Alternative power sources

I dunno, $1500 will buy a pretty long extension cord and a good battery charger - at least long enough to reach an electrical outlet at the truck stop or rest area...

 

I am finding panels that are 68 watts @ 16.1 volts with each panel 112" long by 15.5" wide that could be hooked together to increase the wattage. So 2 would be 136 watts and 3 would be 204 watts. They could be peel and sticked side by side if the roof area is large enough. On my 770 the 112" will start behind the visor above the windshield and run all the way to the top with wires all connected together behind cab and down to batteries and charge controller.

3 panels would 46.5" wide by 112" long.

Note: The thin film flexiable panels are tougher than regular panels that will work even with holes in them, they just need alot more area to get the equal wattage/voltage that the rigid regular solar panels do. My two 90 watt (180 watts total) rigid panels behind the cab are around 1/2 the area it will take for 204 watts with peel and stick panels.

 

What I am looking at now would drop that cost down to well under $1,000

 

Getting better.

Do you have actual power data from your setup? How many watt-hours were you able to get from your system since it has been installed?

Even though you can get 40 watts from a particular panel, that is assuming ideal conditions: clean panel face, and direct sunlight at 100% illumination - meaning daytime, no clouds or haze, panel face oriented directly at the sun, and sun directly overhead.

I'd be curious to see the actual watt-hour numbers that you're getting.

 

I'm in sunny Dallas, TX right now running down my batteries with my 17" laptop perusing the TTR forums. I could use solar if I had a good setup and wouldn't need to crank the gen until after dusk. Don't load until tomorrow so I burn fossil fuel to stay warm/keep batteries up 2nite.

2 years ago I couldn't find any panels that were favorably sized and priced and produced a reasonable amount of juice. So we wait for the magic power source. Obammy spent gazillions of our grandchildren's money for it but they took the money and went belly up.

 

I am not going to sell any of this, but instead I will give you several sources to put together your own system that is not too complicated for most.

The panels that I am looking at are being used on metal roofs all over the country that are peel and stick that have been designed for a 185 mph wind load.

This is why they are only 15 1/2" wide to fit between 16" center metal roofing ribs.

The panels can be purchased off of E-Bay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Peel-Stick-68-watt-Uni-Solar-Laminate-Solar...


Even a kit with wiring and charge controller included on E-Bay and note this is a longer 136 watt panel that are 15 1/2" wide by 216" long (18'): http://www.ebay.com/itm/136W-Battery-Charger-Uni-Solar-Package-Upg-...

The longer panels will work better for those that want to install them on trailers.

Here is a link to the company that has those panels for sale on E-Bay that will probably make you a better deal than their posted prices due to the E-Bay pricing: http://soldonsun.com/Pr/Solar/Off-Grid/Off-Grid.html

Here is the charge controller I am using that has a meter and can charge 2 seperate battery banks: http://soldonsun.com/files/SunSaverDuo.pdf and they sell it here: http://soldonsun.com/Pr/Solar/Cont/CM.html






For those that need to understand a little more how solar works, I like the boat picture that is closest to what we have with a truck system.



Note: These are thin film solar panels that are plyable, lighter, more durable and will still work even with damage compared to regular solar panels that are more fragile and are heavier, but the thin film solar is not as efficient as the regular ones and need about twice the size for the same wattage output.

Please consider that I have alot of time in this project and any thank yous will be very much appreciated.

 

Just ordered 3 of the 68 watt panels off of E-Bay for $99 each to see how they stick and work.

Here is a you tube video on how to install them on metal roof panels:

[video=youtube_share;QZvy0GPT1M8]http://youtu.be/QZvy0GPT1M8[/video]

 

Looks like interest fell off on this subject????

 

as far as POWERING our vehicles, the military is WAAAAAY ahead of us on this. about 7 years ago, I picked up a truck (4 axle HEMMETT) in Oshkosh, and took it to the proving grounds at Fernley, NV. truck had no drive axles, no differentials, got 50mpg (rumored) and was supposed to be able to do 50mph. Impossible you say? NOPE! the railroads do it every day. for those of you who aren't too enlightened, those aren't big engines that train locomotives run under thier hoods.....those are generators. yep, what they did is put a little 4 cyl motor under the hood of the HEMMETT, used it to power a small generator, and in turn used it to run 4 electric motors direct driving the gears in the pumpkins. it's a brilliant idea.....only downfall is a truck would need at least 2 250-300 hp motors, and with todays technology are VERY heavy. but the idea is very exciting....imagine getting 45-50 mpg in your truck, less emissions, and we could FNALLY tell those Arab states that love us so much to go to hell