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Thread: My solar generator

  1. #1

    My solar generator

    I don't have the need for a dual battery setup in my 4Runner for several reason. For the most part I don't have high drain accessories. I also don't always travel in one vehicle or stay at the vehicle. As such I've always liked the idea of portable power to go.

    I've seen some cool products from GoalZero and ArkPak but they are expensive to the point I won't buy them. Portable power isn't a must but can be a necessary part or a trip or activity. Most of our camping is off the grid and self contained but unless we're backpacking we're at the vehicle. I also volunteer with several different agencies doing a variety of tasks, some of which is emergency communications. These along with my home were reasons I wanted to build something.

    I've learned a few things and now that I have one up and running I'd like to build at least one more, probably one a little larger and maybe a few smaller and more simple versions.

    For the most part it's a battery charged by a solar panel through a charge controller. I'm still working on some more pictures but here is the working end of it.





    Back end of it.



    I've had this for a couple of weeks and in the beginning it was just wires and connections while I figured things out. One thing I figured out is that I wanted the charge controller visible and not something that had to be dug out. Lights on the controller let me know if the panel is connected, if it's in the sun, the state if the battery and if I have a load or want to turn on the load portion of the circuit.

    This crudely cut out board sits in a small battery box on top of a battery. The top of the box snaps on and has little cavities for cables and wires to come in and out while the cover is on. The blank spot is for putting a phone or accessory that is charging. I wanted this system to be easy to use and build on to. As such I used a fuse block that has constant power and ground so adding is plug and play. I put AC plug ends on my solar panel so it can be plugged into the box (yellow extension cord) and if you are in the shade or in a vehicle an extension cord can be used as wiring for the panel or for powering a device. The switch on the outlet is for the panel in case the battery is topped off and I want to disconnect the panel from the circuit without unplugging anything.

    There is a Blue Sea 12v socket, Blue Sea dual USB outlet rated at 2.1 amps and a 200/400 watt inverter with another USB port (2.1a). I don't have many things that run off of a 12v socket so I only installed one. I bought two so I may add it later or use it for another box. Most items that need external power to run or charge use a USB cord. I also have a little USB socket I could put in the 12v socket if the dual socket and one on the inverter aren't enough.

    I chose the small inverter because of it's size (in output and dimensions) and the fact it does not have a fan. Inverter fans draw power and create noise that I wanted to stay away from. I also didn't want to draw dirt into the box if I didn't have to. The small output is plenty to run enough lights to light most of the interior of my house (6w Cree LED bulbs), run my LED flood light, charge power tools, run my modded Dewalt cordless drill, box fans or laptop. It's also sized to work with my smaller battery. I own a 400/800 watt inverter that usually stays in the 4Runner so if I need more power I can hook that straight to the battery or some terminal studs I've been thinking about installing. There is much to be said about different batteries but this is a flooded starting battery for cost and start up reasons. It's also perfect for starting the 4Runner if necessary.

    During regular duty at my house, this box is plugged into a 20w solar panel I have on the roof. The panel is in the sun most of the day throughout the year. Even in the early evening when the panel is shaded it gives about 18v down from the peak of 21.9v. The inverter takes the voltage and feeds it to the battery depending on the state of charge. I've found that even with running lights and playing around with this at night I'm back to full within a few hours the next day (full sun, no clouds).

    My next box might be just a panel, controller and battery in the attic to power my eave lights, just because. These lights are on from dawn to dusk year round. The controller I use is pretty cool and can be used as a timer. Since it processes power from sunlight it knows when it's dark. It's got a timer function to turn on when dark (this is actually before dark but when the power input is less than 15v) and stays on for a user chosen amount of time or until the sun comes back up. The lights are dirt cheap to run and the power has only gone out (~15 minutes) once in 6 years but it would nice to have them on uninterrupted power if there was an outage...until all the neighbors showed up.

  2. #2
    The red and black wires coming from the corner in the first picture are for my Yaseu 2800. I have that mounted in my garage and use it in there on a weekly basis. It's connected to the battery since it has the potential to pull up to 15 amps and the controller won't support that. Hardwired to the battery also eliminates the potential of interference from the controller to the radio and vise versa.

    The radio is always hooked up to the battery but has a clipped disconnect so it's easy to remove. At times it may be necessary for me to operate a higher power radio away from the 4Runner where crossband repeat isn't feasible so this box makes it easy to pick and go with a portable station. If I need the panel I just go up and unplug it. If I have another panel I just pack that along and plug it in when need be.

  3. #3
    Looks great Mike. I bet you can't wait to go camping or have the power go out.

  4. #4
    Thanks. It's already been camping, just didn't have a reason to use it. It will get used on an up coming drill day as well as this summer in Oregon.

    I was going to have it power the yard lights for a night except that the transformer was making a slight buzzing noise when plugged into the inverter. I have a feeling it's due to the modified sine wave but didn't want to wake up to a fire so I plugged them back into AC power.

  5. #5
    Very cool. What battery are you using? I was looking into using some Li-ion or Li-po to make a go box, but the risk of fire is a bit too high for my liking. Maybe in another couple of years they will be safer.
    2005 Lexus LX470 - Stock for now...

    1998 Toyota 4Runner SR5 V6 4x4 + a bunch of goodies. Lifted, Locked, Illuminated and Armored. Winner,"Best Offroad Truck" - 2010 Pismo Jamboree. It's been upside down and still drives me to work.

