Board Build

[HRTKD]

There's milk crate builds and suitcase builds, mine is a board build. I'll be using this for remote tent camping - in places that I'm not willing to take my RV trailer - mostly for powering Starlink and my laptop so I can work remote if I have to. I'll test it at home to see if it will power a stand up freezer. That way I can justify the cost of this build to my wife.

Victron Phoenix 12/500 inverter (400 watts)
Victron VE.Direct bluetooth adapter (for the inverter, to set battery parameters)
Victron 100/20 Smartsolar MPPT
SolarWorld 280 watt mono panels (4), used (I'll probably use only two of these, in series)
MC4, 2-into-1 PV adapters (just in case I decide to go 2s2p, or 2p)
Interstate Marine Deep Cycle 12 volt battery (2) ~160 Ah total (80 Ah usable), free



Ignore the double pole AC breaker. It's a place holder until the DC breaker arrives. The other breakers were what I had on hand and aren't quite the right size, but they'll do.

Inverter and battery cables are 6 gauge. Solar charge controller to common busbar is 10 gauge and PV to solar charge controller is 10 gauge PV cable. I used what I had.

 

[chess-equality]

No enclosure / wheels?

 

[Steve_S]

Nice Simply & Tidy little setup for a lightweight solar kit.

 

[HRTKD]

No enclosure / wheels?

Quick-n-dirty build. I'll either put the board inside my tent (batteries outside), or put the board in a plastic bin. Except for the Victron components, everything else was pretty much what I had on hand, which drove the end result. Welding cable would have been nice, but I was out of that.

 

[Shimmy]

Nice. One suggestion is to wrap/insulate/heat shrink the terminals at the isolator switch.

 

[HRTKD]

Nice. One suggestion is to wrap/insulate/heat shrink the terminals at the isolator switch.

Yep, there are still a few minor tweaks to do.

 

[JRH]

There's milk crate builds and suitcase builds, mine is a board build. I'll be using this for remote tent camping - in places that I'm not willing to take my RV trailer - mostly for powering Starlink and my laptop so I can work remote if I have to. I'll test it at home to see if it will power a stand up freezer. That way I can justify the cost of this build to my wife.

Victron Phoenix 12/500 inverter (400 watts)
Victron VE.Direct bluetooth adapter (for the inverter, to set battery parameters)
Victron 100/20 Smartsolar MPPT
SolarWorld 280 watt mono panels (4), used (I'll probably use only two of these, in series)
MC4, 2-into-1 PV adapters (just in case I decide to go 2s2p, or 2p)
Interstate Marine Deep Cycle 12 volt battery (2) ~160 Ah total (80 Ah usable), free

View attachment 109550

Ignore the double pole AC breaker. It's a place holder until the DC breaker arrives. The other breakers were what I had on hand and aren't quite the right size, but they'll do.

Inverter and battery cables are 6 gauge. Solar charge controller to common busbar is 10 gauge and PV to solar charge controller is 10 gauge PV cable. I used what I had.

That’s a good lookin portable system… simple and clean, wish I had one like that ..,slap it on a small hand truck and be gone.
that’s a good idea… for a lot of things….

 

[HRTKD]

Solar trailer to go with the board build. I'll orient the panels east/west (2s2p) so they don't produce too many volts. The panels tilt, but I don't have the right poles to prop the panels up with yet.

 

[JRH]

Solar trailer to go with the board build. I'll orient the panels east/west (2s2p) so they don't produce too many volts. The panels tilt, but I don't have the right poles to prop the panels up with yet.

WHHHOOOAA BUNDY…!!! .That a nice little rig…I am working on a larger version but afterwards I want a smaller one like this …different uses and more portable …
first time I have seen one just like that…it appears to be 8 ft long,..but pics are tricky to judge. Cooool.

 

[HRTKD]

WHHHOOOAA BUNDY…!!! .That a nice little rig…I am working on a larger version but afterwards I want a smaller one like this …different uses and more portable …
first time I have seen one just like that…it appears to be 8 ft long,..but pics are tricky to judge. Cooool.

