(Part 2) Best products from r/SolarDIY

Here's a 'shopping list' for as light-weight a system that I can think of throwing together from 'off the shelf' components:

>Solar Panels:
Two of these will give you a light-weight solution for 400 watts of power!
https://www.amazon.com/Dokio-Monocrystalline-foldable-Inverter-Controller/dp/B075SZMFP2/

>Charge Controller:
The included controller won't be terribly useful I'm afraid, because it's for Lead Acid, and is a crappy PWM controller anyways. So, let's assume you're going to DIY this a bit and build a weatherproof box for your battery and a controller like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Solar-Controller-Monitor-Temp-Sensor-Package/dp/B06XNP1BGR/

>Batteries:
Here's where you drop the real cash; At least one but preferably TWO of these guys.
https://www.amazon.com/LiFePO4-volt-Deep-Cycle-Battery/dp/B06XX197GJ/

>Inverter:
If you'll be needing AC power, you'll want something like this:
www.amazon.com/AIMS-Power-Watt-Inverter-Cables/dp/B002AMPHHC/

>Container of sorts:
You'll be needing something weatherproof for all this non-weatherproof stuff to sit inside. Find the 'weatherproof storage lockers' at sporting goods stores, and you can machine them to be what you need for stuff like this. It'll need to fit your batteries, inverter, and charge controller, and you'll need to mount them in there somehow so it doesn't bounce around. Then all you need is some slick weatherproof electrical connectors to mount going through the wall of the box, and you've got yourself a great system. You can even put in things like a 12 socket and weatherproof volt meter to keep an eye on your battery voltage.

Overall, this would cost probably around $3000. But, it'd work well. :)

If you can give me more specs on what sort of weight you can carry, you could have the option of switching to Lead Acid as a battery type; but that would add like 150 pounds of weight to this whole setup, but you'd save $1500 or there about on the batteries, and you COULD use the included cheap PWM controllers... but honestly that MPPT I think would be worth the extra cash.

The comparable product (excluding the panels, and assuming you only got one battery) would be the Goal Zero Yeti 1400 Lithium. It's $1700 and is about the same thing, again excluding the panels.

Honestly, for your purposes, the Goal Zero Yeti looks pretty good if you're not really into the DIY stuff; cause you'd be looking at $1700 plus $500 for the 400 watts of panels, so $2200 total. That's not bad! (Assuming you DIY it like I'm suggesting, and only use one battery, you're looking at around $2000. So, really, not much cheaper if the weight matters to you.)

I'm going to have to weigh my options on that one. It would be nice to make my own connections since this is a DIY project, but want to keep it cheap as well.

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>How are you charging the 'house' battery?

I'll have to look into that. I'm not sure if the alternator charges that battery or not, but it can be charged from the generator. I won't be using either of those options if possible, my plan is to recharge it using the 100 watt portable panel since it'll mainly be used for the water pump, wifi amplifier, and lp/smoke alarms.

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>What's the gel-cell's model number and such?

It's a renogy 100aH 12v battery: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KN6QUW2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

from the product description:

Specifications:
Cells Per Unit: 6
Voltage Per Unit: 12
Capacity: 100Ah 20hr-rate to 1.75V per cell 25℃
Weight: Approx. 67 lbs
Max. Discharge Current: 1000 A (5 sec)
Normal Operating Temperature Range:25°C±5℃
Float charging Voltage: 13.6 to 13.8 VDC/unit Average at 25℃
Recommended Maximum Charging Current: 20A
Container Material: A.B.S. UL94-HB, UL94-V0 Optional
Specification: 12.8X6.8X8.8 In.

