Converting equipment from 120v wall adaptor to DC solar power system?

[Solar_Polar_Bear]

Is it wackoh (a crazy Idea not that city in Texas) to build a vehicle mounted solar panel system that can charge equipment and batteries while driving? Equipment being cameras, HAM radios and computers. So when I'm not driving I can work? I am considering setting up a 48v system. I am also wondering if I really need to keep all my equipment as is with 120v wall adapters? Could i not make adapters that take power from the batteries to the computer as DC to DC instead of DC to AC back to DC? It seems a waste of power and money. It also seems simpler to just stay with DC for the whole system. I know my HAM radios have a cigaret lighter adapter already so in a way part of what I am asking about is already out there. I also know you can get lights and stuff at RV places that are also DC ready items. But I have a desk top Apple and two large monitors. One) is a 30" and the second is a 20". The 30" has a power brick that takes 120v from the wall it's rated at 150w. It says input 100-240v - 2.5A 50-60 Hz output 24.5v 6.1A. Surly this could be converted to run directly from the solar power system, could't it? The desktop computer is about the same and the 20" is a little less. Then there are the laptops, cameras and lights and other equipment that i would like to make a permanent build for or have a way to "Plug" into this system. I know this is a lot to get back into for someone who has been away from electronics for a really long time. But I have been told i am smart. I hope thats true.
I am not sure if I am asking or explaining what I want to do here os if anyone needs to ask me something. I will do my best to explain or expand on something. Thanks a million guys

 

[Bud Martin]

Did you do power audit to find out how much power you need to run all your equipment and what your power consumption per day is?

 

[Solar_Polar_Bear]

Did you do power audit to find out how much power you need to run all your equipment and what your power consumption per day is?

A long time ago I did one for a different reason. Its been a while though. I am trying to start from scratch with this system. So I decided a start with a 48V solar system then work back from there. I really am green at this.

 

[Bud Martin]

A long time ago I did one for a different reason. Its been a while though. I am trying to start from scratch with this system. So I decided a start with a 48V solar system then work back from there. I really am green at this.

It is needs to be done first so you can buy the right equipment and power storage that supports your requirement.

 

[Vigo]

It's only really practical to get rid of the 'wall warts' and other ac-dc power supplies if your stuff all happens to fall within a narrow range of voltages. Laptops for example are NOT 48v that im aware of, usually more like 20v. Stuff usually powered from a 120v wall adapter or power cord that converts to DC are all over the map from 3v on up depending on what they hook to. Unless all your devices fall within a pretty narrow and common window of DC voltages, it would be easier and cheaper to convert your 48v dc to 120v ac and plug all your stuff in as normal, than to devise a large number of 48v-to-X step-down converters and then make a whole bunch of new connections for all those things. In my opinion it is possible but not practical. Plus, those types of devices are usually not the 'big ticket' items you need to design around for a 48v system, since 48v systems tend to be of a certain minimum size and all those little plug in devices are 'small potatoes' in that context. So i suppose a possibly more fundamental question is, what type of vehicle as it pertains to the amount of available space for solar panels? If you have a very small amount of solar rear estate available, it may not make any sense to use a 48v based system in the first place if it drives up your MPPT, inverter, and battery costs and you aren't even trying to power a single high-power device from it.

 

[Solar_Polar_Bear]

It's only really practical to get rid of the 'wall warts' and other ac-dc power supplies if your stuff all happens to fall within a narrow range of voltages. Laptops for example are NOT 48v that im aware of, usually more like 20v. Stuff usually powered from a 120v wall adapter or power cord that converts to DC are all over the map from 3v on up depending on what they hook to. Unless all your devices fall within a pretty narrow and common window of DC voltages, it would be easier and cheaper to convert your 48v dc to 120v ac and plug all your stuff in as normal, than to devise a large number of 48v-to-X step-down converters and then make a whole bunch of new connections for all those things. In my opinion it is possible but not practical. Plus, those types of devices are usually not the 'big ticket' items you need to design around for a 48v system, since 48v systems tend to be of a certain minimum size and all those little plug in devices are 'small potatoes' in that context. So i suppose a possibly more fundamental question is, what type of vehicle as it pertains to the amount of available space for solar panels? If you have a very small amount of solar rear estate available, it may not make any sense to use a 48v based system in the first place if it drives up your MPPT, inverter, and battery costs and you aren't even trying to power a single high-power device from it.

Interesting ..... I was considering a 48v system because I was thinking that If I powered my system with 48v I could power a lot more smaller equipment so I would never come close to running my batteries down. Boy do I have that wrong. Thank you for giving me a idea of what I really need to be thinking of. I said I was green when it came to solar. I guess What I should be asking is are there any good manuals for catching up to speed on what and how to build a solar panel system? Thank you again for your response. It is VERY helpful.

 

[Solar_Polar_Bear]

It is needs to be done first so you can buy the right equipment and power storage that supports your requirement.

I understand why you asked the question. I can't give a good answer at this point because I don't have all the equipment yet. I still have a lot of component parts to get. Right now I am working to get the vehicle restored to where I can begin designing and building the interior crew station where the radios and computers will be located. The camera equipment is mainly battery charging so a separate section for that will need to be designed. But back to your comment yes I do know i need to get an idea of what I will need.

 

[Bud Martin]

I'm sure you have limited space for Solar panels on your vehicle, so it may not be enough to charge the batteries and run the loads at the same time. So it is good that you do not spend the money on the solar equipment yet at this point until the audit is done.