Thank you! It looks better than the rest of my rusty truck 😄. It took me a long time to search for panels that would fit the way I wanted. At the bottom of the amazon listing it has the product dimensions and the Renogy brand was the closest.
Really? My rv came Solar prepped and no fuse that I’ve seen going to 30 amp mppt charger from panels.I did just buy a dc circuit breaker to install.What a rabbit hole lol
Nice clean install on rhe solat panels on top, if you add more batteries,you can possibly install a 100w panel on top of the truck itself for added juice. Cool idea, i like it and thanks for sharing too.
Thanks! By my measurements I could fit three 100watt flexible panels on the roof to mount completely flat and follow the contour of the roof. I haven't been able to run out of juice yet but eventually I'll probably upgrade to lifepo4 batteries.
I haven't installed them yet, there's enough room for the top to close on the extension cord since the seal is fairly thick. Within the next few days I should have some time to finish it.
Great video, but one word of advice, you should never place anything on the back of the panel.. The front is plexiglass and can take all kinds of damage, but the back is very Brittle. It's very easy to Crack the solar cells.
That Victron will be fine in series. Plus you won’t be using it to its potential if you don’t run near 75 volts. They will also handle a little more than 75 no problem
I think the highest I've seen so far is 135W of production at the Victron, when shorted the panels would reach 165W. Not sure if that's the limitation on this charge controller, or if it limits itself to amperage based on panel voltage. I think in the spring I might add some flexible panels to the roof and add another controller. Thanks for the comment!
I know this is long, but I wanted to give some suggestions based on my experience and knowledge: The only thing I would say you did wrong is not having a breaker or fuse connected prior to keeping it all connected. I know you mentioned that you are going to put a fuse between the panels and the charge controller, but I would not leave it all connected without a fuse or breaker connected. I suggest a breaker like the black one with the red trip switch, which you showed at the beginning of this video. I use those types of breakers on all of my DC wiring. They're easy to reset, and it eliminates having to replace a fuse. But, make sure you use the correct amp sized breaker/fuse for your load. Also, I recommend having a breaker/fuse 1st between the panels and charge controller, 2nd between the charge controller and batteries, and 3rd between the batteries and the inverter. I also suggest a rubber mat under the batteries to some cushion and shock absorbance between the batteries and the toolbox. Too much vibration could crack the batteries. If the batteries were to be touching the sides of the toolbox, I would put a rubber mat there also. The inside of that toolbox will get extremely hot 🔥, especially during the summer. The heat is not at all good for the electronics in the charge controller or the inverter. It's not good for the batteries either. So, to help eliminate most of the heat, you can put a vent hole on each end of the toolbox where it would be under the truck bed side walls. The have about a 4" DC fan at each vent hole. One fan blowing fresh air into the toolbox and the other fan sucking air out of the toolbox. So that the fans aren't running constantly, you could even put a small DC thermostat inside the box, so that the fans would only be running when the toolbox internal temp is above a set temp. The vented circulation of fresh air would help save your electronics from burning up and provide needed ventilation for the batteries. I also suggest putting a drain hole or maybe even a couple of drain holes in the corners of the toolbox incase some water were to leak into the toolbox and incase the batteries were to leak. I can't remember if you mentioned this or not, but if your charge controller has the ability to monitor batteries charge and limit the charge going into the batteries, you should set it to not charge over 15v. If it doesn't limit the charge, it can overcharge the batteries and destroy them. If your charge controller does not prevent overcharging, you can put a limiter between the charge controller and the batteries. I think that's all I thought of for now.
I appreciate the feedback! I have a follow up video coming soon but I also have an update video posted a week or so ago. The highest interior temp of the box I have seen though the hottest days so far has been 107F. Better than I expected. The batteries are solid mounted to the bottom of the box and I cut some 2x8s to stabilize underneath the box just in case there would be vibrations. I also changed the cheap renogy controller to the victron and I have the float voltage set at 14.6 just like an alternator output. I love the victron so far I get all the nerd data I can handle 😀
Haha yea it's a 2500 truck, so the extra 150 pounds doesn't make a difference. I have about 9 or 10 of these batteries sitting unused so might as well save the money. The solar charge controller, inverter, and my dc to dc converter (video coming soon) all are easy to change settings to accept LiFe batteries in the future. We have very cold winters here in New England so I would also have to set up a battery heater with lithium.
So I can keep my tools on the passenger side. In case I'm on the shoulder of the road I'm not standing in traffic. The batteries probably only add 150 pounds so that's nothing for a pickup.
I have a video coming soon with a breakdown of the power output recorded from the Victron app. Sunny days I'm getting over 720 watt hours from the panels and keeps the batteries fully charged with a 12v refrigerated cooler plugged in full time. The cooler has a power draw of about 70 watts while running. Even in partial shade I see about 50-65 watts continuous
Looks great and panels perfectly fit on toolbox. Clean install.
Thank you! It looks better than the rest of my rusty truck 😄. It took me a long time to search for panels that would fit the way I wanted. At the bottom of the amazon listing it has the product dimensions and the Renogy brand was the closest.
Good idea using the riv nuts
Great idea, design, and execution.
Thank you!
Looks good definitely need to add fuses for the solar charge controller
Really? My rv came Solar prepped and no fuse that I’ve seen going to 30 amp mppt charger from panels.I did just buy a dc circuit breaker to install.What a rabbit hole lol
I have 2 of those on my truck work great for the sewer machine and charging my batteries 🔋 for my cord less tools
That's awesome!
Nice clean install on rhe solat panels on top, if you add more batteries,you can possibly install a 100w panel on top of the truck itself for added juice. Cool idea, i like it and thanks for sharing too.