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>Also, hooking up the solar to your house battery system is pretty easy, especially if it's 12 volts nominal. Depending on specifics there are better and worse ways to do it, but in theory it's very simple. :)

The solar battery bank will be in the storage next to the under the stairs battery, so it won't be too far. Another reason I didn't want to do this is the RV only has 1 12v outlet in the front, so everything i use will be going off the inverter anyway, and I have the 100 watt portable panel to charge the house battery for those small electrical needs mentioned above

Thank you so much for the information, I'll have to measure it out when i get home.I had intended to start with 1 and work my way up to 4 if it worked well.

So Batteries, probably the most technical portion of this part. So looking at [this] (https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Battery-Marine-Off-grid-Applications/dp/B075RFXHYK) There is a lot of words in here that are challenging me. Whats the best way to assess what would actually be needed for the job? Can you chain multiple if you exceed capacity on 1 battery?I should take an electrical class...

Your situation in almost identical to mine: I wanted to invest just a few hundred $ and have something free-standing and useful. Here's what I bought:

• $75 battery (35Ah) https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H7I0IFK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  
• $25 Noco Genius charger for that
  
  
• $20 or so in AWG 10 wire, terminal connectors
  
  
• $25 voltmeter, outlet tester, A/C charge detector bundle
  Now the bad news:
  
  
• $370 AIMS 2000W pure sine inverter ( https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E3V66QS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 )
  
  For the foot-in-the-door phase, I've read that the inverter is the only thing you should not skimp on. The $20 400-watt inverter in your link is almost certainly a Modified Sine type, and you don't want to plug any electronics into such a thing. Get a Pure Sine, lots of watts, and that will be the one piece of equipment that stays around as you grow.
  
  There's no P/V in my project yet. My goals were just
  
  
• Get a single laptop "off the grid"*
  
  
• Learn about all the components this side of the charge controller
  
  
• Wire them together without killing myself
  
  
• Complete the darn thing, humble as it is, without the months-long sizing/planning phase that -- often as not -- results in thinking "Damn, I spend over a thousand $ on the entirely wrong approach grr!"
  
  Hope that helps. For actual technical advice, almost everyone else in this sub is cooler than me. But I have lots of encouragement to give!
  
  *My e- provider offers free electricity on the weekends, so I use those to charge the battery. This is only off-the-grid in the sense that I don't pay to power it.

Thanks for the responses.. I have ensured that the positive and negative are aligned the same between the lamps. I've connected to each with in sequence terminating at the controller.

This was my first attempt with a solar panel (20W).. Bought this : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XWTKYDC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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I see now that I should have purchased on with a variable load output. Any suggestions?

I would this work? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G4ZWX3F/ref=twister_B07JW87L4G?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

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Again thanks for the help.

Thanks, so basically 12V to USB means 12V-->5V and "Car" means 14V-->5V? :-)
Thanks for the tip, I'll get me one of those, even if it's the form factor of a car adapter that would be most convenient for me.
I'm also very curious if power tool battery to USB will also fail to charge (such as https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ryobi-R18USB-0-Cordless-Charger-Body/dp/B07NQPLWXW )

...hope you dont have any neighbors.

Easiest way? Get a small 50watt solar panel, a usb adapter, and one of those portable bluetooth speakers with built-in batteries. wire it up, mount it somewhere sheltered from rain, and you're good to go.

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panel: https://www.amazon.com/HQST-Monocrystalline-Applications-Compact-Design/dp/B07HYGSZKL

usb adapter: https://www.amazon.com/Ginsco-Charger-Socket-Outlet-2-1A（4-2A）/dp/B01N6S2SNM

bluetooth speaker with 8hrs battery: https://www.amazon.com/Bose-SoundLink-Color-Bluetooth-speaker/dp/B01HETFQKS (something with a remote would be best)

You know you can just make these rather easy.

$20 tool

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KFUW3LY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Just need wire and MC4 connections. I don't know why you'd buy something off the shelf for what should be a custom wire.

