Solar panel & batteries?

[rando18]

Amazing isn't it... As many completely different solutions as there are projectors, and they all work! I love it!

This forum is pretty cool!

[Shadow Catcher]

We have one other possible, what you might call hybrid solution. Our Waco refrigerator sits in the back of the car when we're traveling powered by a line coming from the vehicle battery. During this time the battery in the trailer is brought up to full charge by the solar panel. Quite frankly we still don't have a long-term i.e. one week or longer camping in one spot experience.

[8ball_99]

We have one other possible, what you might call hybrid solution. Our Waco refrigerator sits in the back of the car when we're traveling powered by a line coming from the vehicle battery. During this time the battery in the trailer is brought up to full charge by the solar panel. Quite frankly we still don't have a long-term i.e. one week or longer camping in one spot experience.

He should be able to just leave the fridge in the trailer.. Most cargo trailers have brakes so they are wired with a 7way plug.. It has the charge wire going to the battery. Anyone pulling with a truck will probably have factory wired plug so they should have 10 awg wire going to the rear of the truck for the charge wire.. It shouldnt' have a problem keeping the fridge going at just a few amps.. I know my 3way fridge pulls 10amps on DC and I have np running it and charging the battery while on the road.

[rando18]

We have one other possible, what you might call hybrid solution. Our Waco refrigerator sits in the back of the car when we're traveling powered by a line coming from the vehicle battery. During this time the battery in the trailer is brought up to full charge by the solar panel. Quite frankly we still don't have a long-term i.e. one week or longer camping in one spot experience.

Thanks Shadow Catcher.
Good ideas.
Rando

[rando18]

We have one other possible, what you might call hybrid solution. Our Waco refrigerator sits in the back of the car when we're traveling powered by a line coming from the vehicle battery. During this time the battery in the trailer is brought up to full charge by the solar panel. Quite frankly we still don't have a long-term i.e. one week or longer camping in one spot experience.

He should be able to just leave the fridge in the trailer.. Most cargo trailers have brakes so they are wired with a 7way plug.. It has the charge wire going to the battery. Anyone pulling with a truck will probably have factory wired plug so they should have 10 awg wire going to the rear of the truck for the charge wire.. It shouldnt' have a problem keeping the fridge going at just a few amps.. I know my 3way fridge pulls 10amps on DC and I have np running it and charging the battery while on the road.

GOOD IDEAS 8ball.
Maybe I could wire a cigarette type
adapter into the trailer wireing.
Plug the refridg into that while going
down the road. Solar panel can charge
other batteries at that time like Shadow Catcher said.
Thanks Rando

[accrete]

...with the possibilities of a wind generator...

A couple months back i did an extensive search for a vertical axis wind generator, thinking it would be safer in a campground and easier to mount but didn't find anything really promising for rv use as the design is not quite ready for prime time as efficiency is quite low and costly to maintain compared to horizontal axis wind generators.

I'd sure enjoy something that looked like this on my rig sending power to the batteries:

[rando18]

...with the possibilities of a wind generator...

A couple months back i did an extensive search for a vertical axis wind generator, thinking it would be safer in a campground and easier to mount but didn't find anything really promising for rv use as the design is not quite ready for prime time as efficiency is quite low and costly to maintain compared to horizontal axis wind generators.

I'd sure enjoy something that looked like this on my rig sending power to the batteries:

Wow! That's quite a generator.
Thanks for sharing
Rando

[Shadow Catcher]

I played with the idea of a small wind generator but came to the conclusion that I was much better off with solar and conservation of power, i.e. LED, computer case fans...

[8ball_99]

I think a wind generator is kind of a neat idea.. But really having to take it down and put it up constantly along with finding a spot to store it while on the road just seems like more trouble then its worth.. You should easily be able to get enough power with just solar. I've got two 80 watt panels on mine now and have been very happy with their output.. So much so I have another set of 80 watters just laid up against the wall in my shop. I bought them thinking I'd really need them. So far just the 2 have worked great.. I still plan on adding the other set just cause I already have them.. Besides its better to have a little more power then you need then not enough!

