Can I permanently install solar set up to constantly trickle charge my battery?

[Eldirector]

As the title indicates, I am looking to install a solar panel on the front portion of my Gobi rack to provide a steady trickle to my only battery...a group 24 X2 AGM. I want to run an always hot 12v line to the rear for my Dometic CFX 3 55IM. I previously ran it off of my Jackery, but I want to avoid the in and out charging needs as I only drive a 20 minute each way daily commute and I want to limit my losses in the event my rig gets broken into. I would prefer to go this route versus installing a second aux battery.

Seems simple enough to me, but since this is no where near an area that I have any expertise in (I'm really only hands on for plug and play situations LOL), my questions are:

1. Is this possible?
2. If yes to 1, what size panel would suffice? I'm assuming the ol' adage of "Go big or go home" probably doesn't apply here.
3. Anything I need to be concerned about (frying the wiring, blowing up the battery, etc)?

I have searched the forum and have red where folks install towards the back and snake cables through the hatch grommet and typically into a distribution block. I was thinking on going straight to the battery for the solar controller with an inline fuse.

Thanks for reading and I'm open to suggestions and appreciate the any advice.

 

[Jetboy]

I'm not sure if you want to power your fridge all the time or just keep the battery topped off when everything is turned off.

The basic answer is that you'll need a battery charge controller. It will keep your solar output from over-charging the battery. So then you need to size the solar panel to provide enough energy to keep the battery charged each day. Wanting to run the fridge all the time will be a totally different animal from just maintaining battery when it's not charged.

Once you know the energy needs, then you need to figure out how much sun you'll get and size your panel appropriately. This will depend where you park, where you live, etc.

In general - 100 watt solar panel is more than enough for my fridge in the summer. So a 100 watt solar panel would probably do what you need if you park in the sun. You could glue them to the roof for a permanent mount.

Or there are thin film adhesive solar setups that glue to the hood from cascadia 4x4 or lensun solar. They're peal and stick panels for the hood.


The reason most people don't use or want fixed solar on the roof is that where it's hot - you usually want to park in the shade and put your solar panel out in the sun.


If you only need a trickle charge - then a small 10w panel is probably plenty. I use one in my FJ40 to keep the battery charged. Just a 5w charger I stick in the windshield. Works great for that purpose.

 

[fkheath]

Cascadia VSS system.

 

[fkheath]

Years ago, then VW was shipping cars from Germany to the US via surface (ship), they used a windshield mount solar panel to keep the battery charged during the long voyage. These are still readily available: Car Battery Solar Panel Trickle Charger VW Volkswagen 1CO915687 | eBay They plugged into the cigarette lighter (which is alway on in VW).

After the car arrived in the US, then panels were sent back to Germany for the next ship load of cars. I have one, but seldom use it.

 

[RustyAb]

I second the cascadia as long as you have a non ‘fake scoop’ Hood.

 

[Eldirector]

Thanks everyone for the input. I was planning on keeping the fridge in 24/7, hence the solar trickle insurance policy. I had figured that a 100 watt panel would be good for the job and Jetboy's response seemed to confirm that. I had previously ordered the 100W renogy kit from amazon that included the mppt charge controller, but alas, when I went to install is was just too wide for the front removable portion of my gobi rack. I need something that is ideally only about 40 inches wide.

As for that the stick on hood versions offered up, I do dig the looks and functionality (especially the simple cable run under the hood!!!). The only major problem that I have is that my rig came with the blinding glare-inducing, fake scoop hood (that I really like) so that doesn't seem to be an option. It would've blended right in with the DSM color. ;-)

 

[choochoo]

Thanks everyone for the input. I was planning on keeping the fridge in 24/7, hence the solar trickle insurance policy. I had figured that a 100 watt panel would be good for the job and Jetboy's response seemed to confirm that. I had previously ordered the 100W renogy kit from amazon that included the mppt charge controller, but alas, when I went to install is was just too wide for the front removable portion of my gobi rack. I need something that is ideally only about 40 inches wide.

As for that the stick on hood versions offered up, I do dig the looks and functionality (especially the simple cable run under the hood!!!). The only major problem that I have is that my rig came with the blinding glare-inducing, fake scoop hood (that I really like) so that doesn't seem to be an option. It would've blended right in with the DSM color. ;-)

That is a little confusing. You are going to keep the fridge in 24/7, but are you going to keep it on 24/7. Does what you do necessitate you needing to keep the fridge on all the time? You will probably only end up with a ~70-80 watt panel on your gobi rack.

