packaged unit solar generator setup or DIY builds links (renogy)? (2 Viewers)

[landcruiser3DP]

any link to shoredreamer's solar build? i found these and his tundra.

Thread 'Show us your solar panel install on your 80'

Jul 17, 2021

Let’s see pictures of your solar panel installation on your 80. Anxious to see what others have done. Topside, flexibles, management mounting, etc.

I went down the solar panel road about 4 years ago. Glad I did. Here’s a picture of my current setup topside.

I’m considering the semi permanent installation of the flexible 100 watt renogy panel on the sliding windows. Has anyone else done that?

• musthave
• Replies: 75
• Forum: 80-Series Tech

• 

Building a home in a 80 series Landcruiser

About 25 years ago we bought a family car. A 1993 Toyota FZJ80 Landcruiser. It served us for 20 years for family camping, and car pooling around town. Now that the 4 kids have left the house, we have no use for it. Looking at the low resale value, we decided instead to invest and convert it...

www.overlandbound.com

 

[250below10]

thanks man. so it's fixed 100 Watt roof mounted solar panels - Renogy Wanderer (MPPT) - 100 Amp Hour LiPo Battery - 1000W Inverter (some brand and specs) - and you have some fixed mounted female Aux outlets somewhere?

then you also have a packaged Wagan solar generator (which must have a built in MPPT and Inverter?) and you have backup foldable solar panels?

so you charge the LiPo battery before you leave home and you plug the fridge into the cigarette outlet (starter battery and alternator)? then when you get where you are going you plug it into the LiPo. does that sound right?

any pics of the battery or inverter or mounted plugs (if any)? or i guess i could build my own box?

That is definitely one way to set it up. Im not sure if the Renogy Wanderer is MPPT + DC to DC chargers or just a MPPT. If the latter, you definitely want to add a DC to DC charger, in my opinion this is even more important than the solar. So you can charge your house battery as you are driving.

Im not familiar with the Wagan brand but it appears to be a portable power station (like a jackary, go zero and others). In that case, yes, the charger, mppt and inverter are all built in. You definitely dont need to have a power station + a secondary battery set up.
With that said, I also have one and there is definitely use for both. One situation that happened to me was we got to camp, I wanted to go hit some trails but the wife wanted to stay behind. In that case is nice to be able to pull the fridge out of the trunk, plug it into the power station and leave it all behind at camp (happy wife happy life, or something like that )

You could charge the house battery before leaving home and all that jazz, but that is where having a DC to DC charger comes in handy, since it would continuously charge your house battery as you are driving. If you get a 20A DC to DC charger, you could theoretically charge a dead 100ah battery up to 100% in 5hrs of driving. 50A charger and the time comes down to 2hrs.
I plan on only running the winch out of the starter battery and everything else will be wired to the house battery.

No pics yet as Im still waiting on some parts to arrive and some time off to do the install

 

[landcruiser3DP]

Im about to install a secondary battery so I did some research and I think I can help.

First of all you need to decided if you want to run a second battery (also called a house battery), or if you just want a way to charge your main battery (starter battery) with a solar panel.
If you have the budget and space, I would go with the first choice and get a secondary battery.

You need now to decide if you want to mount the battery in the engine bay or somewhere inside the truck (most likely the trunk in that case). If you decide you wan the battery inside the car, I would 100% go with a LiFeP4 battery, as they are much lighter, getting pretty cheap and you can get full capacity out of it. Otherwise, if it is going in the engine bay, you need another type of battery as LiFePo4 are not recommended for under the hood installation.

Now, how to charge that secondary battery?
In my case, and most ppl’s case, you want a way to charge it from your alternator, and here is where your DC to DC charger shows up, it takes power from your alternator (via the starter battery) to charge your house battery. The beauty of the DC to DC charger is that it can charge different types of batteries, meaning you can have different chemistries between your starter battery and house battery. Most (to my knowledge) DC to DV chargers also act as a battery isolator, making sure your house battery only gets power from your starter battery when the vehicle is running, that way you dont end up with a dead starter battery.

Now, to get power from the sun. You want solar panels to capture the energy and some device to make that into usable energy for your battery. There is where the MPPT comes in, it is the middle man between the solar panels and your battery.
Some DC to DC chargers are combined with a MPPT Redarc BCDC charger comes to mind.

You have a means to store energy (batteries) and you have a mean to charge it (DC to DC chargers and/or solar). Now how to use that power. And that is up to you. Install any kind of DC outlets you need. Cigarettes lighter style, USB style, Anderson Powerpole style, SAE style, you get the idea.

