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Solar Powered Truck
Well I have had a solar panel on my current vehicle, and the one before. Unfortunately I do not have a pic of it, but let me describe it.
First, I have a 64watt panel. In regular sun, it easily generates 4 amps without raising the panel. I build my own mount using angle irons (the ones with the holes). This mount is directly screwed into the topper on my truck. I can raise and lower the panels by removing two screws (hand tight), and propping it up. That can increase me to 4.5 amps, for a much longer period of time.
The panel goes into a small charge controller that allows me to see the battery voltage, panel amps, and load amps. This charge controller connects to a large trojan golf cart battery. I also connect a wire from the car's power to the solar panel input, meaning I am charging the battery while driving. My battery is almost always topped up.
Further, I buit a relay system that automatically switches the load over to the car when it is running. This means I am not running down the battery when driving.
So hitched into it, I have a large variety of items. I have two ham radios. One is a uhf-hf rig. I also have a regular vhf/uhf rig that I also use for search and rescue. It allows me to leave my radio on without worrying about running the main battery down. Second, I often have a stirling engine cooler (always when camping) that provides me cooling set at 38 drawing only 0.7 amps. It can go down to zero, but I have not had a need for that. Third, I can run a set of speakers plugged into ipod, xm, whatever that I use when I am camping, since they use a lot less power than the car stereo and can be adjusted to point to whatever. I have an inverter that I occasionally use as well. I am just now in the process of putting together. Finally, I have a large screen gps that I run most of the time.
So as far as the cooler and radios, in standard weather, can run indefinitely. This would allow me to stay out in the desert for as long as I wanted.
If you have any questions about solar, feel free to ask. I also have a cabin that has both solar and micro hydroelectric systems. I built these as well.
Jim
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