 

[1Louder]

I run a 100 watt panel on my roof.

The controller is hidden in the panel where the factory jack is. I removed mine but this would probably work with it still in there. The Renogy controller I have has an optional Bluetooth module. It works well. I never have to look at the actual solar controller to see what power it is producing. The only thing I will say is the voltage it shows when not charging is typically .1 lower than the actual battery. This is NOT a wiring issue but something in the electronics.

Now you see it.

Now you don't.

The wiring is from Renogy as well. 10AWG wires with thick cover. Fed through the upper boot. Then fed down to the storage area. 10AWG wiring to the front via the normal routes, through the firewall and then direct to the battery.

What I like about my rack is I was able to hide the panel slightly below the rails. I may build a diy cover for when I need to put larger items on the roof. I had a similar setup with these same components on my FJ Cruiser.

 

[Ascole]

As the title indicates, I am looking to install a solar panel on the front portion of my Gobi rack to provide a steady trickle to my only battery...a group 24 X2 AGM. I want to run an always hot 12v line to the rear for my Dometic CFX 3 55IM. I previously ran it off of my Jackery, but I want to avoid the in and out charging needs as I only drive a 20 minute each way daily commute and I want to limit my losses in the event my rig gets broken into. I would prefer to go this route versus installing a second aux battery.

Seems simple enough to me, but since this is no where near an area that I have any expertise in (I'm really only hands on for plug and play situations LOL), my questions are:

1. Is this possible?
2. If yes to 1, what size panel would suffice? I'm assuming the ol' adage of "Go big or go home" probably doesn't apply here.
3. Anything I need to be concerned about (frying the wiring, blowing up the battery, etc)?

I have searched the forum and have red where folks install towards the back and snake cables through the hatch grommet and typically into a distribution block. I was thinking on going straight to the battery for the solar controller with an inline fuse.

Thanks for reading and I'm open to suggestions and appreciate the any advice.

I have the same rack and battery so this might be helpful. I installed a 100w renogy flexible panel on the middle of my rack and ran a 10awg to a Victron smartsolar 75/10 installed in the dead space in the driver side rear fender.

The Victron is Bluetooth controlled so you never have to touch it again. 10awg ground from controller to a ground in the back and 10awg power from controller to a fuse then the battery. I set this up so I have a always hot 12 volt in the back for my ARB fridge and it worked well.

Only issue is when you park in the shade for a few days and the battery doesn’t take a charge. I ended up running a low voltage disconnect in between the always hot 12v and the battery just in case, that saved me a dead battery a number of times.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[trezpass]

As the title indicates, I am looking to install a solar panel on the front portion of my Gobi rack to provide a steady trickle to my only battery...a group 24 X2 AGM. I want to run an always hot 12v line to the rear for my Dometic CFX 3 55IM. I previously ran it off of my Jackery, but I want to avoid the in and out charging needs as I only drive a 20 minute each way daily commute and I want to limit my losses in the event my rig gets broken into. I would prefer to go this route versus installing a second aux battery.

Seems simple enough to me, but since this is no where near an area that I have any expertise in (I'm really only hands on for plug and play situations LOL), my questions are:

1. Is this possible?
2. If yes to 1, what size panel would suffice? I'm assuming the ol' adage of "Go big or go home" probably doesn't apply here.
3. Anything I need to be concerned about (frying the wiring, blowing up the battery, etc)?

I have searched the forum and have red where folks install towards the back and snake cables through the hatch grommet and typically into a distribution block. I was thinking on going straight to the battery for the solar controller with an inline fuse.

Thanks for reading and I'm open to suggestions and appreciate the any advice.

So I just recently installed a solar panel on a Gobi stealth rack as part of my dual battery set-up. I went with a 100 watt renogy panel in the front of the rack mounted it with 12" lift struts that would allow it to sit flat or be angled. The 100 watt panel fits perfect in that location fyi

 

[Eldirector]

Thanks again for sharing as you are keeping me from reinventing the wheel. Not to cause confusion, but the whole point for me is to have the fridge available on demand and to not be worried about it. Utilizing it that way is way more of a luxury than a necessity, but isn't that what most of our modding is about?

