Recommendations for solar panels & mounts

[Greg Bauman]

Hey all

Brand new to the board.  Figured I would say hi while I do a bit of research here.  I am looking for recommendations on a couple items for my daily driver which is a 2021 GMC Sierra 1500 AT4 crew cab short bed.  I'm in central Texas and can make good use of solar panels for a variety of reasons.

Cab Roof Rack
I have not put a shell on the truck nor a bed rack, but thinking about a cab roof rack.  I need to put some slim blue & reds on for work use toward the front, so my space is somewhat limited.  I am out in the field a lot with my personal vehicle, and the purpose of the roof rack is primarily for solar panels but possibly light cargo too.  Ideally I'd be able to add roof lights for off road.  I'm looking for rack recommendations in particular.  The roof mount would allow standard solar panel use but need some non DIY custom wiring to look good.

Hood mount solar panel?  
I have seen very cool hood mounted magnetic panels from Cascadia 4x4 but I'm not in the PacNW nor is GMC/Chevy on their vehicle list.  I'd love something that doesn't use up roof space nor add too much drag, but it doesn't appear there is an option from my quick research.  Are there similar alternatives?

Dashboard solar panel option
A small panel being inside the windshield has its disadvantages, but also has the upside of security being the best it can be.  Is charging the starter battery via the cigarette lighter socket a no go from a safety standpoint?  I don't have perspective on how flimsy those connections might be.

Truck box lid flexible panels
The sunward facing square footage on my truck toolbox lid itself is currently wasted, but I can't have anything too big or heavy on it.  I was thinking about two 100w flexible solar panels mounted with bolts through magnetic feet.  Depending on an airflow test, I may even be able to drive freeway speeds with it mounted.  I can put a power station inside the toolbox and have it be secure & charging while mobile.  Easier than wiring to starter battery but I'd like that to be recharged too so I am looking at all my options.

Interior 
The main reason I need power is mostly for cooling.  I can't run my POV perpetually idling for mostly fuel but also wear reasons, but having a doggo in the back and not knowing how long we may be on site is what I am trying to solve.  Right now I do 12h at a pop.  Getting an A/C that runs on ice and elec is the plan.  Maybe the icybreeze or something similar so I don't have a swamp inside the cab.  Ice is a lot cheaper than gas and will keep dog doing great.

Thanks,
Greg

   








   

 

[4banger]

I built my offered 4 season van life setup on a cargo trailer which has some of the gear you're mentioning. I can get enough ventilation parked that I don't need a/c even in the desert but doesn't work going down the road as need to close things up for travel to keep the dust out and doors on. I have phantom screen man door and full pull down one for back of trailer plus ice fishing holes to draft shade air in from underneath and roof vents and screened windows both sides as well, I can run cooler than a tent overnight no problem. I run renogy panels, 2-100's and 1-160 into a 140 ah goal zero 1500x power plant (I'd go bluetti 2000+ if doing now). I'd want two to three charging redundancies and you should have them.

 

This guy is great for ideas on this stuff. Follow him. Here's a 1000w generator a/c set up he runs in his truck house for desert work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9kZL2EIKpA

 

Now, your truck may have a 400w 115v outlet, perfect, get a 20 amp charger for your power plant for one way to charge it. That's 1. For number 2 you can get a couple 100w panels mounted on them boxes, the renogy have kits with alum. brackets and I bolt them down on roof of trailer, sealed up with silicone on bolts, under and over top washers etc. and can do 80 mph no prob. Most of the time your panels will keep your power plant topped up. And 3...a good honda or Yamaha 1000w generator can run your 20 amp charger or the right a/c direct for more redundancy options. I would just need to confirm that bluetti fast chargers aren't too fast as I was able to get a 230w fast charger for my goal zero which both my back up Yamaha 1000 can run all night on basically idle or my truck can run it worst case backup. Just something to ask about but the bluetti lifepo4 batteries where it's at for cycles and cold performance for me, I have to keep the goal zero warm which is a pain in the winter when not ice fishing and actually camping in my rig. 

 

Of my 360w of panels flat mounted on my trailer on peak season high sun days I can get see around 290 watts, I think I've seen it hit 300 before so a little over 80% efficiency. However, low cloud, socked in for a few days, light rain I can drop as low as 40-60w in daytime like 15% efficiency. Your location won't have those issues. I need to store power up here in they frozen tundra for ice fishing etc. to keep up to my Webasto diesel heater...you need power for a/c. Same idea. In the summer my power needs are for my little freezer, which I rotate 2l pop bottles filled with water through for my yeti coolers. I just went with bar size freezer and can freeze at least 5 of those bottles at a time but many use dometic cfx type cooler/freezers out there...same idea, I just had one of those fail so decided freezer and yeti much more cost effective and when freezer fails it's a fraction of cost to replace, just go grab another anywhere, the yeti is bombproof and you can still grab ice anytime as a redundancy.

