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diy solar

Work truck 12v-560ah no solar.

S Davis

Solar Addict
Joined
Sep 25, 2021
Messages
977
Figured I was far enough along to start a build thread, this is going into a 2019 Chevy Silverado with the diesel.

A little back ground, the truck is used for off grid construction projects roads/trails can get bumpy and rough. Also can sit in the ferry line (no idle zones) for hours at a time. System needs to be robust and reliable. This has been a multi year project.
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I originally had the idea to build a box for the dc/dc charger, buss bars, inverter and install it in the bed of the truck.

I have a long bed with a 6.5’ cargo body commercial cap installed, this gives me about 1.5’ in front of the cap.

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Originally I had four Trojan T-105s in two sets on either side of the inverter box.

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I ran 1/0 DLO positive and negative charge lines to the bed from the aux battery for the dc/dc charger and another set of 1/0 DLO run from the bed down underneath and up through the floor under the center console between the front seats.

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I added fuses and used this to power a ARB portable compressor fridge and for a 300watt psw inverter to power an electric blanket.
 
About this point I found this and other sites about lithium batteries and decided to redo the system with a new lithium bank, I could install them in the cab and not worry about venting.

First order of business was removing the rear seats and building an enclosure for the system to go in.

I used the mounting points for the rear seats and bolted it down.

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So the decision was to buy or assemble the lithium batteries, I spent a couple months researching and decided to assemble so I would have a better understanding and could customize the parts list.

After a lot of research I decided to compress my cells as this is being used in an off road mobile application, I didn’t want the cells shifting around causing issues, loose connections, heat, fire.

I purchased 28 LF280N cells from Docan power, and assembled them into 12volt batteries with Daly 250 amp BMS with cells arranged so buss bars run diagonally and made custom buss bars.

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Never seen the diagonal bus bars before. What is the reason to do that instead of rotating ever other cell 180*.
 
Never seen the diagonal bus bars before. What is the reason to do that instead of rotating ever other cell 180*.
To lessen stress on the battery terminals from expansion and the other reason is I can compress the cells and parallel top balance without reconfiguring them after for series operation.
 
Do you have an alternate way to charge the batteries? I saw a DC to DC charger.
Yes, I have a Victron 12/3000-120 Multiplus, but rarely use it for charging. I am charging from the alternator at 50amps and increasing that to 100amps.
 
Since this is going in the truck and the batteries needed to stay above freezing and preferably above 50 for capacity, I decided to heat the battery boxes instead of the cells/batteries directly.
I could build two heaters and be able to swap in/out the 5 backup batteries as needed.

I made channels in the boxes and mounted a computer fan up high blowing air across a 25 watt silicone heat element sandwiched between two thin pieces of aluminum. I had this in mind when deciding how to mount the batteries to have air flow all the way around.

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I bought four cheap temperature controllers to cycle the heat pads and used a four channel fan controller to turn the fans on and off.

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This has worked well down to 7f during the last cold snap we had. The original temperature controllers one by one for un known reasons let out the magic smoke, I found another model and it has been working for a year and a half now.
 
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Well after getting the new refrigerator installed and a four camera MDVR system I am having issues with too much heat in the cab from charging.

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I have sourced a 12 volt parking A/C for $350.00 shipped to my door, hopefully get it installed here shortly.

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The plan is to mount the indoor head on passenger side rear and the outdoor unit will mount above my 52 gallon aux fuel tank. I am having a support shelf/bracket made to mount it and a spot for a 2200 Honda inverter generator.

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Fun project! I definitely appreciated having the AC on in my model 3 while waiting for the ferry.

Are you running pair of the new orion XS DC to DC chargers?

Washington or British Columbia??
 
I like to have a solar panel on my trucks.
Just good piece of mind having at least 100W trickle charging all the time.
 
Fun project! I definitely appreciated having the AC on in my model 3 while waiting for the ferry.

Are you running pair of the new orion XS DC to DC chargers?

Washington or British Columbia??
It’s been a long time planning, I am running one Redarc 50 amp but plan on going with two of the new Victron 50 amp units, I heard the are more efficient and put out less heat.

I am north 60 miles north of Seattle and mostly work in the San Juan islands with an 1.5 hour ferry ride if it’s not running late or broken down/ not enough crew to run, and remote sites in the cascades.
 
I like to have a solar panel on my trucks.
Just good piece of mind having at least 100W trickle charging all the time.
I thought about it but with the ladder l rack and loading materials decided not, I will on the truck camper.
 
It’s been a long time planning, I am running one Redarc 50 amp but plan on going with two of the new Victron 50 amp units, I heard the are more efficient and put out less heat.

I am north 60 miles north of Seattle and mostly work in the San Juan islands with an 1.5 hour ferry ride if it’s not running late or broken down/ not enough crew to run, and remote sites in the cascades.
I think you will.be very happy with the XS models.

Must be some really nice remote sites in the Cascades. I had heard the Washington ferries ran better than our BC ferries, sounds like yours have start to be less reliable.

Ferries are a nightmare here in southern BC.
 
Yes some beautiful spots, this is one on the east side of the cascades above Leavenworth. Miles of logging roads to get to and only accessible by snowmobile in winter.

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Amazing, reminds me of home. I've been trying to find a reason to take the road across towards Omak via Diablo lake through North Cascades, a friend said it was a great summer drive.

Also haven't made the trip through Leavenworth yet, maybe this year when I head down south on Oct 1st. I'll try and slide easy before going south. Weather makes the real decisions .

Anything stay stay clear of the I5 all the way through to southern California..
 
Thank you for the information and pictures! Looks like a great project.

Can you share a little bit more about the 12 volt cab A/C? I am thinking about one of those too for a future project. What is the brand, and how has it worked out for you?
 
Thank you for the information and pictures! Looks like a great project.

Can you share a little bit more about the 12 volt cab A/C? I am thinking about one of those too for a future project. What is the brand, and how has it worked out for you?
I have received it but have not had the time to get it installed, I have requested a couple quotes for the stand that I will mount it on above my 52 gallon aux diesel tank but haven’t heard back.
 

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