on my roof.

I'll probably just use the power port while driving as well at least for now. Happy hiking!

 

Thanks mate! Happy adventures to you, I hope you can sort out the electrical gremlins!

 

Really impressed with it...I charge camera, drone, lights, reefer and various other 12v and can still run a little 250 watt electric heater overnight in my gazelle T-4+...I get close to wanting the 1500 at times but with some planning I’m good...

 

I'm thinking about this exact model. Per chance does it fit in the back-seat area of the Access Cab?

 

Yes, I've got an access cab and the Dometic fits great. The cooler sort of straddles the passenger and driver side jump-seat cushions so I've been putting a pad in the space between the jump seats to level everything out and put the Dometic (mostly) on the passenger side with another pad behind it to keep space for the cooling fan to circulate air. To hold it in place I'm using tie-down straps threaded through the "baby car-seat" tie-downs and the cooler handles. I'd post a photo but I don't have the cooler in the truck right now...

 

Excellent and cool. I'll probably have the wife build out a platform so it sits steady.
Since the SR5 only has one 12v location, which will be used for my brake controller on the camper, I'm looking at this
to be installed inside the cab and hardwired to the battery... or do you think a Goal Zero Yeti400 would work with it.

 

I've got a TRD Off-road and it's only got one 12 volt plug as well. I'm thinking of adding an additional 12v one like you've got in the photo, though a couple friends have recommended having an inverter installed to just run it off 110 volt. Right now I've got a similar size capacity battery to the yeti 400 except mine is Lithium ion. I've found that over the course of 1 night the dometic pulls my battery from 100% charge to about 53% charge. So recharging daily is essential for multiple day trips. I found that using only the 12-volt charger the car really has to be running all day to recharge the battery and since I don't drive constantly when I'm road tripping I added the solar power set up. It seems to be working except for the glitch I mentioned in my original post, but for now I use the 12v when driving and plug it to solar whenever I stop to keep it charging. I've evolved this over about three road trips so far this year and will see how it goes as the summer goes on. I'm already thinking I might need a bigger battery though, maybe a GZ 1000X or 1500X or equivalent.. This is all new to me! I'll be interested in hearing how your setup works out with the added 12v, but I'd be weary of hard wiring it to the battery (unless you're going to install a second isolated battery and such). I've heard many stories of folks hard-wiring stuff to the battery and running the battery down too far to start the car (like I did with off-road lights on my old Jeep in the 80's).

 

Yea I'm planning a 11 day trip in mid-September and am looking hard at the options. I have a really great cooler ( Canyon 35 ) but ice is always an issue.

 

I'll be taking a 5 day test run, leaving just after the 4th of July. But with the REI 20% off 4th of July sale running before I leave I just might get that Yeti 1500X before I leave!

 

Yea I'm thinking about waiting for that too - wife has been a member for 25+ years..

 

I'm looking at the Jackery 1000 Pro.

Also about to pull the trigger on a Dometic 35 and this 12V connector - thought it may fit nicely in the back seats of the A/C Cab between the seats
and let the Dometic ride back there too. I'd get this hard-wired to the truck battery and/or let the Jackery set back there too and power the Dometic
off of that whilst traveling. Getting some 200W solar panels to boot... heck in Arizona we got nothing but sun.

 

For devices that are 12v like a Dometic fridge you typically don’t want to run them off an inverter. You’d be taking 12v and turning it into 120v just for the fridge to turn it back to 12v again. You lose quite a bit of efficiency doing that.

 

Going to check with my 'dude' who setup the brake system on my teardrop - he set it up so the 'controller' plugged into the cig lighter ( 12 v ) and is only
in use when the engine is running. Same thing happens on my SR5 when I plug in the controller it's only 'running' when the engine is on, which of course is
the only time I need the brake controller.

Gonna have him look at :
A: Adding another 12v somewhere in the cab or
B: Install the Dometic Connector in the cab, between the back seats
C: AND.... have either of those ONLY work when the engine is running.

I'll continue to keep the Dometic running off a Jackery 1000 Pro when not in motion.

 

Does the equipment you wish to power require pure sine power or will modified sine be acceptable? I’m pretty sure the Jackery is only modified sine.

 

Nah I don't think so it's just a Dometic fridge...

$806 CFX3 35 Portable Refrigerator and Freezer - 36L - Powered by AC/DC or Solar Portable Refrigerator, Smokey Gray

CFX3 35 getting $100 off with REI bucks.

 

Easiest way to do that is to use an add a fuse to the factory 12v plug circuit and wire the additional 12v plug to that. I’m not sure if the fuse for that is under the dash or hood. Otherwise you will need to wire in a relay so it’s only on when the engine is running.