 

Hope that helps you get started. 

Edited May 4, 2023 by 4banger

[Greg Bauman]

That is a fantastic reply, and somehow I never got a notification about it.  Digesting what you've got here.

 

[Greg Bauman]

Ya, my main issue is cooling for my dog.  She's gotta have it cooler than we need.  I just ordered the Platinum version of IcyBreeze so we'll be trying that out soon.  I can power it now with my Anker 521 which should cover around 10h of my 12h shift.  If my calculations are right it's a ~20Ah battery.  But then it's not able to cover anything else and it will outlast the cooling I'll get from the ice.

 

I currently have a 355W JASolar panel.  I picked up a few of those a while back for home projects.  I usually get over 300W from one.  Texas has its advantages on sunshine for sure.  Since I have the short bed, at just over 6ft the panel is a bit too big for the truck unless it was on a bed rail mount.  I'd rather not limit my cargo with the bed rack plus it changes the aesthetics of the truck.

The Anker 521 can charge via the DC-8 connector and it maxes out at 65w charging from that.  However, the Anker unit can take another 60w from USB-C simultaneously.  So I can look into a 12v to USB-C as well to use more output from any panel.  I also have an older EverStart Maxx 35S 550CA lead acid car battery.  So I plan to get that into the truck soon. But of course they're different chemistries so I will need to set them up completely separately.  That's part of why I was leaning to the multiple panels. Here are the specs for my power station:
 

Input:

DC Input 11-28V⎓5.5A (65W Max); USB-C Input 5V⎓3A / 9V⎓3A / 15V⎓3A / 20V⎓3A (60W Max)

Output:

Car Charger Output 12V⎓10A; AC Output 110V~ 1.82A, 50Hz/60Hz, 200W; USB-A Output 5V⎓3.6A (2.4A Max Per Port); USB-C Output 5V⎓3A / 9V⎓3A / 15V⎓3A / 20V⎓3A (60W Max)

The charge controller I have is a cheapo Walmart 10A CE CMP12 I used for a 5W trickle charger while experimenting.  That JA panel is rated at 9.16A and short circuit is 9.69A.

I confirmed the truck's two 110v outlets are shared at 400w - one in cabin and the other in bed.  But it doesn't appear the power station can even get close using to a 20A charge rate.  Am I missing something?

As for the freezer that is the direction I was heading.  If I can stay in sunshine, I should keep 300w available just using the panel I have now.  I can then keep the icybreeze fed with frozen blocks.  Which 12v freezer did you get?

At 300w I should be able to power...
- Power station @ 65w via DC and 60w USB-C
- IcyBreeze @ 50w if needed that high
- 12v freezer @ 60-100w
- various chargers for flashlight, laptop etc still have at least 25w+ to spread among them

That should keep me more than fully powered for a solid 5h of brightest sun every day when working 6a-6p without relying on batteries at all.  The rest of the day becomes gravy by comparison, especially since the hottest part of the day is at the end, well after I have fully recharged.  That won't work for night shifts, but the primary problem of heat is far reduced at that point.
 

[4banger]

On 5/14/2023 at 8:19 AM, Greg Bauman said:

Ya, my main issue is cooling for my dog.  She's gotta have it cooler than we need.  I just ordered the Platinum version of IcyBreeze so we'll be trying that out soon.  I can power it now with my Anker 521 which should cover around 10h of my 12h shift.  If my calculations are right it's a ~20Ah battery.  But then it's not able to cover anything else and it will outlast the cooling I'll get from the ice.

 

I currently have a 355W JASolar panel.  I picked up a few of those a while back for home projects.  I usually get over 300W from one.  Texas has its advantages on sunshine for sure.  Since I have the short bed, at just over 6ft the panel is a bit too big for the truck unless it was on a bed rail mount.  I'd rather not limit my cargo with the bed rack plus it changes the aesthetics of the truck.