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Otherwise just buy some of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-10Ft-Adaptor-Female-Connectors/dp/B00JH1PABW/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2OZIJKXVSLBMJ&keywords=mc4+extension+cable&qid=1555547882&s=gateway&sprefix=mc4%2Caps%2C177&sr=8-3

I have this, it has regular USB output and I use it to charge normal speakers and battery packs, you might want to consider a USB chargeable speaker to make life easier.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B078Z8PL1N/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thinking about getting one of these heaters and the truck camper I bought didn’t have the heater so I was looking for an alternative I’ll probably just end up buying a propane heater
Lasko Model 100 MyHeat Personal Space Heater, Black - Compact Size, Ideal for the Desk or Around the Home Office https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003XDTWN2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_hY5CCbF6WY6QD

Depth of discharge.

I'm not sure how you get triple the cost for lithium, even if you can only buy from Amazon and only count up front cost. You're looking at 4x$170 lead batteries or 2x $500 lithium ones (in both cases the cheapest ones Amazon sells), which means $680 vs $1000. For triple the cost ($2040) you could buy name brand lithium instead (Battle Born or Renogy). And of course you're looking at 3000-5000 cycles to 90% DoD from the lithium rather than 300-500 to 50%... that extra zero really does affect the cost per cycle.

Thank you for the response :)

There’s a couple reasons why I wanted to keep them separate. My sister and her husband have a camper as well, and if they are separate systems I can borrow one out. Or use one to charge my electric canoe’s battery.

If I wanted to hook both up simultaneously to a single or double battery bank, would it damage it?

Also are these the norm for wiring in parallel? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Q26PC04/ref=sspa_mw_detail_3?psc=1

So if I do keep them separate I should look into a 20amp version of an EPever correct? I’ll have to do some research on the negative or positive ground for my camper. Is that referring to the grounding coming off the battery terminal? I’m assuming all RV batteries are grounded to the frame. Mine is being delivered from Iowa, so not here physically yet :(

specifically current - or amps. using the amps you can figure out the watts.

this will let you know how many amps you've taken out of the battery, how many you've put back in and roughly the state of charge (in percentage).

the victron will let you know how much longer you can keep going with your current load as well. (eg, you have 24 hours left before you hit 50% state of charge)

https://www.amazon.com/Victron-Energy-MONITOR-VTBMV-S-BMV-712-Battery/dp/B075RTSTKS/ref=sr_1_11?crid=3G11Z5715Z3NE&keywords=victron+battery+monitor&qid=1571575505&sprefix=victron+battery%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-11

I haven’t yet determined the charge controller. I am currently considering this 40AMP Epever MPPT charge controller : https://www.amazon.com/EPEVER-Controller-Regulator-Backlight-Lead-Acid/dp/B077HHYYHT/ref=pd_cp_86_2?pd_rd_w=RTARC&pf_rd_p=ef4dc990-a9ca-4945-ae0b-f8d549198ed6&pf_rd_r=A30ZESRECHRVT1NXREEH&pd_rd_r=376fa169-36b6-4c2a-a56d-163aa901ad0f&pd_rd_wg=JtZJ9&pd_rd_i=B077HHYYHT&psc=1&refRID=A30ZESRECHRVT1NXREEH

And the Renogy Rover 40AMP MPPT
(Two versions, I can’t tell the difference between maybe being two different years?)

https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Charge-Controller-Compatible-batteries/dp/B01MSYGZGI/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Renogy+40&qid=1565635435&s=gateway&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Rover-Amp-12V-24V/dp/B07DNVTJHD/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=Renogy+40&qid=1565635435&s=gateway&sr=8-4

I am very open to suggestions on the charge controller. The ePever comes with the voltage reader and what not, so seems like a good deal. However, through my very limited research, Renogy seems to be a standard go to.

As far as a battery, forgive me, as I am about two hundred miles south of it at the moment, but it’s just a standard deep cycle marine battery I purchased from Napa to work with a battery isolated in my old truck. I believe it has something like 150AMP charge. But it might be as low as 110. It weighs about 50lbs, not that helps anything.

Sunlight is not an issue.