Phxtoad's solar generator du jour

phxtoad

Adventurer
PHXTOAD'S SOLAR GENERATOR

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This should say 'Anderson 12v input', not Nelson...

Here's a little project that I obviously got a bit carried away making. It's my first foray into Solar, and I've had fun putting it together.

The genesis for this project started a year ago when a quick weekend camping trip with our pop-up led to confusion/anxiety/panic/weeping. After we set up camp, I realized I forgot the chargers to all our electronic junk. Everything died. Sad but true. We had to rough it. It really is a miracle we survived. Good thing we were only 20 miles from home.

Anyway, in an effort to make sure we had power for future trips, I started researching solar, 12V systems, in general. The first purchase was a simple 10W Battery Tender solar panel system (with integral controller) for the pop-up. I then decided to start designing my first solar generator. It's a spin-off of Solar Burrito's box. I just needed to figure out what size batteries I wanted to use. Fate intervened.

http://solarburrito.com/build-your-...&utm_source=pinterest.com&utm_campaign=buffer

This past Spring, my mom past away at 87. She was a hoot, and lived a good long life on her terms. With her passing, I inherited her 3 wheel Go-Go mobility scooter. In order to sell it, I had to get new batteries for it. So...

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Scooter Battery du jour

All of a sudden I had two 12V/14AH batteries that looked like they could be re-purposed easily enough while I get the scooter ready to sell. Next up was to find a box I liked. I looked around a bit in stores and on-line. Everything seemed too big or too small or way too expensive. In the end I chose a standard Plano ammo box. 12"x6"x8" ish. It's a good size, and is meant to have a heavy load within. Also somewhat stealthy.

I started amassing various bits and pieces:

For a Solar panel I ordered the 50 Watt Renogy starter kit. This was more of a purchase for future larger set-ups.
(2) 12V output jacks
(1) Anderson input jack – For (2) solar inputs.
(1) SAE input jack. For an AC battery charger in, or accessory power out.
(1) Bestek 300 Watt inverter – 12V plug in type. Includes two 120V outlets and two USB ports.
(1) Adventure Power 12V 4A, 120V AC battery charger
(2) power poles
(2) bus bars
(1) meter
(3) switches, wire and fuses

At first I had grand plans of wiring an inverter in directly and having a weatherproof outlet, but realized the little batteries couldn't really feed a large wattage inverter. Also, with space limited, I knew I couldn't access the front and rear of the unit if it were fixed in the box. So a compact plug-in type fit the bill. I still wanted it and the charger to normally store within the box. So time to get creative.

Now that I had a direction, I started building a 3D model in Revit (good practice for work) and to help fit the 10 lbs in the 5 lb box. Being able to manipulate the model helped work-out how and where to place things and see conflicts. Ultimately it was also handy to produce the dimensioned drawings. Go figure.

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Revit model

Given how I wanted to have things look in the box, I knew I'd need to have two levels. In lieu of wood, I selected white plastic cutting boards procured at Ross. 5/8" thick or so, and easily workable with wood-working tools. The lower level would be for the batteries, and the upper level for the controller/poles/busses and switches.

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Lower level plan Note: the length of the lower level is less. I had to trim it to fit.

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Cutting board cut and shaped for lower level

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Test fit.

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Upper level plan

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Wiring diagram
 
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phxtoad

Adventurer
The batteries still had to be accessible and also not move around though. So I sized each level to fit snuggly in the box and connected them with four aluminum angle legs to form a rack. The angles capture the batteries. Some dense foam further keeps them from shifting. I added a pull handle centered on the load to facilitate extracting the whole business.

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Angles hack-sawed, filed, and drilled

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Angles let-in at lower level. Lath screws will be added to capture things.

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Batteries on the lower level with legs

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Test fit in the box

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Upper level with holes

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Framework completed. Note the lift handle is directly over the center of gravity.

Since the input and output jacks are fixed on the side of the box, I knew I'd need to have longer wires to stretch the distance. The lower level has a cut-out so it can slide past the input/output jacks. The space around this area stores the wiring loom. The other end remains storage space for the inverter and charger. Cords for the charger stow in the box's cover. Clean.

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Other end with cut out

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One battery can slide out. When disconnected, and removed, the other can then shift over and slide out

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Gear mounted
 

phxtoad

Adventurer
Let the wiring begin

I wanted to express the wiring when the box is open so the goal was to not hide much. I wanted beefy wires, too. 10 & 12 GA for all. The Renogy solar charge controller has a built in voltage meter, so I ditched the separate meter. I'll save it for a larger build. The down side is this controller's digital read-out constantly cycles. I lost about 5% power in a week. Not a big load, but annoying. I may somehow add a switch.

Since the batteries have spade connectors, I knew I'd either need to source some odd double spade connectors for the parallel system, or I could use common power poles for the positive and negative. The big power poles called to me. The positive line from each battery has a fuse and is connected to the positive pole. Then the positive bus gets isolated from the positive pole with the master switch. The 12V outlets run from the busses and are separately switched. There ends up being room for a spare circuit if I could cram more wires in there somehow.

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It's alive!

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More alive

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Three greens. Clear to land. Note the disconnects between the inny and the outy.

Both sets of Anderson inputs are ganged to connect to the Solar Controller. The SAE input ties into the power poles and is fused. The nice thing about the SAE input is I can also easily connect my 10 watt panel. Also I keep a portable CB in the wife's Jeep that could plug right into the SAE jack. That would give us some level of portable radio communication if the need ever arose.

Total cost: Too much
Total time to build: Too long
Total weight: 26 lbs


Todd
 
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TacomaAustin

Observer
Brilliant. I really like the use of the cutting board, marine grade bus bars and insulated terminal posts.

With regards to the total costs, a Goal Zero Yeti 400 isn't exactly cheap. The D.I.Y. ammo box is much easier to repair should there be a fault.

While operating the vehicle - the SAE input could easily support an external Redarc BCDC1206 or TOAD-CHARGE dinghy charger.

Thanks a bunch for sharing your design.
 

phxtoad

Adventurer
It's a standard Plano ammo box. 12" x6" x8" ish. They have them at Bass Pro. Not sure of the model number.

Todd
 
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phxtoad

Adventurer
First load test this past weekend: Plugged in a room fan that consumes about 0.30 Amps / 35 Watts according to a P3 Kill A Watt meter. The box wasn't fully charged when I started though. I monitored the decrease from 82% to 52% over 3.25 hours. So 4 hours maybe from fully charged? Charging-up to 100% took about 4 hours with the trickle charger. Then I popped the batteries out to try and sell the scooter!
 

phxtoad

Adventurer
Accessory Development: Area lights.

I had a couple cheap 12v auxiliary lights laying around, so I swapped out the bulbs with some new LED's. I then made a steel bar mount fitted with an old tripod's quick-disconnect shoe.

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As far as usage of the battery pack, the best use so far has simply been to power a soldering iron. I had to repair some wiring on my truck and it was very handy!

Todd
 

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