Has anyone built a waterproof solar to battery portable setup?

[Jayratch]

I am kayaking/rafting the Grand Canyon in January, and need electricity to power my CPAP breathing machine overnight. I have a Jackery Explorer 500, considering upgrading it to the Explorer 1000, and a cheap 120 watt foldable panel.
I would like to find a way to have the panel deployed on a raft while we are paddling downriver, as we will spend the bulk of the daylight hours paddling. However, the battery box is not waterproof. The solar panel claims to be waterproof except the connection box; my plan there is to just slather the whole thing in silicon sealant and just block off the ports I’m not using. For the battery box, my plan is to put it inside a waterproof box such as a large Pelican case, and drill a hole through the case to run the wire, obviously sealing around the wire. That leaves the pluggable connection between the box and the panel as the last weak spot for water to get in, but I think that will be fine as long as it’s not submersed a long time.
Has anyone else done something like this before? I can’t imagine nobody has, but I can’t find any info online about a similar project.

 

[averagejoe]

I just posted my Physics 101 reference in another thread so won't repeat it here.

Heat my friend, heat. How will you control the waste heat from a charging battery? Slathering everything up in silicon helps with water intrusion, but then you have nicely sealed boxes with no ventilation to let heat out.

There are no shortage of waterproof connectors available, so a little google-fu should help there.

Have an enjoyable trip. My wildest ride was paddling 65 miles through the Atchafalaya swamp.

 

[Jayratch]

I don’t think heat is going to be that big an issue at the charging rates I’m looking at - in my tests so far this panel has only produced 7-10 watts in shady conditions like what we expect most of the time in the canyon, up to 70 in direct sun which we won’t have much of. All of the boxes I’m looking at are about double the volume of the batteries themselves so there will be some circulation within the box to reduce heat buildup and the outside air will be near freezing, so again under these conditions I don’t think heat is likely to become an issue at all; if anything I’ve got the opposite problem, if lithium not liking to charge when cold.

 

[averagejoe]

You did say January in your first line, didn't you?

Maybe you could put the Jackery in the foot of your sleeping bag at night to keep it warm enough to charge in the earlier morning.

 

[schmism]

dont cut holes in your known water tight pelican case. The issue with water tightness is during the trip on the raft. not in the tent overnight. Just open the top make your connections and let them dangle out the top.

 

[Jayratch]

dont cut holes in your known water tight pelican case. The issue with water tightness is during the trip on the raft. not in the tent overnight. Just open the top make your connections and let them dangle out the top.

If you have a way to connect the power wires to a battery inside a sealed Pelican case without drilling, by all means share it as that’s the primary purpose of this post. Leaving the box open to connect power while on the river would completely defeat the purpose of the box and I might as well spare the raft the weight of the box; so I have no idea why you would suggest that. The whole point of this post, the whole question, is how to effectively connect the battery *inside the sealed box* to the solar panels while on the river. When we’re ashore, it won’t be an issue as I will just then take the battery out of the box.

 

[madmax]

I am kayaking/rafting the Grand Canyon in January, and need electricity to power my CPAP breathing machine overnight. I have a Jackery Explorer 500, considering upgrading it to the Explorer 1000, and a cheap 120 watt foldable panel.
I would like to find a way to have the panel deployed on a raft while we are paddling downriver, as we will spend the bulk of the daylight hours paddling. However, the battery box is not waterproof. The solar panel claims to be waterproof except the connection box; my plan there is to just slather the whole thing in silicon sealant and just block off the ports I’m not using. For the battery box, my plan is to put it inside a waterproof box such as a large Pelican case, and drill a hole through the case to run the wire, obviously sealing around the wire. That leaves the pluggable connection between the box and the panel as the last weak spot for water to get in, but I think that will be fine as long as it’s not submersed a long time.
Has anyone else done something like this before? I can’t imagine nobody has, but I can’t find any info online about a similar project.

If you need heat dissipation a metal ammo can works. In theory you could also run all sorts of wacky water cooling. I just don't think it matters significantly.

If you have no need for a power I'd skip the jackery. Go straight dc for everything.