And an extra add on, if you need AC power (110v like your house outlets) you also need to install a inverter (changes DC power into AC)

That is the basics of it, and Im by no means an expert on electricity. So if anyone smarter than me (no hard to find those) slop any bad info I gave please chime in!

it's starting to make sense to me.
so you could buy a 100Amp Hour LiPo, this RedArc MPPT (it combines the ability to do DC to DC charging while driving and solar power charging - presumably when not driving) and mount it in some kind of used pelican box?
then you'd need to have inputs for some kind of wiring from the starter battery through the firewall?
inputs for a solar panel?
various outlets for your devices?
does that sound right?
then you just have some additional wiring through the firewall from the battery (not sure what kind of safety measures you need if it is not going to be always plugged in). and you have a battery you can change out and under warranty. and you have a redarc unit?

 

[250below10]

it's starting to make sense to me.
so you could buy a 100Amp Hour LiPo, this RedArc MPPT (it combines the ability to do DC to DC charging while driving and solar power charging - presumably when not driving) and mount it in some kind of used pelican box?
then you'd need to have inputs for some kind of wiring from the starter battery through the firewall?
inputs for a solar panel?
various outlets for your devices?
does that sound right?
then you just have some additional wiring through the firewall from the battery (not sure what kind of safety measures you need if it is not going to be always plugged in). and you have a battery you can change out and under warranty. and you have a redarc unit?

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Yeah, that is an option

And there is a youtube video for that



Mind you that in this case all you doing is building a power station.

 

[Dragos80]

Something else to consider as it was mentioned on the previous page.

 

[landcruiser3DP]

Remember your alternator is only 80A.....i'd rather install a Lensun hood solar panel just for that reason (dual battery)

wow. so you would use this to charge up a second engine bay battery? or to be constantly topping off your starter battery if you let it sit somewhere without AC power?
also can you help wm with the 80 Amp Altenator comment? the Amps is how much power it can output? so if i check the Amp rating of this Lesun unit somehow i will find it is more efficient per hour or over a full battery charge or something? like can we run an example with my starter battery? i always have to run an example every time i do this stuff because i never remember it...

Watts to Amp Hours

Having knowledge about watts to amp hours, amps, watt-hour, and amp-hour is a great advantage especially to those who use batteries for their power needs.

naturesgenerator.com

 

[Dragos80]

wow. so you would use this to charge up a second engine bay battery? or to be constantly topping off your starter battery if you let it sit somewhere without AC power?
also can you help wm with the 80 Amp Altenator comment? the Amps is how much power it can output? so if i check the Amp rating of this Lesun unit somehow i will find it is more efficient per hour or over a full battery charge or something? like can we run an example with my starter battery? i always have to run an example every time i do this stuff because i never remember it...

Watts to Amp Hours

Having knowledge about watts to amp hours, amps, watt-hour, and amp-hour is a great advantage especially to those who use batteries for their power needs.

naturesgenerator.com

90W on the hood of your car will only help you maintain your starter battery fresh while camping (as in not driving).

It will never be 90W under any circumstances.
The same goes for roof mounted panels.

 

[landcruiser3DP]

thanks a lot for that. i'd seen it mentioned elsewhere but it's a lot of data to process. i need to print out the manual for that and check out that link (thanks).
so it is a DC to DC charger but it doesn't have the solar power controller capability? so you can charge a "home" LiPo from your engine bay AGM? and do you have some kind of hard wire to your starter battery or you can use your existing Aux outlet?

Watts to Amp Hours

Having knowledge about watts to amp hours, amps, watt-hour, and amp-hour is a great advantage especially to those who use batteries for their power needs.

naturesgenerator.com

 

[250below10]

The Bluetti unit itself has the solar charging capability built in
This extra gadget just makes it charge from your alternator in a faster way

 

[lumbee1]

correct me if i don't get this right.
you used to have what you are calling a "house battery" which i guess is in your engine bay. i guess this was charged up before you left and then by solar power? the way this gets charged is by connecting the renogy blanket panels through a "MPPT" that lets the cells charge the house battery?
is this called a "DC to DC generator"? i get confused on this part.
then after having a failed alternator you went ahead and added some kind of isolator or controller between the starter battery and the house battery so when the alternator is working you always know the house battery is fully charged?
where is the house battery again? in the engine bay?

From this view, house battery (second battery) on the left, starting battery on the right.
Normally, alternator charges starting battery and house battery when driving. However when the Cruiser is sitting for long periods of time with rock lights on, fridge running, phones charging, etc, I will connect the solar blanket to the MPPT and charge the house battery.

The MPPT is a DC to DC converter or generator.

Sorry about the explanation. The house battery and battery controller have been installed for years. The alternator stopped charging the starting battery and house battery.