I'm off the school of thought that says to simply cover the vehicle with the amount of PV that can fit. It's cheap these days, so why not. I spent CAD$1100 for 1700W that almost perfectly covers my 7*14' trailer. Then you see what you can power, since you won't be able to get more anyway.
Advice to purchase solar panels. 7.5'x16' cargo trailer. Ecoflow Delta Pro.
- Thread starter JoeNewbie
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What kind of panels are you using? How much battery capacity do you have?
Dank Farrik
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- Feb 1, 2022
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Yes, over amperage is ok. DP will only pull as much current as it needs. Actually a lot of people over-panel, which is good for maintaining power production for when the sunlight condition isn't optimal.
12VoltInstalls
life passes by too quickly to not live in freedom
Technically, no. But if the breakers in the combiner box are cheap junk it’s wise and smart to fuse properly at each parallel string
Using 4 Q-Cell 425W commercial panels, feeding through a Victron MPPT to a 7 kWh DIY LFP battery.
I hear you and understand where you are coming from.
Cool! Congrats on the panels. What brand of panels did you get? I'm not sure about the fuse box........
Oh. Hey Nickeboy. Did you see Ecoflow launched their air conditioner today? Check it.
and if you can handle the Hobotech.....
Hey carbon60.
1) Did you insulate? Foam insulation on the inside? Does it work well?
2) How about air conditioning? Did you find a good solution for that? A standard mini split system would be most effective. I was thinking of installing the Midea U shaped AC. It's like a mini-mini split. https://www.midea.com/us/air-condit...12000-btu-u-shaped-air-conditioner-maw12v1qwt
I ordered the aluminum trailer with 1" of rigid foam in the floor, then added 0.5" between the wall studs and ceiling joists, then covered that with another 1" of continuous rigid foam. Finished in plywood. The rear doors are not as well insulated and have brutal thermal bridging, which I need to address in the future.
I have no A/C, but I do have a nice flow-through breeze with screen in my doors! :D
The cargo ramp in my toy hauler is a cold air super highway. I put two sheets of 2" rigid foam insulation against the door (on the inside) and that made a big difference. I added more gasket material around the door frame to stop drafts, which lead me to find other drafts.
Expanding foam is handy for eliminating drafts, but once the foam is in there it's almost impossible to run wires through that space.
Expanding foam is handy for eliminating drafts, but once the foam is in there it's almost impossible to run wires through that space.
12VoltInstalls
life passes by too quickly to not live in freedom
And you should derate the wires
I need to do the same. Thinking I will cover the exposed aluminum frame with elastomeric duct insulation and also install a thick curtain.
I started with just a sleeping bag. That made enough of a difference that I switched to the rigid foam insulation. It's a pain to install the foam sheets and storing it is no fun either. But it works.
12VoltInstalls
life passes by too quickly to not live in freedom
If there’s room underneath, 2” of foam for a total of 3” is ~R16 and thst is noticeable insulation. R20 or R25 in the roof is a minimum in cold weather for noticeable effectiveness. Foil-faced as the first layer with an airspace and 2” foam under is usually more practical. Tight envelope is key: I have often made sheets 5/8-3/4” small and filled the seams with spray foam in many applications including my own camper.
My cargo trailer has two doors on the back (not a toy-hauler door). When I was building it last summer the rear of my trailer faced west. The afternoon sun would beat down on the back of the trailer and it got really warm inside. I didn't have room to add 2" rigid foam insulation like I did on the rest of the walls and ceiling. But I found a solution that worked really well.
I bought a bunch of 1/2" square dowels and glued them around the inside perimeter of each door. I cut two pieces of 1/4" (maybe a little thinner) plywood to fit over each door and flush with the dowels. I then added a layer of Reflectix type insulation (the bubble wrap with foil on both sides) to one side of each piece of plywood. I them screwed the plywood pieces in place on the square dowels with the Reflectix facing the door.
So from the outside of the trailer going inside, I have aluminum trailer skin, wood door, air gap, Reflectix, plywood.
I used one of those infrared thermometers before and after from inside the trailer and I think it was something like 20ºF cooler on the inside surface of the door after I added what I did. So much better. My bed is against the rear doors and I was in there this whole winter with a few nights down to about 6ºF. The rear doors didn't seem any colder than any other part of the trailer. The air gap I built in there really helps.
12VoltInstalls
life passes by too quickly to not live in freedom
1” of foil-faced poly iso would be a big difference
I was thinking about it, but the aluminum floor "joists" would really kill the average r-value of the floor in such a way that adding the insulation between them may not raise it much at all.
12VoltInstalls
life passes by too quickly to not live in freedom
Metal joists don’t help but insulation between is still a big improvement.
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