Solar Panel on Roof Rack

[OldSarge]

Do you have any pictures of your battery setup? Which packout box did you use? Did you build your battery from bare cells, or did you run some premades in parallel?

Yes, built it from the cells up. It was a fun project and looks cool. Saved some $s but the price of these keeps falling and the all in one systems are very attractive. I wanted a ton of power and getting 300ah is a pretty big unit in one of the all in one systems. Plus, if I need another XT-60 connector, I just cut a hole and add it ;-)

DC Charger plugs into the 50A Anderson connector, I have a 4000watt inverter I plug into the 120A Anderson, solar into the XT-60. On the output I have sets of DC outlets, USB, and have since added two more XT-60s because it makes a much better connection for the fridge

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[Paulyester]

That's a cool build. One question, you have a 125A connector to a 4000 watt inverter? Won't that connection limit you to only 1500 watts?

 

[OldSarge]

That's a cool build. One question, you have a 125A connector to a 4000 watt inverter? Won't that connection limit you to only 1500 watts?

It’s actually the BMS that defines the limit of how much amperage that will pull from the battery. I have it wired with 2ga copper wire only 2 feet long so it can pull a lot of amps. Even though those connectors are called 120a they are made with a solid bar of metal and I’m sure they could safety handle 3x that much. I do love the Anderson connectors

 

[Paulyester]

Good to know, after I posted that I got to thinking that those are winch connectors which will pull a couple hundred amps through there so it should handle the juice.

 

[Boondocker]

I'm sure many people have done it, but I'm hoping to hear from someone that mounted a large solar panel on top of their bed rack or roof rack. I had always planned to build a portable power station out of my JTR, but the more I plan, the more I'm not sure I would actually need it. 80-90% of my user will be 2-3 camping adventures. I plan on going mostly electric for everything, induction stove, electric heater etc (this is my plan, but I could pivot). I want to keep my truck relative light, I was initially planning on building a battery back that sits at the front of the bed that would basically be permanently mounted. I was thinking of something in the 300AH range, that would be charged by a 300+watt solar panel on the bedrack.

In my planning phase though, I feel like a DC to DC charger would probably cover my needs. I'm also thinking of making the battery pack smaller, say 200ah and put it in a removable box that would sit on the back of the bed on a side so that I can remove it when I'm not using it. This car will unfortunately forever be stored outside (no garage space) so anything in the bed permanently would be subject to weather.

What does your battery bank/charging setup look like?

I have a Gladiator Rubicon Diesel with an Alu-cab camper mounted onto the bed. I have a 550 watt solar panel mounted on top of the camper. I’m using a victron solar controller to charge my 600 amp hour Lifepo4 batteries mounted low on the front of the bed. I have a dc/dc charger to charge batteries from engine when Its running. I have a 120vac charger to charge batteries when I’m plugged into shore power. My wife and I both use cpaps every night, thats what got all this started. With battery power available, I added an Espar hydronic heater, a high flow ceramic filter, a shower, kitchen hot/cold water, 2 seaflow pumps, a 10 liter calorifier (3 way water heater), and an Ogo composting toilet. To see more look at …

 

[shikamaroxu]

A 300Ah battery bank might be overkill, especially if you're considering a 300W solar panel.

 

[Blade1668]

Dang, I missed this thread when it was fresh. As one who has a solar system setup in my JT since late 2020 to early 2021, full time running fridge freezer and stuff "LED lights, 12v fans, cellular phone and USB devices". 2 100w semi flexible panels charging 100amp LiPo battery. And a early "test dummy" adopter of the Cascadia solar system for vehicle batteries. My "house battery"started with 2 36 amp hour LiPo batteries and single 100w panel.
Some of the semi flexible panels out perform the rigid panels by big margin in my experience. I tried one (ridged) temporarily replacing the single one and not charging enough to keep up. Having the right Charge controller (MPPT type IMHO) is crucial for getting best results. The semi flexible panels seem to work better in my experience N. AL to KY and S.E. USA (the ridged ones need to face direct towards the sunlight) this is has included overcast weather for up to few days up to 4-5 days. The negative side is cold weather the LiPo batteries shut down (seen a few times) in winter weather. Many who "do solar systems" recommend and run double the solar panels of battery size or more. IE: at least 200watts in panels for 100amp battery. I use 2 100w panels for multiple reasons redundancy if one is damaged, fails or blocked plus costs vs single 200w
There is a few on here that are SME with solar systems, I'm not but trying to learn more too. But I've have some experience with it.

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