Thanks! By my measurements I could fit three 100watt flexible panels on the roof to mount completely flat and follow the contour of the roof. I haven't been able to run out of juice yet but eventually I'll probably upgrade to lifepo4 batteries.
@@TechNTorque Nice, that sounds good. I think adding a 1kwh power station wouldn't hurt to be more portable, you know free power man.
I have wanted to do this myself. I may doint now after watching your video
I'm extremely happy with it. I wish I did it a long time ago
Nice setup. Especially will this be nice when you add the external power outlets so you don't have to keep the box open when using the power.
I haven't installed them yet, there's enough room for the top to close on the extension cord since the seal is fairly thick. Within the next few days I should have some time to finish it.
Great video, but one word of advice, you should never place anything on the back of the panel.. The front is plexiglass and can take all kinds of damage, but the back is very Brittle. It's very easy to Crack the solar cells.
That Victron will be fine in series. Plus you won’t be using it to its potential if you don’t run near 75 volts. They will also handle a little more than 75 no problem
I think the highest I've seen so far is 135W of production at the Victron, when shorted the panels would reach 165W. Not sure if that's the limitation on this charge controller, or if it limits itself to amperage based on panel voltage. I think in the spring I might add some flexible panels to the roof and add another controller. Thanks for the comment!
I know this is long, but I wanted to give some suggestions based on my experience and knowledge:
The only thing I would say you did wrong is not having a breaker or fuse connected prior to keeping it all connected. I know you mentioned that you are going to put a fuse between the panels and the charge controller, but I would not leave it all connected without a fuse or breaker connected. I suggest a breaker like the black one with the red trip switch, which you showed at the beginning of this video. I use those types of breakers on all of my DC wiring. They're easy to reset, and it eliminates having to replace a fuse. But, make sure you use the correct amp sized breaker/fuse for your load. Also, I recommend having a breaker/fuse 1st between the panels and charge controller, 2nd between the charge controller and batteries, and 3rd between the batteries and the inverter.
I also suggest a rubber mat under the batteries to some cushion and shock absorbance between the batteries and the toolbox. Too much vibration could crack the batteries. If the batteries were to be touching the sides of the toolbox, I would put a rubber mat there also.
The inside of that toolbox will get extremely hot 🔥, especially during the summer. The heat is not at all good for the electronics in the charge controller or the inverter. It's not good for the batteries either. So, to help eliminate most of the heat, you can put a vent hole on each end of the toolbox where it would be under the truck bed side walls. The have about a 4" DC fan at each vent hole. One fan blowing fresh air into the toolbox and the other fan sucking air out of the toolbox. So that the fans aren't running constantly, you could even put a small DC thermostat inside the box, so that the fans would only be running when the toolbox internal temp is above a set temp. The vented circulation of fresh air would help save your electronics from burning up and provide needed ventilation for the batteries.
I also suggest putting a drain hole or maybe even a couple of drain holes in the corners of the toolbox incase some water were to leak into the toolbox and incase the batteries were to leak.
I can't remember if you mentioned this or not, but if your charge controller has the ability to monitor batteries charge and limit the charge going into the batteries, you should set it to not charge over 15v. If it doesn't limit the charge, it can overcharge the batteries and destroy them. If your charge controller does not prevent overcharging, you can put a limiter between the charge controller and the batteries.
I think that's all I thought of for now.
I appreciate the feedback! I have a follow up video coming soon but I also have an update video posted a week or so ago. The highest interior temp of the box I have seen though the hottest days so far has been 107F. Better than I expected. The batteries are solid mounted to the bottom of the box and I cut some 2x8s to stabilize underneath the box just in case there would be vibrations. I also changed the cheap renogy controller to the victron and I have the float voltage set at 14.6 just like an alternator output. I love the victron so far I get all the nerd data I can handle 😀
Nice 👍🏼
Thank you!
Geat build !
Thank you!!
AGM? Dang. Carrying lead acid batteries around? The ECO-WORTHY 12V 100AH LiFePO4
Haha yea it's a 2500 truck, so the extra 150 pounds doesn't make a difference. I have about 9 or 10 of these batteries sitting unused so might as well save the money. The solar charge controller, inverter, and my dc to dc converter (video coming soon) all are easy to change settings to accept LiFe batteries in the future. We have very cold winters here in New England so I would also have to set up a battery heater with lithium.
Brilliant
Your battery cables going to inverter and fuse don’t look heavy enough. If you drew a full load on the inverter you’re looking at about 251 amps.
Yep, I agree. That's the junk CCA cable that the inverter came with. That's definitely on the list of upgrades. Thanks for the comment!
Will this run ARB compressor as needed not to build a house tires etc.
I have mine running a 110v pancake compressor. Has a ton of run time. I'm sure any 12v compressor would be more efficient
Why wouldn't you put the weight on the passenger side? 🤔
So I can keep my tools on the passenger side. In case I'm on the shoulder of the road I'm not standing in traffic. The batteries probably only add 150 pounds so that's nothing for a pickup.
Appears panels will be shaded or partly shaded much of the day to the point of “why bother?”
I have a video coming soon with a breakdown of the power output recorded from the Victron app. Sunny days I'm getting over 720 watt hours from the panels and keeps the batteries fully charged with a 12v refrigerated cooler plugged in full time. The cooler has a power draw of about 70 watts while running. Even in partial shade I see about 50-65 watts continuous
What panels u use
3 renogy 50 watt panels
@TechNTorque funny I just did the same thing on my off road vehicle. Made a video about it. Used same panel
@@natesdiysolar I'll check it out!
😠 Promo sm
Wut
Nice! Im actually doing something similar and this has given me some good ideas. Thanks for the vid!
I have an update video coming soon. No major changes but so far I've been extremely happy with it!
@@TechNTorque awesome! Subscribed! Can't wait for the contents