Also look at flexible solar. (I don't mean the single panel style). Global solar p3s are water resistant, and fold up small and are light weight. The are almost like a thick tarp. You can also look at power film. Yes, both are expensive. But both are significantly easier to handle on a kayak. It also won't poke you with some sharp metal edge, and generally has better efficiencies even at non optimal angles.

 

[Jayratch]

Thanks. I wish I could find a straight DC option, but I can’t seem to find any large DC battery packs without an inverter; the DC only ones seem to cap out at around 60 watt hours. Basically the only things out there DC only are lead-acid batteries, and they’re just no good for power density - to get as much usable power as I get from the Jackery, I’d need double the volume and five times the weight from lead acid. So, wasting a few cubic inches on an inverter I don’t need is an easier compromise.

I really don’t think heat is going to be an issue in the canyon in January. Again, I’m more worried about the opposite problem; I think the small amount of heat is more likely to help than hinder, and if it does somehow get hot enough to cause an issue the Jackery has a safety lockout to cut power if it overheats. My concern is just finding a way to keep it dry while delivering power to it.
On the panels, I think I’m going to stick with the hardware I have, and it looks like it’ll have to be on the raft not the kayak because of size. I also got a much smaller lithium power pack that could easily fit inside my kayak, but the smallest solar panel I can find that will charge it is still too large to lay out on the kayak. I can’t seem to find anything much smaller in area than the one I already have, which when unfolded is too long to fit on the deck of the kayak front or back, and when folded is still too big to fit inside the kayak. But I can’t find any that are small enough that output more than just USB, and none of the power packs large enough to power the CPAP will charge off USB.

 

[Opusdei]

If you need to power up a medical device like CPAP, you need to carry a reliable power source like a diesel generator. As for waterproof battery box, consider XT90 connectors through the pelican case.

 

[averagejoe]

I had to move it out of my way this morning, and it reminded me I have it. https://maxoak.net/products/maxoak-k2-50000mah-power-bank
It's a 185 wh laptop power bank. It needs 16.8 volts DC at 2.5 amps to charge, and you'd still need a small charge controller for your panel. At the 7-10 watts you are figuring you're going to get on the river, you're not going to get much of a top up on any solution.

I also feel doubly stupid none of us asked about the CPAP's needs. What does it consume? One of my old assistant scoutmasters had a CPAP with its own battery that was good for at least two nights.

And finally, are there not rest areas/campsites along the river which may have electricity?

 

[averagejoe]

If you need to power up a medical device like CPAP, you need to carry a reliable power source like a diesel generator. As for waterproof battery box, consider XT90 connectors through the pelican case.

I wanna see that diesel generator in that kayak for sure!

 

[Opusdei]

I wanna see that diesel generator in that kayak for sure!

Small generator (18.5" x 10.2" x 15.7") may fit in kayak

 

[Jayratch]

If you need to power up a medical device like CPAP, you need to carry a reliable power source like a diesel generator. As for waterproof battery box, consider XT90 connectors through the pelican case.

Generators are illegal in the Grand Canyon.

 

[schmism]

is how to effectively connect the battery *inside the sealed box* to the solar panels while on the river.

Sorry I didn't realize you plan to deploy solar panels and have them connected while trying to keep them lashed to a raft.
In which case I think the useable power that could be generated from a foldable 120w panel is inconsquential for the logistics/space/weight it requires vs just takeing a larger battery to begin with. Something that will last for all the days you need.

 

[madmax]

Thanks. I wish I could find a straight DC option, but I can’t seem to find any large DC battery packs without an inverter; the DC only ones seem to cap out at around 60 watt hours. Basically the only things out there DC only are lead-acid batteries, and they’re just no good for power density - to get as much usable power as I get from the Jackery, I’d need double the volume and five times the weight from lead acid. So, wasting a few cubic inches on an inverter I don’t need is an easier compromise.

