My DIY Portable Solar Power "Generator" (For Vans, Camping, Off-Grid, etc. - Ammo Can Style)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ย. 2024
- In this video I show you the build of my little portable solar "generator." It consists of a 100-watt solar panel, two 35 Ah batteries, a 400-watt inverter, and a charge controller. I made this video very detailed to show you that it's possible even if you don't really know anything about solar or electronics.
** Parts list, etc: suvrving.com/di...
** Renogy solar schematic/diagram: suvrving.com/wp...
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OTHER LINKS
** The Store: kamchatkagear.com
** SUV RVing the Book: www.amazon.com... (Affiliate link)
** The Blog: suvrving.com
** Instagram: / suvrving
** FKB.me (My free Kindle book website): fkb.me
CHANNELS YOU MAY LIKE (Tell them Tristan sent you!)
** Colorado Backcountry Adventures (Truck camping, winter camping, off-grid cabin life): / @offgridbackcountryadv...
** Finding Simon (Vanlife, motorcycle road trips, and now boat restoration): / shelbyandsimon
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My name is Tristan, and I camp and travel for months out of the year in my 2011 Toyota RAV4.
** Parts list, etc: suvrving.com/diy-portable-solar-generator-ammo-can/
** Renogy solar schematic/diagram: suvrving.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/renogy-solar-diagram.jpeg
** My online store: kamchatkagear.com
What are your impressions of that little Bestek inverter?
Works great, as far as I can tell. I haven't exactly pushed it to its limits through. But for a laptop and charging other little things, I have no complaints.
an outstanding demonstration, Tristan !
What kind of fuse wire did you use
Is this still working well for you? I’m trying to do something like this.
*Great **Generater.Systems** so far. We have the same brand just a little less power. This one is so much quieter then our first one. Great buy*
This is really well done, and a great budget setup. My only advice is about the loose connections on the battery terminals during testing. With electrical, always make tight connections immediately. Loose connections can easily cause arc (sparks); which can lead to blown fuses, damaged equipment, and possibly fire. Once you are ready to make a connection, just commit and make it tight. You can always loosen it later to add more. Hope this doesn’t come across as overly critical; you did a great job on this video!
Great point! Thanks for the input, and I'm glad you liked the video.
Crimp the secure on a wire, then connection area, same reason you tie a knot BEFORE climbing.... Everyone, many professionals aswell, say to do opposite of that for the same reason as battery connectors.... My thoughts are "heyman, if your crimping on a live wire, do it however you want my dude, imma be over here with 9&1 already entered into my phone...
Also, hey man, don't forget how deadly that arc is. Wired in series, you can stick weld off some jumper cables and 2 car batteries..
Nice! May I make a Safety point? EVERY Red wire connected to the battery MUST have a fuse within 6 inches of the battery post to protect that wire should a short happen to prevent a fire. And any DC can start a fire. If you move all the Black wires connected to the left battery to the other battery then your system will charge and discharge BOTH batteries equally. The way your wired the left battery is carrying the major load and the right battery is just helping. Take the (power outlet) cigarette outlet male end for the inverter and toss it and put the wires with the clamps back on. Add a fuse to the red wire and replace the alligator clamps with eyelet ends that fit the battery. Keep the female power outlet as a extra outlet. Those male cigarette connectors cause nothing but problems. As a retired Trucker I KNOW. Have fun with your project!
I’ve been doing electronics for over 35 years. And I can be as critical as anyone else. My opinion is that you absolutely nailed it in this video. Including seeing wire pull out of a crimp. Very educational. Love the inclusive information, parts list, and pricing. Keep up the good work and contributions.
Awesome, I'm glad you liked the video! Thanks for watching, Larry.
I'm wondering why it took me so many videos to finally get to this one. This is a good one!
I love this video. Even if I have a slightly different setup, it makes TOTAL sense to me now. I have basic electrical knowledge, but only that of "teaching circuits" to 3rd graders. I've also conducted invention camps during the summers, where students take a part old electrical devices, just to see how things are connected inside. I have been watching TH-cam for SUV RVing and with my retirement approaching, am converting my SUBURBAN to get me across the country. There are so many different setups, and I was uncertain that I would be able to repair something on the road. THIS allows me to build something, that I can fix on my own. I love it. And I appreciate anyone that "teaches." As far as criticism on your thread, that's about them and not you. It always is. It's sad to know someone treated someone unkindly and that is the only way they know how to be heard. SO KUDOS! I feel so much better about this!
