Teardrop Camper Solar Panel System Off Grid Boondocking - Ham Radio Q&A
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ก.ค. 2024
- It's a beautiful spring day and the perfect time to install a solar system in my teardrop camping trailer for endless energy and ham radio off-grid camping (read more about the special offer). . .
UPDATE: After a few months, here's my impression on how my solar system is performing: • Teardrop Trailer Solar...
About the Install: I used a 180 watt BougeRV mono-crystalline solar panel supported by two five foot pieces of aluminum strut on the roof rack of my TC Teardrops 5x8 camping trailer. Panel cable ran down the front of the trailer, underneath to where a connection took the cable inside the cabin and back to the galley. The controller is a DIY Solar for U Sol Buck/Boost 20 amp MPPT solar controller and a Renogy 50ah LiFePO4 battery.
Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:28 Teardrop Solar Project
2:34 Mounting panel to the frame
5:37 Installing panel on trailer
7:36 Running wire through cabin
11:31 Connecting charge controller
13.41 Testing
16:39 Wrap-Up
DIY Solar for U Sol Buck-Boost 20 amp MPPT Solar Charge Controller
www.diysolarforu.com/store/c1...
DIY solar for U has provided a coupon code to our viewers to receive a 20% of the controllers and accessories on their website. Use the code RADIO20 to receive the discount. I used the code to purchase mine, and you can receive the same discount.
Sol User Manual:
www.diysolarforu.com/uploads/...
Parts:
BougeRV 180 watt Mono Crystalline Solar Panel: amzn.to/3xcNbY7
SAE socket sidewall port: amzn.to/3dvfqt8
5 foot aluminum strut channel: amzn.to/3uZYAby
SAE to MC4 adapter cable: amzn.to/3asTmxr
Solar extension cable: amzn.to/3stxB6M
TC Teardrops teardrop camping trailers:
www.tcteardrops.com
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#HamRadioCamping #Solar #OffGrid #Boondocking #RV #Renogy #BougeRV #LiFePO4 - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
Micheal, it looks great!
one safety tip for you... always disconnect the negative lead first and reconnect it last. if your wrench hits a grounded part of the frame you are not completing the circuit with the wrench or worse, your hand / arm.
That looks solid pro level! Nice!
Thank you WC1N
Safety tip, when connecting the battery connect the positive first and then the negative. When disconnecting, remove the negative first and then the pos.
Very nice installation, and very nice installation job, your trailer looks very nice with the solar power installed. Can't wait to see it in use, thanks for sharing, and good camping!
Excellent!!
Right now I have 4 10W panels and one battery with a controller for my out in the sticks radio set-up. Don't have a fancy camper like some, just a Ford Flex and pack everything up, pull in somewhere, put up the panels and hook the radio to the battery! On the air.
Very neat!
You got everything setup and ready for dx vacation. Looks great. Happy middle of the Week Day. 73's de Uncle Günter
Thanks. We've got some pretty exciting off-grid trips planned this summer.
Great video Micheal. Wonderful setup for our upcoming Field Day.
I'd love to work Field Day without hearing that generator drone away all weekend. We will be camping with it next weekend in the UP of Michigan. I'll be releasing details of that memorial event station in a few days.
@@KB9VBRAntennas Super. Have a safe and wonderful trip.
Very cool!
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Glad I found this video cuz I'm considering buying a TC teardrop the 10-ft model so I can add the bunk bed for the little kids but I was curious about how their electrical system worked and your video showed a good part of it. How old is your trailer?
Glad you found the video helpful. We took delivery of our trailer in 2018.
Hi Michael,
Is the remote LCD readout wired directly to the circuit board or is there a connector on the side of the case? Couldn't determine that from their website. You and the family stay safe. 73 WJ3U
Don - the remote display has a dedicated DATA terminal block inside and connects to battery (+) and battery (-) on the terminal block so no its not hard wired.
Cheers - Rob Tywlak - CTO at DIY Solar for U
My concern would be ventilation for the battery and controller inside the galley.
Joe - our controllers produce very little heat due to the very high efficiency of 99%. The Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries can tolerate up to 140F or 60C without issue.
That said there is thermal protection in the controller that first will reduce power and if that does not lower the temperature then it will shut down to standby until it drops. In this application you will not get close even on a hot summer day as the internal temp needs to be over 165F before any power reduction would occur. Given the Shiny Aluminum Exterior the sun beating on it will not do much to heat it up either. Cheers - Rob Tywlak - CTO at DIY Solar for U
@@solarpower3081 Hi Rob - thanks for the info. I camp with Michael a couple times a year (nothing fishy - separate campers!) and I know he keeps the galley closed during the day. I'm really excited to see how the controller performs. We'll be up in the UP next weekend giving it a workout.
TC Teardrops installs charge controllers and SLA batteries, along with panels on their utility boxes. They also put systems, along with a Dometic refrigerator, in the galley. Many of those trailers head out west to the high desert. I don't think the controller will overheat.
Can you operate the Ham Radio? And how long can you operate?