  6. #6
    It's a flooded lawn tractor battery rated at 225 cranking amps. Not the best for this application but it was cheap and the size for the SLA batteries I will end up with. Lipo and a few others I found are very costly and don't really like to be charged via charge controller. One in a decent size is twice the cost of my budget for this project.

  7. #7
    A little update. This setup has been working really well and so far don't see any need for changes. If anything it's to build another one as they are pretty useful.

    It's been camping four times with two trips being pretty bumpy and the box stuffed in the cargo area. Travel was usually during the day so charging was only for a few hours a day. Once setup at camp the solar panel was hung on a tree or set on the top of the tent. Putting the panel on the ground or low is no good as it's a magnet for kids to use as target practice with whatever or for use as a skate board.

    My 12v and 120v needs at camp are almost zero, if that. Most trips are done in the 4Runner which has full time 12v, USB and an inverter. This is more of a toy.

    In my garage I use it now and then to charge gizmos. About once a week I've got a combo of two tablets, a HT radio, cell phones and the garage HAM station running. All of which don't draw the battery down enough to have the panel plugged in. I rely on the controller to manage the battery and it's doing well.

    Three USB devices being charged plus the VHF.


    97' of LED Christmas lights at camp, why yes.


    I also took it up for my volunteer work at the Western States 100, http://www.wser.org/
    It starts in the wee hours of the morning so I went up the night before. I was at a remote aid station deep in a canyon. Many of the other volunteers were also setting up in the dark so I plugged in my 15w LED Flood light, http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-5-f...1?N=5yc1vZbm8p

    The next day the generator powered my Yaesu 2800 for close to 10 hours at another aid station. I'm really happy with using 3 prong plug ends for cord connectors. The panel plugs into the box with one. The cord can also be used to power things off of the inverter as well as give more outlets. Extension cords are easy to come by, heavy duty and differing lengths are good to get the panel or power where you need it without being right next to the power supply.

  8. #8
    Somehow I am drawn to things with solar panels, USB ports and led indicators.

  9. #9
    I thought I'd use this space to update with a similar project. My generator is doing really well but I want to upgrade to a sealed deep cycle battery soon. While in Oregon I had the solar controller shut down twice due to voltage below 11v. It's a safe guard but the flooded battery tops out at 12.6 volts and looses about half a volt pretty quick through the small inverter and the first volt quicker than I'd like. A sealed unit charges up to just over 13v and discharges slower.

    The generator was shutting off while visiting a friends off the grid property in Oregon. They, the wife, really liked it and were interested because they use a lot of disposable batteries, propane and fuel in a Honda 2000 generator. Something like a well placed and spec'd out light would cut down on some of that. I decided to build them a light they can mount in the covered 10'X15' porch of their new cabin. Off the porch are a few stairs down to a 15'X20' paver patio.

    They spend most of their time around this area especially at night unless it's really cold. They cook, visit and enjoy the view of the creek and wildlife from here. I wanted to do this outside instead of inside because currently they use a loud propane lantern, head lamps or motion activated LED lights. The lantern is super bright but burns propane and is a little loud for just hanging out. They do have a porch light but have to run the generator. When that's running they have interior lights and wall socket power.

    I built a light from a 12ah battery, 12w panel, a high powered Cree LED run at 350ma and heat sink.



    I've already built something similar for my Dad's Tuff Shed but he lives local, uses it infrequent and for short periods of time. The one for Oregon will be used for many hours, every day for several months at a time, several times a year. I didn't want it failing so I upsized what I felt necessary.

    I have experience with the Sungard solar controllers so I used one for this project. One nice thing is the hollow space behind the unit. I decided to stuff it full with the switch and LED driver. I mounted this to the battery.



    An earlier pic while testing.


    I'm going to mount magnet feet to the panel so it can be stuck on the metal roof of the cabin. This is easier to mount and take down than building a bracket. Most of this will be built by me at my house then shipped up there for man in his 60's to install. He'll have to run some wire in some grooves, screw in the light fixture and an L bracket to hold the battery. The battery is to be mounted in the eave with a short wire to the roof panel. When they leave the cabin and come back to California he wants to take it down and pack it with him or inside of the cabin. My goal was to make something some what modular and easy to put up and take down. The light is about 15 feet up in the air so after it's mounted it will stay.

    It looks like this.



    At 350ma this piece gets almost too hot to handle. This was an issue because I didn't want to burn down their cabin but I also want the LED to last.



    The heatsink was designed for that LED but I wanted it cooler. Plus I had to have a way to mount it. It's got 1/2 electrical thread so I picked up a metal mounting plate from Home Depot. For the $1 it cost it's an excellent heat sink. Heat bleeds into it and dissipated enough it hovers around ambient (mid 90's here while I'm testing). It was circular but I had to trim it as it needs to be mounted on a 3" beam.




    Mock up after painting the plate. I leave it on for several hours after work to make sure it's working properly and that things aren't getting too hot. It's actually pretty handy over my work bench. In all I'm pretty happy with it and hope to ship it soon. The battery is sized enough to power it for at least 6 hours and the panel brings it up in less than a full day which is good since it gets cloudy there.


  10. #10
    This light is now installed. The porch is 10'X15' and the paver patio is in the foreground. The spill is about 25' off the sides and almost 40' forward from the light. The new owners are very pleased with this new fangled technology.


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