I’ve been watching van life videos on TH-cam for two years now and that’s the best electric and most practical for any camping application!
Man that is the best easiest most portable solar system I've ever seen for someone like me who's just getting started I won't have to work to install anything it's portable if I were to have to change vehicles I can instantly take it with me you can build those and make a living on the road that's a sweet setup thank you so much you have no idea how simplified you've made this for me thank you
Yep, it's a great little setup. It's heavy, so it's not the easiest thing in the world to move around, but it definitely can be moved between vehicles or in and out of one vehicle. It works great for me. Thanks Dee!
Thank You, Tristan! You have such a straightforward , practical setup AND ability to TEACH ...Always look forward to your videos! 🚗👍🌞
Aw thanks :) I always appreciate you watching and commenting. I'm glad you liked the video.
Agreed. I'm interested in all new system (for me) and very little knowledge of how things work .Thank you good start for me
Wow! I really like this setup. Having all the bits in the heavy-duty tub makes it so much more doable for my situation. My Winnebago really has no good space to put extra batteries for solar, but this setup would enable me to put them either in the passenger foot area or behind the driver's seat. Thanks for the great ideas!
Yep, it's great that it's portable. If you consider a small 50-lb box portable. It's a pain to move around, but at least it is possible to move it around. I really like it. Thanks Barb.
Thanks for that. Nice to see an amateur going through something as if talking to other amateur...like me! I’m an older lady needing a bit of power for my allotment so this has been really useful. Cheers from England xx
I appreciate your video! Next year I plan on heading out boon-docking in my Jeep!
At 53yrs old, I can do this!!! Thank you!!!! 👍🇬🇧
Thanks for watching!
This is really to the point, nice, a clear, well put together video. i understood the process completely thanks to your excellent demonstration. I especially like how you showed what tools are needed, the parts involved, and then read the steps. I giggled when you said, "Crisis averted". What a fine, 5 star presentation. This was really helpful.
Great! I'm glad it was helpful! It's the kind of tutorial I wished existed when I was learning about the stuff.
SIMPLE, BUT IS SO HELPFUL ASSEMBLY OF THE POWER BOX.
I love the modularity of this. You could even park in the shade and set this out in the sun on hot days! I’m only three minutes in and want to build my own.
Yep, exactly. It takes only a couple of minutes to take the solar panel off. Works great.
Thank you so much. Solar can be so confusing if you have no experience with it. Your video is very informative and makes it seem doable. Good job.
I'm glad it was helpful. Thanks Paula!
Thats cool Brah !! I used to fall asleep with my radio on ..so I did this and it literally jumpstarted my car from the trunk DAILY!! I couldnt imagine not doing this foreal...
Nice. I'm putting my first solar panel on my travel trailer tomorrow.
Awesome! You'll love it. I really like mine.
I have basically the same power box setup that you have (although a different brand of solar panels). I bought an extension cable so that I could place my panels out about 25 feet from my car. In that way, I could park under shade and still have my panels fully exposed to the sun all day long. I mounted a really large deep cycle battery in a plastic toolbox that came with wheels. This is so helpful when I need to move it around. My battery doesn't require maintenance, but I vented the top of the tool box to allow for the escape of any potential off-gassing.
Sounds like a great setup. Thanks for watching!
A few things to improve battery effiency. Over all it is very nice light weight build. I would advise that you use the other cables and wire it directly to battery terminals. I would keep the cigerette lighter tube. If all you need is usb just plug a car usb to the cigerette charger. The charger uses electricity from battery when the sun is down. Inverters eat 12 to 20% of energy produced. If you just need to charge at night this is much more effecient. If the sun is up the charge controller must be on to recharge. Only power up the inverter when you really need 110 ac. Unplug the usb when not in use. It does pull power even when not charging.
Nice set up. I upgraded from a SLAB to LiFePO4 and it made life so much easier. Highly recommended since you only have 35Ah usable right there but it's all based on your needs.