I can operate the radio from the trailer, but I usually don't. The primary purpose of the solar is to power the refrigerator, lights, and accessories. On average I consume about 20ah a day for all that. If I were to add the HF transceiver, it would add another 4-5ah to the power budget (if I am transmitting, receive only is 1ah). The length of time I can be out and operate depends on my battery's capacity and how much energy the panel is producing. I currently have a 50ah battery in the trailer, but will be upgrading it to an 100ah battery this spring, so I won't be as concerned about generating power if my trailer is parked in a really shady spot.
Are you hearing, or measuring, any RF noise at all from the MPPT controller? You might have to go to a low noise location, like a rural park, to really test the RF noise floor.
Yeah, I too would be interested in a follow up video showing some tests of the noise floor with and without the solar connected and with the solar charging. I have been wanting to add solar to my teardrop and was concerned with RFI. My shore power charger generates so much garbage I have to disconnect it to operate HF. Thanks for the video Michael. 73, Ed KI1R
I'm not going to be able to take any meaningful measurements at home as my noise floor is too high. In little over a week I'll be taking the trailer out camping for a weekend in the UP of Michigan. Radios will be involved so I'll make note of how much noise the charge controller makes.
As long as there are no weird installation issues like ground loops or improper grounding and the receive antenna is at least 6 feet from the controller you should not hear any added noise with the controller operating on any HF or VHF band. Tying the battery negative to the trailer frame at ONE and only one point will form a Faraday Cage with the aluminum body and further shield any residual noise. We have many HAM's across the globe using our controllers without interference - many without any additional RF filters too. The only other potential issue would be conducted noise on the battery side if the radio has little or poor power supply filtering (and some do) - that is easily solved with a choke on the battery side if it s an issue. I think all here will be surprised just how quiet our controllers are when Michael test's it out this weekend. Cheers - Rob Tywlak - CTO at DIY Solar for U.
@@solarpower3081 Thanks Rob and Michael.
Just for your info Micheal,I had an issue with my portable system.If take the Battery down so the battery bms opens up because the voltage is too low and DIY Solar change controller won’t see the battery and won’t charge the battery and answer is install a low voltage cut out higher than the BMS cutout voltage.Hope this helps ve7gde
That is a potential problem when utilizing any battery type that has a built-in low voltage disconnect like the lithium iron phosphate's BMS. It's too bad the energy from the solar panel can't kick start the charge controller for a couple of seconds.
This is not a problem with our controllers since fall of 2017 - we added a battery wake up routine so if a BMS cuts off a battery but there is solar present the controller will wake up the battery and begin charging again. The only thing lost is the 7 day totals in this case if this happens at night which it usually would. Cheers - Rob Tywlak - CTO at DIY Solar for U
Thanks for the tip. Hopefully I won't bring the battery down to such a low level overnight, but that's information to know.
Jack - I am surprised you had an issue with this since you have a controller with the wake up feature. During wake up the LCD will display "tSt" and there should be voltage on the battery terminals. The only thing that could prevent this from working is if there is a load on the battery terminals not allowing the voltage to come up or if the BMS has a built in trickle charge limit in that case it may take a few minutes to "wake" the battery. The Controller sets a low 0.5 amp current limit during wake up so any system load could prevent this from working. DC to AC Inverters usually do not present a load when the battery cuts out until re-started or some will wait for a voltage above 12 or 24 to restart - in both of these scenarios it should wake the battery first. You may need to wait a few minutes in your case if there is voltage present at the battery terminals during the wake up mode. Cheers - Rob Tylwlak - CTO at DIY Solar for U.
@@solarpower3081 That controller auto restart is a great feature.😀 In Michael's setup, the potential loads of his electric blanket and refrigerator might need to be momentarily disconnected to let the charge controller restart the LifePo4 battery if the BMS is in low voltage cut-off.
does this make AC or DC ? How many volts and AMPS ? Is it only for recharging ?
This is a 12 volt DC power system. I have no need for AC or an inverter in the trailer. The panel can deliver up to 180 watts and the charge controller can do 20 amps. The battery is a 50ah LiFePO4 battery. The entire system is seamless in that the solar charges the battery and the battery delivers power to my devices. During the day I should be running at a nearly fully charged state and at night the battery will deliver power.
This would be better at the entry point of your trailer: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009LX1JWU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 That way, you could carry 12 Ga wire all the way to the controller. That SAE connector might melt or deform on you if the amperage is higher than the rated capacity. You can always disconnect the PV Power from the MC4 connectors directly.
Anyone with a Weber kettle and starter chimney is OK in my book. Lump?
I prefer briquets because of their consistency, it seems to work better in the Weber kettles as lump charcoal can be a bit unpredictable.
I have a friend who is a ham and has a metal roof on his house.
Can he use his metal roof as an antenna?
Thank you.
KE8PMM
I don't think a metal roof can be used as an antenna... maybe as a ground plane below a vertical antenna with the roof ties to ground. It is also too close to potential noise sources from wiring in the attic. It would act as a shield if used as a ground plane shielding noise sources within the home if the antenna was above it.
Cheers,
Rob - KD8SKM - CTO at DIY Solar for U
Awesome setup mate.
On a side note, 10m J-Pole???
I'm still planning to build a 10 meter J-Pole. The price of copper has spiked tremendously in the last two months and I'm going to wait until it comes down to a reasonable level before I do that project.
@@KB9VBRAntennas cool idea, but aside from the occasional repeater, I'd guess there are not many vertical 10m signals out there. But for the memes, fantastic idea.