1Louder, that is a very nice looking setup that you have going on there. You have all the elements of a setup that I am looking to do, but over the years of using my rack for just about everything...I want to install and go through the front as it typically tends to be the least utilized portion of my rack. Not sure I would be able to get that clean of a look on running those fat finger-like wires/cables though along the windshield. Thanks!

Ascole and trezpass, sounds like same rack and I would love to see pics of your setup as well. I know that you used a flexible and fixed panel respectively, but I should've pointed out that I have the gobi rack with the removable sunroof portion. Because of that feature, it actually narrows the placement surface to just under 40" due to the huge plastic wing-type nuts at each corner. (I don't have a sunroof, but I picked up the rack used locally from a seller on the forum about 4 years ago for a great price, so I can't complain at all.) I did re-measure and it looks like I can either flip the hardware over or change it out to having a more permanent system as I don't remove it at all. That will give me an extra 2" and allow the Renogy panel to fit. I am interested in how you ran your cabling. Thanks again and Happy Holidays to all!!!

 

[1Louder]

1Louder, that is a very nice looking setup that you have going on there. You have all the elements of a setup that I am looking to do, but over the years of using my rack for just about everything...I want to install and go through the front as it typically tends to be the least utilized portion of my rack. Not sure I would be able to get that clean of a look on running those fat finger-like wires/cables though along the windshield. Thanks!

Plenty of other options for wiring. It only needs to be 10-12AWG. A buddy of mine has a similar setup and choose to run his wires as you described. Since I have the sunroof further up wasn't an option for me.

 

[Ascole]

I ran the wiring for my solar panel through the back hatch into the headliner then down the rear pillar into the wheel well.

If you want to run down the windshield take a look at this, could be a viable option

Universal Wire Hider


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jhguth]

in NC a 100W panel laying flat on my roof-rack has been enough to run my fridge 24-7

 

[Eldirector]

Happy New Year to all and thanks again for all of your input and advice. I was able to install a 100 watt Renogy panel with a Victron 75/15 BT mppt and modified the brackets to bolt directly to me removable rack portion locations. The cables were a simple run down the side of the headliner as one tucks perfectly into an existing crevice that runs the length downward into the engine bay and I wired tied them to together. I did order the KC Hide a wire kit, but I didn't want to wait so I'll see if I install when it arrives.

I don't fully understand all the data coming into the Victron, but I do know that it is charging and cycles through the different phases: Float, Absorption and Bulk. I think that I know the answer to this one, but do I also need when of them "charge booster" diodes as well or as I believe doesn't this set up work around that?

 

[blksubykid]

Happy New Year to all and thanks again for all of your input and advice. I was able to install a 100 watt Renogy panel with a Victron 75/15 BT mppt and modified the brackets to bolt directly to me removable rack portion locations. The cables were a simple run down the side of the headliner as one tucks perfectly into an existing crevice that runs the length downward into the engine bay and I wired tied them to together. I did order the KC Hide a wire kit, but I didn't want to wait so I'll see if I install when it arrives.

I don't fully understand all the data coming into the Victron, but I do know that it is charging and cycles through the different phases: Float, Absorption and Bulk. I think that I know the answer to this one, but do I also need when of them "charge booster" diodes as well or as I believe doesn't this set up work around that?

Make sure you set the charge settings on the controller per your battery manufactures spec.

 

[keph13]

FYI anyone doing this should look up gauge requirements - 10awg is way overkill for 100w - you only need 14 (since it's <10amps). The math works the same as in-house wiring. Also why I ran my two panels in series - they're nominally 12v panels, so that's 24v at 200w = 8 amps max, so 14awg is fine (and the whole setup puts out more like 50 volts in the sun - why you need a solar charger).

Not only are higher gauge cables a waste of money, if you end up running them through the headliner and around corners, the smaller gauge the easier time you'll have installing.

 

[Titanpat57]

I've had a 100 watt Reneogy panel on my rack, with a 10 amp MPPT controller running my Dometic fridge that lives in the truck for 9-10 months out of the year. I've been running the same Northstar AGM group 31 for 5 years now.

No issues.

 

[Sweetopac]

I’ve been considering a similar setup for my own vehicle and found that it’s definitely doable. I worked with Solar Smart in Dublin for my home solar install, and they were really helpful with making sure the system was the right size and safe. For your setup, I’d suggest a panel in the range of 30 to 50 watts, depending on your battery and energy needs. The key is making sure your solar controller is matched to the panel and battery type to avoid overcharging or damaging anything. You’re on the right track with using an inline fuse too—safety first!