Great setup.
I will make same for my graphine battery pack.
Then when these are fully charged send to my home solar system...
Great video
Did a nice job explaining what you were doing. Connect positive always first just like jumping car battery.
Thanks Dale!
U r a Great teacher!!! I've watched a few of these kind of videos and NOW I understand❣. Thanks so very much😍
Thanks Melissa!
Great build thanks for the video. Suggestions: I wouldn't use the cigarette lighter for several reasons including increased resistance, reliability and fuse amperage. Second, you should solder the ends of the wire before putting them into the screwdown connectors. This will decrease resistance and increase reliability (you mention in your video that they pulled out).
Dear, dear, dear young man! You are such a great blessing! This is more than a 101! This is also a hands-on and demo. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Hugs and gratitude from Texas!
I'm so glad you found it helpful! I appreciate you watching and commenting :)
I enjoyed watching your detailed instructions on how to use and connect all the parts and the tools you used to put this Solar system together! All thumbs up 👍 for a very informative video. Sometimes just hearing the words of the description as well as watching in real time without speeding up the video ( except redundant parts) really shows that most of us could do this project with the exception of picking up that many pounds which I cannot do by myself! Thank you for sharing your experience with hooking up your Solar power. 👍👍👍👍
Great, I'm glad you found it helpful! Thanks for watching and commenting.
Good job and thanks for sharing. One recommendation: to balance the load across the two batteries you should use the positive of one battery and negative of the other battery going to the inverter and coming from the charge controller.
Thanks Jack, I'll look into doing that.
I’m in the process of doing one of these myself & you’ve given me some great ideas. One thing though, cigarette lighter connectors are usually
Fused for 150 w & you have a much larger inverter, so you won’t be able to pull more than 150w without the fuse blowing. The inverter I’ve purchased has a fuse on the side , so I’m going to wire it directly to the battery.
I've heard that 200W is the usual maximum for cigarette lighters, but you may be right with 150W. If I do need more than that in the future, I'll directly wire it to the battery like you mentioned, but it's currently working out fine the way it is. Thanks for watching.
SUV RVing I’ve just powered a DVD player, small sound bar & a Projector via the cigarette connecter with no problems. So yes if you don’t need to pull the maximum from the inverter it’s fine as it is. I did find some cool battery terminals (on Amazon) that has grub screws , so you can connect 4 different wires per terminal .
You're such an amateur! Which is exactly why I think this is a great video. Not everyone is an electrical engineer, nor can most laymen understand them. Your intro really sold me when you explained everything from wind noise to the fact you've never done this before. 👍👍👍
Thanks, glad you liked it!
Hello, I just found this video. Thank you very much for showing the whole process. I was looking to add another batter to my fishing boat to run the fish finder and any possible device that I might need at the same time using the original battery for the electric motor. Thank you again! I'll be looking into building this for my self.
Exactly what I'm planning on, this helps immensely. Thank you !
Awesome 'step-by-step' instructional! Thank you! Before you mentioned it at the end of the video, I was thinking, 'He should've made a tray so the batteries don't slide around.'
Yep, the sliding around was definitely something I didn't think about beforehand but was pretty apparent as soon as I started moving the box around. Thanks Brian.
Very good video. I think I could do this! You made it very easy to see what you're doing as well. Thanks for taking the time to video this.
Glad you liked it. My frustration with all of the other videos out there was they they assumed you're an electronics wizard, so I wanted to create the video for people like me who have basically no experience with this kind of thing.
SUV RVing Yes, I know,right? It's like if I was an electronic wizard, I wouldn't need their video in the first place. That's why I appreciate your video so much. Also the sound is good, and I can understand what you're saying,haha. Thanks again.
@@SUVRVing Such an informative video. Agreed. I've watched many of these DIY solar videos and yours is so deliberate and easy to follow. Three questions I have you may or may not be able to help with. PWM vs MPPT controller. Which gives me best bang for the buck? Also, to show you how little I know, how does the controller "know" when to stop feeding power into the batteries? Finally, can I charge my Bluetti AC50S with this setup? Thanks Tristan. Amazingly helpful video as usual.
