Solar power cells and trucking

I've thought long and hard about it, and it comes down to maintenance, and $$$.

Most trailers are in service 15+ years, during which time they will be the subject of the greatest neglect and abuse, especially in a large fleet. As a company driver, not a week would go by that I wouldn't pick up two trailers with at least a bald tire, or dragging air lines, or a light missing, and those were all things within the line of sight and reach of the steering wheel holders that left them that way.

How would you like to pull into a DOT barn, have them climb up the ladder, and then put you OOS because a corner of a cell came loose, and you're now overheight/a danger to the motoring public? Are you going to lug around a 14ft ladder in your cab to check the top of your trailer every day? I can only imagine how trashed the brushes at the fuel pump would be once drivers start trying to get the bird crap off a solar array.

Also, considering the size of the trailer, being roughly 8.5'X53', that's about 450ft^2. Just tabbed cells ALONE have barely made it under $5/ft^2, so tack on manufacture and installation cost, with about $15/hr labor, since these have to be assembled and installed in the good old US and A, assuming $8/ft^2, and 15 hours labor, we're at about $4000 for the array alone. Assuming 3"X6" cells, we'll have over 3500 electrical connections to troubleshoot when something inevitably goes wrong. When you consider how much a trailer flexes and twists, tin tabs don't stand a chance, and crystaline cells would likely pop off like fleas in some parking lots.

Throw on the cost and weight of a battery pack, charge controller, battery box, dump load, inverter, and all the wire and labor to string it together, your truck is 600lbs heavier, and your wallet is about $8000 lighter altogether for a system that is useless under a light dusting of snow.

Don't get me wrong, I suggested something similar about a year ago for assisting a TCU, but there is absolutely no support for such an expensive and unreliable system in the industry. You'll be hard pressed to find an american driver who's first word on the subject won't be "solindra", no matter how poorly they understand the market pressures that led to its collapse. Most truckers have a sour taste in their mouths concerning all alternative energy at this point in time, and they all have their reasons.

That being said, I'm plastering thin film cells all over the top of my cabover when I get it repainted to keep my batteries topped up during long parks to save some wear and tear on my home made APU.

 

The first hail storm that passes over dropping golfball size hail or larger is going to set somebody back a lot of money. It would have no angle to deflect the impacts.

 

and in NJ you would have to shovel the snow off!

 

Been on my truck for 2 years through all kinds of weather...

 

i always thought that too. the trucks with moonroofs in them, pop that window out and put a solar panel in there, that would be better for me , then that stupid window, i cringe on every time i go under a tree branch.

 

Nice. What exactly do you have it connected to?

 

Do you have a charge controller keeping the truck topped off, or a second battery bank?

 

These are 2 100 watt solar panels off of E-Bay. They put out total of 15 amps @ 18 volts under full sun. I have them hooked to a Morningstar charge controller designed to do dual battery banks, but I only have it hooked to my main battery bank to keep them peaked off all the time. I have not installed a 2nd battery bank yet, but intend to in the future.

 

Let me add when things were real slow in 2009, I went to NC State and got certified to install solar panels.