[droid_ca]

I guess it all depends on how your wind generator is set up in regards to setting it up and taking it down I'd like to have a radio antenna that goes on the top so I think the set up shouldn't be too bad just remove the blades and store everything on the bed I guess, never really thought it through

[bdosborn]

I run both a 12V fridge in the trailer and a 12V fridge in the truck.

Here's the one inside the trailer, it holds all the food:

Tundra Energy Usage

Here's the one that rides in the truck, it holds all the beverages :

Waeco Energy Usage

I also have 220 watts of PV:


The Tundra averages 1amp-hr and the Waeco averages 0.5 amp-hrs of usage at 80F. I usually leave the Waeco running off the truck over night; I'll plug it into the trailer if I don't plan on driving the next day. I think 100 watts of PV would keep up with our usage if there was bright sun every day and the panel tracked the sun. Our 220 watts allows for some clouds and I can leave the panels laying flat. Just got back from camping all week and it was cloudy/rainy the entire time. I had to run the generator after 2 days, but that was the first time in a couple of years I had to use it. We have 230 amp-hrs of Deka golf cart batteries located inside the trailer so they are in a conditioned space and of course they're vented outside.



Regarding wind power, there aren't many places where the wind blows consistently enough to make them a sure bet for power and I don't like camping in those places.

Bruce

[rando18]

I run both a 12V fridge in the trailer and a 12V fridge in the truck.

Here's the one inside the trailer, it holds all the food:

Tundra Energy Usage

Here's the one that rides in the truck, it holds all the beverages :

Waeco Energy Usage

I also have 220 watts of PV:


The Tundra averages 1amp-hr and the Waeco averages 0.5 amp-hrs of usage at 80F. I usually leave the Waeco running off the truck over night; I'll plug it into the trailer if I don't plan on driving the next day. I think 100 watts of PV would keep up with our usage if there was bright sun every day and the panel tracked the sun. Our 220 watts allows for some clouds and I can leave the panels laying flat. Just got back from camping all week and it was cloudy/rainy the entire time. I had to run the generator after 2 days, but that was the first time in a couple of years I had to use it. We have 230 amp-hrs of Deka golf cart batteries located inside the trailer so they are in a conditioned space and of course they're vented outside.



Regarding wind power, there aren't many places where the wind blows consistently enough to make them a sure bet for power and I don't like camping in those places.

Bruce

Thanks for the great info Bruce. The pictures are very helpful. Nice looking Rig too. Rando

[DriverOne]

That looks exceptionally easy to build. I see PVC pipe connected to styrofoam aircraft wings that have been softened (melted) and reformed. A flexible driveshaft sent down a steel electrical conduit pipe will work to put the unit 12-ft in the air, and securing the conduit with light steel cables (think radio tower) sunk in via corkscrew anchors give you what you're looking for... I'm leaving details out, but this is an impromptu idea. Storage would be as easy as sliding the pole under your trailer and mounting with bent gate hinges and wing nuts...

[bdosborn]

Here's a link to the NREL map showing averages wind speeds across the county.The map shows speeds at 30M above the ground, the average wind velocities drop as you get closer to the ground.

http://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/30m_US_Wind.jpg

Cut-in speed is the minimum wind speed at which the wind turbine will generate usable power. This wind speed is typically between 7 and 10 mph for most turbines. There's just not that many areas in the country that you can consistently get enough wind to make a turbine a reliable source of power.

Bruce

[DriverOne]

I don't think that average wind speed would be a problem. You're not really taking into consideration that camping trips for many rely more on weather forecasts' predictions than whether or not they've had wind that year. True, the cost may be a deterrent, but a homemade generator could be of good use to help restore power to the 12v system if the day was going to be considered breezy or gusty. Nobody here has talked about using something similar in a creek or river either...