Thank you for posting this. I greatly appreciate it. I also have a Toyota RAV4 but I have not tried to do this yet. I only slept in it one night on the beach. You made this look like I can accomplish the solar panel system also.
RAV4 owners unite! The build process isn't difficult, but there are just a bunch of little steps you have to do. You can do it!
That was a very awesome and inspiring video! Makes me think that even I, old lady that I am, might be able to do something like that! Thanks for taking the time to show step by step what you did.
Thanks Carol! I think anyone can do it. Just lots of little steps that you need to follow, but no step is very difficult.
Very easy to understand with regular terms that the regular Joe to get it
Thanks Jose! I'm glad you found it helpful.
You explain it really good you have the gift to teach I watch so many video but still was confused and yours made everything clear good work and God blessed..
Thank you so much for your video, this is precisely what I was looking for, I feel confident enough to do my own solar build, look forward to your channel, thanks again.
Merci beaucoup monsieur ! C'est bien instructif votre vidéo ... j'en ai appris bien de belles choses MERCI ....continuez ..Bon courage
If you are using your solar system for your laptop I didn't notice if the 400 w inverter was a pure sine wave inverter. I would have went with the pure sine wave, possible a little bit bigger one. I liked the video, good job.
From what I've read, yes, I agree that the pure sine wave inverters seem to be better for electronics. But I've been using a smaller (150ish, I believe) cheapo regular inverter in the front seat of my car for years, have plugged my laptop into it countless times, and have never had any issues. Shrug. And my laptop's power supply is only 45W, so 400 is more than enough. Thanks for watching, Mike.
This really helped me understand solar
This is what I needed to know. I just need to get batteries and can make my own solar set up, thanks you for the great instructions.
From Iran hello to you i also made one not exactly same but it works well. Thanks
The washers go under a rotating surface, so you got it right. The lock-split washer (aka Grover washer) has the added benefit of locking the nut (has the spring pressure and the edges biting into the surface). Not sure - but - you might wanna put a flat washer in between the Grover and the battery for added slip when locking and less damage to that particular surface.
Thanks Tristan, the video was very well done and I like your set up. I was thinking... I know you said the batteries don't move with the velcro... if those bolts are still sticking out and you happen to have a block of packing styrofoam kicking around somewhere you can just pop a couple of those on there to protect your wiring and possibly even the batteries if you should stop hard enough for them to come off the velcro. Thanks again!
I'm glad you liked it. True, some extra foam in there couldn't hurt. Thanks for watching.
Good video but some advice, place a few pieces of ply board between the battery's and screws on both sides, plus tie down straps needed to stop batteries moving in to the screws if on bumpy roads 😀
A 400W inverter will take about 33A. The wire gauge on the CLA is too small. I believe it is rated at under 10A. Replacing the connectors and using wire at least 12GA. Try something like Anderson Powerpole connectors.
For more details on lithium charge curves, here's a basic article. batteryuniversity.com/index.php/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries
Since you’re using a solar panel to charge the battery you might looking to get into a pure sine wave inverter instead
Good job Tristan!
Very clear.
When I’m ready I will use your link.
Great, I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for watching.
Thank you Sir for the absolute best and easiest guide to Solar Generator Assembly !!!! Two thumbs up!!!!
I'm glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching.
You have a Great simple build that should give you easy troubleshooting and repair.But there is one thing I would add a simple volt/amp gauge to the battery directly not connected to your charge controller.That way if charge controller is faulty you know it’s not the Battery.
Great job. A very clean set up. Looks very portable. I'm sure it would make boondocking a lot more comfortable. Thanks for showing us. Davin
Yep, it makes the car feel more like a small home rather than a metal-sided tent. It's great! Thanks Davin.
You are using any battery which AGM's are the best regarding bad fumes, connect them at the same time before using the other battery the older battery will make the new battery the same as it is. So it's always best to connect them at the same time and use them at the time.
Excellent video. You did a very good job walking through the process and not assuming everyone who watches this knows how to build this set up.
Really enjoying your videos.