The surface of the trailer that the side-by-side sits on is 9'. The railings of the trailer are angled out and forward. The panels extend beyond the railing a few inches both ways (front/rear). I bought hinges that have removable pins so I can mount/dismount the panels quickly.

The way I have it setup, I think I can put another set of panels hinged to the rail and angled down to the ground. The far set of panels can be oriented so they are angled parallel to the near set of panels, but they'll need a much longer pole (from the ground) to hold them up. Not a very good description. Maybe a picture will help.



I don't plan to transport the panels on the trailer. I don't think the hinges are strong enough. I'll come up with a way to hold them on the bedrails of my pickup. That will allow me to put gear under the panels.

 

[time2roll]

Great little build. I would have skipped the board, breakers and bus. Just have the wires with terminals or Anderson connectors to plug and play as needed.

 

[JRH]

The surface of the trailer that the side-by-side sits on is 9'. The railings of the trailer are angled out and forward. The panels extend beyond the railing a few inches both ways (front/rear). I bought hinges that have removable pins so I can mount/dismount the panels quickly.

The way I have it setup, I think I can put another set of panels hinged to the rail and angled down to the ground. The far set of panels can be oriented so they are angled parallel to the near set of panels, but they'll need a much longer pole (from the ground) to hold them up. Not a very good description. Maybe a picture will help.

View attachment 110089

I don't plan to transport the panels on the trailer. I don't think the hinges are strong enough. I'll come up with a way to hold them on the bedrails of my pickup. That will allow me to put gear under the panels.

It’s a great idea…. My panel trailer is mounted and lockable for towing at highway speeds , but that would be rare with this rig but easily done …I extended the tongue 4 feet to give more room for maneuvering with the truck...there are 4 frames with 4 panels each
each frame can tilt up to a 45 angle and lock in place to prevent wind grabbing one…the overall is 7 side x16 feet long…
I am fixing to hook up the wires in the next month .. still not sure if I want to wire it to 24v or go ahead and run it at 86 v 4s4p …
the wood is all pressure treated and will be here long after me. The cable to the other gear will join in an acrylic box at the front
frame board and the wire can be disconnected in a few seconds to coil up and move or hide or swap out.

. I have the combiner box installed under the panels and all the other gear and The batts are inside that black homesteader in the back ground….
I am about 90% finished with the whole thing …..
Lotta work…..will be glad when I’m done…
like I said , I will build a smaller one that fits a hand truck and can be pulled to a place by hand the big one can’t get to.
I like your your board build.. will reference that in the future
Good job Skipper…
jim.

 

[HRTKD]

Great little build. I would have skipped the board, breakers and bus. Just have the wires with terminals or Anderson connectors to plug and play as needed.

I was going to do an Anderson connector, but I had only one, as in one side of the two plugs needed to make it work.

 

[JRH]

I was going to do an Anderson connector, but I had only one, as in one side of the two plugs needed to make it work

 

[HRTKD]

I looked up how to crimp the Anderson this week. It looked like the guy was using a standard crimping tool. The "lug" on my Anderson was big enough that I think I would need to use my hydraulic crimper.

 

[JRH]

I looked up how to crimp the Anderson this week. It looked like the guy was using a standard crimping tool. The "lug" on my Anderson was big enough that I think I would need to use my hydraulic crimper.

 

[HRTKD]

I did order a couple of spare lugs from powerwerx just to practice on …it’s bad luck for me to only have only what I need… somthing always happens to one piece,somehow , never fails.
J.

If you do MC4 connectors, it's a real good idea to have extra ferrules (the part you actually crimp). I got a couple wrong and there's no undoing them. When you order 10 MC4 connectors you get 10 ferrules (5 male, 5 female). Screw one up and that entire MC4 connector is toast. Fortunately, TEMCo sent me a few extra ferrules.