The Anker 521 can charge via the DC-8 connector and it maxes out at 65w charging from that.  However, the Anker unit can take another 60w from USB-C simultaneously.  So I can look into a 12v to USB-C as well to use more output from any panel.  I also have an older EverStart Maxx 35S 550CA lead acid car battery.  So I plan to get that into the truck soon. But of course they're different chemistries so I will need to set them up completely separately.  That's part of why I was leaning to the multiple panels. Here are the specs for my power station:
 

Input:

DC Input 11-28V⎓5.5A (65W Max); USB-C Input 5V⎓3A / 9V⎓3A / 15V⎓3A / 20V⎓3A (60W Max)

Output:

Car Charger Output 12V⎓10A; AC Output 110V~ 1.82A, 50Hz/60Hz, 200W; USB-A Output 5V⎓3.6A (2.4A Max Per Port); USB-C Output 5V⎓3A / 9V⎓3A / 15V⎓3A / 20V⎓3A (60W Max)

The charge controller I have is a cheapo Walmart 10A CE CMP12 I used for a 5W trickle charger while experimenting.  That JA panel is rated at 9.16A and short circuit is 9.69A.

I confirmed the truck's two 110v outlets are shared at 400w - one in cabin and the other in bed.  But it doesn't appear the power station can even get close using to a 20A charge rate.  Am I missing something?

As for the freezer that is the direction I was heading.  If I can stay in sunshine, I should keep 300w available just using the panel I have now.  I can then keep the icybreeze fed with frozen blocks.  Which 12v freezer did you get?

At 300w I should be able to power...
- Power station @ 65w via DC and 60w USB-C
- IcyBreeze @ 50w if needed that high
- 12v freezer @ 60-100w
- various chargers for flashlight, laptop etc still have at least 25w+ to spread among them

That should keep me more than fully powered for a solid 5h of brightest sun every day when working 6a-6p without relying on batteries at all.  The rest of the day becomes gravy by comparison, especially since the hottest part of the day is at the end, well after I have fully recharged.  That won't work for night shifts, but the primary problem of heat is far reduced at that point.
 

 

for freezer I started with a dometic cfx-75 and it lasted just under a year, they were great about warranty but a) they are way too much money, and b) not that readily available so I switched to a yeti cooler and a cheap Koolatron high efficiency 115v bar size freezer instead, that's what I rotate 2l pop bottles full of water through and the yeti is now my fridge, not going to get caught out by the expensive 12v fridge/freezers again, can pick up one of these little freezers just about anywhere

 

I just picked up a 100 ah lifepo4 battery and 20 amp charger that can charge all types as my back up supply to my goal zero. Rather than carry my little Yamaha generator as emergency back up I can just take this guy full and can charge it from my solar/goal zero when full and solar abundant or from the 400w 115v plug in my truck if driving around, but starting a trip everything full its not likely I'll have to dip too far into the 100 ah battery, will just have some alligator clips from it that can connect to my trailer supply and unplug from a dead goal zero and plug this guy in. It's pretty small and lightweight for a car size battery with 100 ah.

 

sounds like you already know more about the topic than most, as you apply it you'll be making notes and learning the true capabilities, I don't like to see things run down, like having more than half a tank of gas so I tend to seek more storage and options than necessary but like you with the pup I worry when the kids are with me on the ice and -20c blizzard rolls through, so much so that I've ditched my supplementary propane heat for a second diesel heater and adding more insulation this summer to attack next winter in beast mode should we have too, should be able to add a 10 degree delta on those nasty conditions and remain in our jammies, don't worry near as much about myself when solo though

 

and don't forget about the power of evaporative cooling, it's how all big buildings are cooled, there's so much heat energy in water it's amazing how much when you learn about it, so the heat lost changing state from liquid to vapour is massive, nothing removes heat faster than being wet, on our hot camping stuff I make sure to be always soaking shirts, hats, dogs etc. 

[1454]

On 5/14/2023 at 10:19 AM, Greg Bauman said:

Ya, my main issue is cooling for my dog.  She's gotta have it cooler than we need.  I just ordered the Platinum version of IcyBreeze so we'll be trying that out soon.  I can power it now with my Anker 521 which should cover around 10h of my 12h shift.  If my calculations are right it's a ~20Ah battery.  But then it's not able to cover anything else and it will outlast the cooling I'll get from the ice.

 

I currently have a 355W JASolar panel.  I picked up a few of those a while back for home projects.  I usually get over 300W from one.  Texas has its advantages on sunshine for sure.  Since I have the short bed, at just over 6ft the panel is a bit too big for the truck unless it was on a bed rail mount.  I'd rather not limit my cargo with the bed rack plus it changes the aesthetics of the truck.