Very nice clear video. One thing (I) would do is cut off the male plug from the inverter and use ring terminals straight to the battery with a fuse in between, but keep the 12v female plug for future needs or other 12v devices. Those plug type connecters can fail. Best wishes on your travels. And I love your free Kindle book page!!!
I thought about doing that, but it was easier to do it this way, and I liked having the option of being able plug 12-v male plugs/devices into the batteries. The female plug has worked great so far. Thanks for watching and commenting, Tim.
I like how you show how to do it step by step thanks.
Dont under estimate yourself Tristin....great video for the beginner / novice to follow/use! You did great!.. Hoping 2cu out there real soon!
Thanks Daryl! I'm glad you enjoyed the video and found it useful.
THANKS for uploading this. helping me along my path to my DIY solar generator. I have all of my components, im just looking for box mounting ideas. and your video helped me to make decisions on how i want to proceed. cheers
Thanks for the comprehensive instructions. Really clear and enjoyable to learn like this from a 'none expert' who learnt on the job and through research. Also thanks for the car sticker which is on its way to England as I type. Looking forward to your further adventures.
Thanks Rod! I'm glad you liked the video. Let me know when you get the sticker; I want to know how long it takes to get to you.
I’m a noob with this as well, thank you for this video. It helped me a lot!
Glad to hear it! Thanks Alex.
I ordered a Grape 100-Watt Polycrystalline Solar Panel for RV's, Boats and 12-Volt Systems
l from Home Depot for $89.00 along with clamps. Solar charger 30Amp from Amazon with 1 Grape GS-MC4 15' connector wire. I think I will get another MC4 connector wire and I have to go get another Battery. It will be 100 ah. You have a good vedio of how to assemble. I forgot until I saw yours that I need to get fuse line for positive side and I may get a larger inverter because I want more than 400 Watts and get another solar panel .
Sounds like a great setup! Assembling all of the little bits and pieces is half the battle. Once you've done that, it's just a matter of doing all of the little steps. You'll have a great time with it!
Fun to share your happiness. Well done! You made that so simple, I think even an Ol' girl can do it.
I liked this video!! Well explained and detailed. Thank you so much. This has always been my idea and I'm going to do it. I already have the 100w solar panel, I need the other things that I will do. Greetings friend.
Amazing! I actually understood it! Thanks!
I bought from Jakery on Amazon. Super easy. EVERYTHING IS IN ONE UNIT! Tristan did it the hard way. Tristan is a penny pincher.
Looks like you did a great job! I have plans to do something similar and this video will be very helpful. Thanks!
Just watched this video as I was researching on off the grid power sources.. Great tutorial, respect that you acknowledged you are not an expert on the field but someone who wants to try setting up your own power supply when you're traveling.. I would like to know how much usage of electricity that you have during your travel and how does the battery cope? And also how long does it take to recharge the battery on average? Thanx for making this video!
To be honest, it's hard for me to say how much I use. The battery voltage rarely drops down below 13.0 volts. And usually by the time I wake up and get on the road, the batteries are full again at 13.7ish volts. So basically I'm not really even putting a dent in the batteries.
Wow. One of the best how-to videos I've seen on TH-cam. I could see and hear everything and you did it in such an orderly way. Mmm, maybe I could do my solar setup myself. I loved how you mounted everything to the box--makes it so accessible.
If I can do it, you can definitely do it too. It's not overly difficult, you just need to make sure you follow all of the little steps. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Excellent video very informative has given me the courage to try it myself thanks.
Alan in the England.
Thanks for watching, Alan 👍
LOOKS GREAT ENJOY ALWAYS LEARNING
Thanks Anthony!
Great idea in simplicity,III I bet nerve racking if one were to take a drink every time I we all be 💯....
You do a nice job with your instructional videos.
Thanks Denise :)
As for the bolts, on your wiring tool there is a whole on the hinge labelled 6-32. It is a bolt cutter for that size. Just slide the bolt through and squeeze close. I would still throw something over them like foam/spray foam or liquid tape
Or make the shorter and get a cap nut
See a wiring diagram for connecting two batteries in parrelel because once you added the second the battery the negative terminal changes to the sdcond battery. Hope this helps
I think its the best video i found very easy Thanks again, you make the Best video
Very nice! One minor point brought up by Will Prouse in one of his videos though. Washers should not be used between the battery posts and the wire connectors. They add extra resistance and limit the area of contact. Also, second the comment about checking wire and fuse sizes. The wire you salvaged from the solar cables only needed to handle 10 amps, so it may be too small for the current between batteries or from batteries to inverter or future 12v outlets if you get devices that have larger requirements.
