Hi all, new here and wanted to introduce myself.
They call me Wander. Im currently working to outfit my vehicle for off grid camping/living and trying to design a system that fits in the spare tire well of a 2004 Volvo xc70 with the eventual goal of being able to expand and use it with a small travel trailer and/or a small cabin. Im schedule to work a volunteer position in CO with wolves, and its completely off grid in the sticks. My current 120w inverter to 12v outlet is ok, but having killed the battery in the car multiple times in 2 weeks i need something more fitting.
Sustainable energy is something thats interested me for years now, and now i find myself with time and reason to build. For now i want to keep it small, enough to run the essentials (laptop, cell phone, small space heater, electric cooler) and serve as a closed loop redundant charging system that can also jumpstart my car battery if necessary. The goal is to keep this as cheap as possible while learning about solar setups (read: Harbor Freight cheap).
My current thoughts are to use 12v powersports batteries from Deka in parallel due to space. i can fit 6 to 8 batteries in the spare well in a 2x3 or 3x3 configuration and each battery is about 400cca/28aH. For the price i can get 6 for just shy of $250 out the door and they are the largest PS battery Deka offers (factory store is local). I would like to run these with a small 2 stroke generator for charging when solar isnt available and also be able to piggyback into the vehicle's 12v battery to slow charge off of the alternator while driving.
Its been a long time since ive done any electrical engineering type of projects, and solar is new territory for me. The math and science is giving me a headache lol. Figuring out my panel watt needs is where im running into trouble and im hoping you folks can assist with the build specs/proper hardware recommendations to make this work. Eventually it will move out of the spare well and become hitch mounted on a cargo basket.
I'll post up soon with basic schematics, looking forward to learning what i can from y'all!
They call me Wander. Im currently working to outfit my vehicle for off grid camping/living and trying to design a system that fits in the spare tire well of a 2004 Volvo xc70 with the eventual goal of being able to expand and use it with a small travel trailer and/or a small cabin. Im schedule to work a volunteer position in CO with wolves, and its completely off grid in the sticks. My current 120w inverter to 12v outlet is ok, but having killed the battery in the car multiple times in 2 weeks i need something more fitting.
Sustainable energy is something thats interested me for years now, and now i find myself with time and reason to build. For now i want to keep it small, enough to run the essentials (laptop, cell phone, small space heater, electric cooler) and serve as a closed loop redundant charging system that can also jumpstart my car battery if necessary. The goal is to keep this as cheap as possible while learning about solar setups (read: Harbor Freight cheap).
My current thoughts are to use 12v powersports batteries from Deka in parallel due to space. i can fit 6 to 8 batteries in the spare well in a 2x3 or 3x3 configuration and each battery is about 400cca/28aH. For the price i can get 6 for just shy of $250 out the door and they are the largest PS battery Deka offers (factory store is local). I would like to run these with a small 2 stroke generator for charging when solar isnt available and also be able to piggyback into the vehicle's 12v battery to slow charge off of the alternator while driving.
Its been a long time since ive done any electrical engineering type of projects, and solar is new territory for me. The math and science is giving me a headache lol. Figuring out my panel watt needs is where im running into trouble and im hoping you folks can assist with the build specs/proper hardware recommendations to make this work. Eventually it will move out of the spare well and become hitch mounted on a cargo basket.
I'll post up soon with basic schematics, looking forward to learning what i can from y'all!
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