I really don’t think heat is going to be an issue in the canyon in January. Again, I’m more worried about the opposite problem; I think the small amount of heat is more likely to help than hinder, and if it does somehow get hot enough to cause an issue the Jackery has a safety lockout to cut power if it overheats. My concern is just finding a way to keep it dry while delivering power to it.
On the panels, I think I’m going to stick with the hardware I have, and it looks like it’ll have to be on the raft not the kayak because of size. I also got a much smaller lithium power pack that could easily fit inside my kayak, but the smallest solar panel I can find that will charge it is still too large to lay out on the kayak. I can’t seem to find anything much smaller in area than the one I already have, which when unfolded is too long to fit on the deck of the kayak front or back, and when folded is still too big to fit inside the kayak. But I can’t find any that are small enough that output more than just USB, and none of the power packs large enough to power the CPAP will charge off USB.

I don't think I can list sources but I picked up two lifepo4 batteries with bms for less than 100 each. They were out of medical devices, but they have a bms and can be charged with regular car chargers. Each one has roughly 400w of storage. A single one would last you a few days. I don't know which cpap you have but a lot have a power brick. The power brick gives you the dc power requirements. Also a lot of cpap makers have 12v power plug options. Posed with a 18v ryobi for size comparison. I've charged it with a 12v battery tender without issue. I'm sure my solar pwm unit would charge it as well.

Its way smaller than the jackery, especially if you don't need ac.

 

[madmax]

You could also do a lto setup. Density isn't as good but will operate in the freezing canyon temps overnight.

 

[averagejoe]

Good discussions and I learned a thing or two here, but...

I'm sort of concluding this is not a solar issue, or at least one solar is going to do anything for.

The OP hasn't of yet come back with power requirements for his CPAP, but I googled a few and it seems like 1A at 12 volts DC is on the higher end of what some travel models would consume. Apparently the setting of the CPAP has do do with the current draw, and at the lower settings the current draw is much less. So there is a boatload of variables right here in the CPAP machine and the OP's needs for a higher or lower setting.

And I have no knowledge of CPAP machine, so I don't know if that current draw would be continuous throughout the OP's sleep period or not.

Also don't know How many nights autonomy the OP needs. He said overnight, but not how many overnights. Lee's Ferry to Lake Mead could be a 16 day trip in a raft, so let's go with that since it seems to be one of the longer trips.

Also don't know if the OP's CPAP will accept a direct 12 volt input, or if he would need an inverter.

So, going with the little we do know, the OP may need 12 watts for 8 hours, for some undisclosed number of nights, but let's pick 16. 12x8x16 says he needs 1536 WH of energy to complete this trip I selected for him, with the power hungry CPAP I selected for him.

So, I'm going to tell the OP to just grab a drop in 120 AH 12 volt Lithium battery (at about 25lbs I think that is only twice the weight of his Jackery), an appropriate battery box and converter/inverter if needed, cut back to 7 hours sleep per night, and leave the solar panel at home.

 

[MrNatural22]

I don’t know if all Cpap or Bpap machines
are able to but my Bpap runs on 12v. That would eliminate any need for an inverter.
running it without the humidifier uses much less power.
Here’s the specs on the 110v block that powered it at home.

 

[anadiner]

I am kayaking/rafting the Grand Canyon in January, and need electricity to power my CPAP breathing machine overnight. I have a Jackery Explorer 500, considering upgrading it to the Explorer 1000, and a cheap 120 watt foldable panel.
I would like to find a way to have the panel deployed on a raft while we are paddling downriver, as we will spend the bulk of the daylight hours paddling. However, the battery box is not waterproof. The solar panel claims to be waterproof except the connection box; my plan there is to just slather the whole thing in silicon sealant and just block off the ports I’m not using. For the battery box, my plan is to put it inside a waterproof box such as a large Pelican case, and drill a hole through the case to run the wire, obviously sealing around the wire. That leaves the pluggable connection between the box and the panel as the last weak spot for water to get in, but I think that will be fine as long as it’s not submersed a long time.
Has anyone else done something like this before? I can’t imagine nobody has, but I can’t find any info online about a similar project.

I asked similar question earlier about foldable panels. Im just curious concerning wear and tear vs rigid mounted panel. Water damage from rain would be part of that.

As for u, I havent tried that... new to foldable. From my experience tho, no matter what I do, things get wet.

Best of luck. Hope it works!