The Anker 521 can charge via the DC-8 connector and it maxes out at 65w charging from that.  However, the Anker unit can take another 60w from USB-C simultaneously.  So I can look into a 12v to USB-C as well to use more output from any panel.  I also have an older EverStart Maxx 35S 550CA lead acid car battery.  So I plan to get that into the truck soon. But of course they're different chemistries so I will need to set them up completely separately.  That's part of why I was leaning to the multiple panels. Here are the specs for my power station:
 

Input:

DC Input 11-28V⎓5.5A (65W Max); USB-C Input 5V⎓3A / 9V⎓3A / 15V⎓3A / 20V⎓3A (60W Max)

Output:

Car Charger Output 12V⎓10A; AC Output 110V~ 1.82A, 50Hz/60Hz, 200W; USB-A Output 5V⎓3.6A (2.4A Max Per Port); USB-C Output 5V⎓3A / 9V⎓3A / 15V⎓3A / 20V⎓3A (60W Max)

The charge controller I have is a cheapo Walmart 10A CE CMP12 I used for a 5W trickle charger while experimenting.  That JA panel is rated at 9.16A and short circuit is 9.69A.

I confirmed the truck's two 110v outlets are shared at 400w - one in cabin and the other in bed.  But it doesn't appear the power station can even get close using to a 20A charge rate.  Am I missing something?

As for the freezer that is the direction I was heading.  If I can stay in sunshine, I should keep 300w available just using the panel I have now.  I can then keep the icybreeze fed with frozen blocks.  Which 12v freezer did you get?

At 300w I should be able to power...
- Power station @ 65w via DC and 60w USB-C
- IcyBreeze @ 50w if needed that high
- 12v freezer @ 60-100w
- various chargers for flashlight, laptop etc still have at least 25w+ to spread among them

That should keep me more than fully powered for a solid 5h of brightest sun every day when working 6a-6p without relying on batteries at all.  The rest of the day becomes gravy by comparison, especially since the hottest part of the day is at the end, well after I have fully recharged.  That won't work for night shifts, but the primary problem of heat is far reduced at that point.
 

Look up the ecoflow wave 2. It will accomplish what you are looking for with it's own power source. (battery.) for about 6-8 hours. It pulls about 400w under heavy usage. 200 under light use. Add a second battery or a solar panel and you can run it all day or longer. 

 

 

[Greg Bauman]

OK, finally had some time to save up and plan toward this purpose.

Long story short, while I was at a hotel on a job, truck was stolen and the nice big fat solar panel in the bed went bye bye permanently.  However the truck was recovered within 2 hours of realizing it was gone.  Now getting quite a bit more put into it to protect it and get it up to snuff.

Big shout out

One Apple Air Tag saved my truck.  I had one casually hidden in the truck.  Good thing too, because I had neither paid for the OnStar nor would it have worked had I paid for it - thieves took the fuses out when they stole the truck.  So, I thought I was going to find an Air Tag alone on the ground but local PD found my truck instead.  Best $30 I ever spent.

 

Solar Panels

This kit is what I intend on purchasing now.  I intend on keeping the panels in the truck box when not in use for now, but eventually want to mount one to top of truck box or onto a roof rack.  I am getting these because they're 600w each so I will have tons of juice to work with.

 

Charge controller
I already had purchased this charge controller to use for the 355W panel, but never set it up.  So now I will have two controllers each capable of handling those panels separately or wire them through one controller longer term.

 

Roof rack
I am now leaning toward an interior light bar, so the roof rack can be dedicated to just the solar panels.  I need to look at how to best secure them re: air flow since they are flexible & light.

Security
I can't be in my truck 24/7 even with my dog on duty.  So I now have a Club steering wheel lock plus a Nexar One dash cam.  Other more discreet improvements have also been made.  Bad guys will have a bad day even if I am dead asleep at home.

 

[Greg Bauman]

Well I finally received the solar panel kit I mentioned above.  I got back home from work over a month later than I expected, and finally had a look at the panels.  The plan was to test run one in the truck cabin laying on the dash first, then get it mounted when I had time to get a roof rack installed.

The problem is that the panel wiring connection was built terribly.  It died on that panel before even being installed.  I can see why the panel is no longer available on Amazon.  I hope to get a refund from the manufacturer since those panels no longer seem to be available.  And of course I now I have to look at other options.

[Manuel Palmer]

For  GMC Sierra, the Yakima OffGrid Roof Rack for versatility and durability. It allows for bifacial solar panels mounting and has options for adding roof lights. Alternatively, check out the Thule TracRac SR for a sleek design with customizable accessories. As for hood-mounted solar panels, explore options like Renogy's flexible panels, which can adhere to the hood without affecting aerodynamics.

 

Edited March 26, 2024 by Manuel Palmer