One of the best videos of its kind for simplicity. Thanks.
Thanks Webb Trekker!
You might want to get a battery heat sensor you could just lay it near the terminals but not touching to make sure the battery is not overheating and you just buy a little sensor that's pretty cheap to connect it to. something to make sure nothing touches them to short anything out. also from what I can remember you do not put any washers between the connections on the battery. Not sure it matters on the negative.
Very well don't ! I understand it, I got it, thank you very much....! God bless you and yours!
You did fantastic!. This is very close to what i want so i will experiment, hope i don't get electrocuted lol. I am thinking about longer wires so that i can park the van in the shade and rotate the panels to sunny locations, but you read that electricity doesn't like to travel :( must be a way.... hope you are having fun!
Maybe you could have a set of longer "extension" wires and a set of shorter wires. You'd probably want to use the shorter ones most of the time, but if you needed to, you could add the longer set on.
very nice presentation. Clear and precise and with candid mistakes we can all learn from. Enjoy your solar project!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching and commenting.
I have watched a ton of solar diy videos and by far your's taught me the most. You did an amazing job. Thanks a ton.
Thanks Deb! I'm glad it was helpful.
Great how-to video for setting up solar panels, thank you! I was concerned about the batteries off-gassing too, glad that was addressed in the comments. Can't wait to see the videos from your month long adventure!
Thanks Patricia! I posted the first video from the trip yesterday if you haven't seen it.
Good job and atleast your honest
Good job. You researched, planned and executed well. Thank you for sharing your well done video. Now "To infinity and beyond!"
Thanks James!
Excellent job!
A open MIND is so much more useful THAN A CLOSED ONE ;-)
Good thinking on your feet young man
Thanks!
Thanks for this great lesson. I've added it to my "watch later" so that I can follow along when/if the time comes. Thank you for sharing this set up with us!
Great, happy to help. Thanks for watching.
I don't know too much about electricity but have heard that you need to be careful about breathing the fumes from the batteries while you're sleeping inside the car at night. I'm not sure if that's true but I would look into it. Awesome job for a rookie.
I believe the issue isn't breathing the fumes but the potential for an explosion; the batteries off-gas hydrogen. But it's not like my car is a sealed box. I'm opening and closing the doors all day. Also, I think that the amount of off-gassing is in reality very minimal.
These are sealed AGM batteries. They do not out-gas.
Hello pal. I made one. Thanks
I will try this set up. I want to see if this will fit in under my bed. 2014 Kia Sorento.(It is a full time build, but its NOT a full time home)
I’m already a subscriber of Will Prowse... he’s good, but you’re great as well, because of this DIY kit you featured in the video, it’s really simple and something i can start off with... also another reason why i subscribed, clear, to the point. Looking forward to more great content.
Fantastic walkthrough
Thanks!
Nice clean job Tristan! Looks like it came together well. My solar setup worked well in the Utah sun when I was there a couple weeks ago.
Thanks Shawn! I just got back from a monthlong trip, and the solar setup worked perfectly. I'm really happy with how it's turned out. I appreciate you watching and commenting.
Very informative and easy to follow. Thanks!
You're welcome! Thanks for watching.
You say you want to configure the charge controller to stop sending out power below 12.06v/50%, and that you can configure the charge controller to stop sending out power at this point... then you connect the inverter straight to the battery!.
This means the inverter will sap the battery until it is stone dead, whatever settings you have on the charge controller.
To use the minimum voltage limit of the controller you need to connect the inverter to the load terminals of the controller, or if they are too low wattage rated connect them to a relay then run the positive lead to the inverter through the output side of the relay first.
Excellent video. Hope to build me one soon.
Parts are cheaper now
Thanks, glad you found it helpful!
Hi, the sticker arrived today Mon 23rd. Many thanks!
Great! I'm glad it arrived in one piece. That didn't take too long.