Solar powered USB port in vehicle

[grdnman]

I want a system that 's separate from the vehicle itself. I do plan on expanding it, if possible at a later point.

I finally got it up and running today for about an hour before the sun went down. Winter is starting to set in. Shorter days, less sun, etc. It's not the best time to be setting this up, but I can't control the sun. The panel is working, I seen it charge the battery a little bit at first (12.23 on up to 13 at one point), then I could stand in front of it and see the charge drop a little bit. I also had the a USB fan drawing power, running full speed. I can't tell you how much power it uses yet, I'm still waiting on those parts to get here.

Pictured: 100w solar panel, the battery that was discussed above, the (cheap) solar charger, a USB fan, and all the cables.



I have more testing to do over the upcoming days. I want better connections to the charge controller too. The wires were too big and I had to remove some strands just to get them to fit, and the connections are not tight enough. I'll work more on that later.

I'm happy with the way things went today.

 

[pollenface]

Parts list:

- Solar Panels + Charge Controller
$34.99 Apowery Solar Panel Kit 12V Monocrystalline,Battery Maintainer +10A Solar Charge Controller

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08T9VZDFT/

- Battery
$35.99 SEFEPODER 12V 8Ah LiFePO4 Lithium Deep Cycle Battery, 2000+ Cycles Rechargeable

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09M2ZLQ8N/

That SCC won't respect the LFP battery. I have one that i got to play with because i see them everywhere.

To use that LFP battery, a "victron 75/10 smartsolar" is my suggestion