 

[JRH]

If you do MC4 connectors, it's a real good idea to have extra ferrules (the part you actually crimp). I got a couple wrong and there's no undoing them. When you order 10 MC4 connectors you get 10 ferrules (5 male, 5 female). Screw one up and that entire MC4 connector is toast. Fortunately, TEMCo sent me a few extra ferrule

 

[Pi Curio]

There's milk crate builds and suitcase builds, mine is a board build. I'll be using this for remote tent camping - in places that I'm not willing to take my RV trailer - mostly for powering Starlink and my laptop so I can work remote if I have to. I'll test it at home to see if it will power a stand up freezer. That way I can justify the cost of this build to my wife.

Victron Phoenix 12/500 inverter (400 watts)
Victron VE.Direct bluetooth adapter (for the inverter, to set battery parameters)
Victron 100/20 Smartsolar MPPT
SolarWorld 280 watt mono panels (4), used (I'll probably use only two of these, in series)
MC4, 2-into-1 PV adapters (just in case I decide to go 2s2p, or 2p)
Interstate Marine Deep Cycle 12 volt battery (2) ~160 Ah total (80 Ah usable), free

View attachment 109550

Ignore the double pole AC breaker. It's a place holder until the DC breaker arrives. The other breakers were what I had on hand and aren't quite the right size, but they'll do.

Inverter and battery cables are 6 gauge. Solar charge controller to common busbar is 10 gauge and PV to solar charge controller is 10 gauge PV cable. I used what I had.

Absolutely love the build!

I'm also planning to build a tiny portable solar system, one that could power a few things such as a laptop, lights, etc. In my case, I'll be going with a 12V 50Ah LFP, Also the Victron 100/20, 600W inverter, and a 330W panel(if possible).

Figured, it would be a perfect little system to start with and learn more about solar by doing before going for a bigger system build.

Plus, It's a great opportunity to have some fun with the design side of things for me. Got an idea about designing a rack for such a small system to make it compact and portable, something that might be a great DIY tiny portable build for folks looking into getting into the solar, like me, or to just have a nice portable rig to carry around. And unlike the prebuilt solar 'generators' on the market, with expandability/flexibility of the system in mind.

Anyhow, I got a few questions if you don't mind.

1. Does the Victron 100/20 SCC support 12/24/48V?
Looked at its specs but the seller page info was a bit confusing to me, just want to make sure it does indeed support that voltage range. Very important for me and why I'd like to go with the 100/20, although, it's a bit limiting in solar power option when at 12v.

2. Would the SCC do fine if the solar power can provide roughly 1A over the SCC A rating?
Trying to see if I could use Sharp half cell 330W at a 12V system. Figured at 80% of the rated power, at 264W in best conditions it would have 21A for battery charging.
Obviously, I'd limit the charging to 15A(0.3C), considering the battery of 50Ah.


Anyhow, definitely subbed. Your build is very cool and interesting!!

Plus, I have a lot to learn

 

[HRTKD]

1. Does the Victron 100/20 SCC support 12/24/48V?
Looked at its specs but the seller page info was a bit confusing to me, just want to make sure it does indeed support that voltage range. Very important for me and why I'd like to go with the 100/20, although, it's a bit limiting in solar power option when at 12v.

Yes, it supports all those voltages.

2. Would the SCC do fine if the solar power can provide roughly 1A over the SCC A rating?
Trying to see if I could use Sharp half cell 330W at a 12V system. Figured at 80% of the rated power, at 264W in best conditions it would have 21A for battery charging.
Obviously, I'd limit the charging to 15A(0.3C), considering the battery of 50Ah.

The solar charge controller amp rating is on the output side. Your panel will work. I'm overpaneled with two of my 280 watt panels. The solar charge controller draws as many watts as it needs to get up to 20 amps (or whatever you set the output amps to be, it is adjustable).

My lead acid batteries (in parallel) were down to just below 12 volts. The solar charge controller was going full throttle with just one panel connected, producing about 16 amps. The panels were not tilted to capture the sun well. With two panels connected in series it was pegged at 20 amps.