I have one of those on pre order. The good thing is that the Cybertruck can then be charged on DC, while supplying AC out to power an off grid Cabin, or whatever other power requirements you may have. This is less expensive than a large solar generator.
I'd love to compare notes with you on this. I did the same thing with an Anker Solar Generator and 1200W of their folding panels. My goal was to have a system that could run at a trailhead while I hunted out of a backpack for the week. The challenge was to balance the charge rate such that the truck never fully drained the battery on the Anker. An issue with the Anker system is that once the battery on it dies even if the panels come up in full sun and bring it to 100%, the outlets on the unit have to be manually turned back on. SO I did some experiments to determine an average panel output with some margin, and programed a small automated light switch pusher to turn the outlets on at around 9 am and off around 8pm. At 5 amps charging this would give me in the neighborhood of 6KWH/day and, if nothing else, stay on top of phantom drain. (which was bad a the time I tried this in June), but also leave some overhead to keep the Anker Station alive.Just wanted to share some mods I have done in case it's of use to others.
One thing I've been eager to do is add solar charging capability to the Cybertruck. First order of business here though is to set expectations because when people talk about solar powered cars, their expectations are often driven by sci-fi. The truth is, given the physics governing it (1kW/m^2 of solar radiation on earth) and current efficiencies (or even theoretical efficiencies) of solar panels (~20% real world), you are not going to get a lot of onboard solar energy to fully power or charge an EV on a practical level (although I'm a fan of what Aptera is doing). My use case is boondocking (extended remote camping). That means I'm willing to take time to set up the mobile solar power system on an infrequent basis, to get a few miles a day. Keep in mind this is my early prototype, more of a proof of concept. The plan is to develop a much more elegant solution with fold-out wings using better (CIGS) solar panels (painfully expensive).
If I use only enough solar panels to lay on the backside of the Cybertruck, I can get around 800W which comes to about 4kWh/day, which is about 12 miles/day if I drive slow. Not too bad IMO.
If I am willing to carry more panels and set up around the truck, I'm usually limited by the power my mobile "solar generator" can receive. In this case, I'm using a "solar generator" from Pecron which maxes out at 2550W. That translates to ~13kWh/day or about 40 miles/day.
Solar charging currently isn't straightforward for EVs sadly. It gets more complicated so I'll type it up in detail at the bottom so as to not bore people who don't care about solarA lot.
For the Starlink, nothing groundbreaking here. I paid extra for the mini, worth it for the integrated wifi and ability to backpack. Also people usually buy mounts which are ridiculously overpriced. I made my mount using velcro cable straps and suction cups from Temu, cost maybe $4, LOL. Works great. Flux capacitor from Amazon is in the back
One concern though is as we all know, people are constantly peering into the CT. I wanted to hide the Starlink so used a BestEVMod roof shade which is 100% opaque (unlike the Tesla OEM shade).
For phone mounts, I really didn't want to mar my dash or permanently mess with the CT in any way. Then it hit me mounting to aftermarket organizers would make for a great solution. I have 2 magsafe chargers, one on the behind-the-screen organizer and the console organizer because in TX, sometimes the sun is so intense it will overheat your phone if it's on the dash so I move it to the console for shade. Organizers are from BestEVMod and work great. At first I was afraid the lip of the dash organizer would put dents into the dashboard but the contact is actually spread across a large area in the base so it's not an issue.
Speaking of the sun, as we all know the giant windshield turns the CT into a greenhouse. A lot of people complain about the umbrella type sun shades but I like them. Small enough collapsed to store in the center console. Just takes a little practice to get good at deploying it. My method is to get under the shade when it's partially open, point the long legs to the far corners of the windshield, and voila. Using the dash organizer is perfect with the umbrella shade, as it provides a spot for the rubber handle to rest against. Using BestEVMod here also for umbrella and consoles.
Jumping back to solar for people wanting more detail.... Ideally, your EV would have a built in DC input for solar charging, and an onboard MPPT charger to directly and efficiently charge your DC batteries with DC solar input, but currently nobody does this. Therefore we have to take a convoluted path of Solar > Solar generator (DC in > charge controller > batteries > inverter) > Tesla Mobile Charger > Cybertruck. Hope Tesla changes this one day! Totally see why they don't, many would improperly wire up the panels but maybe with some current/voltage protection, it will make sense for the market. For now, we have to use "solar generators" as an intermediate step to condition and buffer the solar power for EV charging.
Complexity #1: Most solar generators won't work. I'm using the Pecron E3600LFP. I chose it because it is able to receive a lot of solar power (2550W) and output a lot in AC (3600W). Drawback with the Pecron is that the inverters are inefficient and consume 190W just idling. Don't try to small-med solar generators or power stations. You have to over-spec it because when the Tesla charger starts charging, if there is a large voltage drop, the charger will think your electrical system is overtaxed and stop for safety reasons. Smaller solar generators will typically not be able to maintain a consistent voltage during the initial surge and thus the Tesla charger will stop. I always set in the app to start charging at the minimum current (5A).
Complexity #2: Unless you go with gargantuan "solar generators" which you have to wheel around, you are limited to 110V. As most know, charging at 110V usually sucks. But it can suck less if you charge at 30A. This is especially important in my setup since if I am at peak solar power (~2550W), I want to balance the input and output since if the solar generator battery is full and I max out charging at 1600W (with a standard NEMA 5-15 plug), that excess solar power can't be used. However, the most common 30A plug is the NEMA TT-30 and is commonly found on largeish solar generators and RV parks. For reasons I don't understand, Tesla does not make a TT-30 adapter for the mobile charger so I bought the EVSE adapter.
Complexity #3: The Tesla mobile charger is intelligent so it is looking to make sure your electrical outlet is properly wired. This means it's looking for the neutral line to be bonded with the ground. This would happen at the master panel if your house is wired properly. The problem is with "solar generators", there is no ground. Therefore you have to trick the charger into thinking there is a ground-neutral bond by running a wire between the 2 prongs. Make sure you get the prongs right and don't complain to me if you start a fireworks show! I use thin gauge wire just in case of a fault.
As mentioned, this is a rough proof of concept for mobile solar charging. Will update here as I refine it to a more elegant solution!
Looks promising, I'll probably jump on one if the reviews are good when they come out
Yeah sadly, there is a lot of overhead both from the power station inverter side, and the CT charging side. Charging at 5A. 110V won't work well as you've shown. In my boondocking use case, my plan was to minimize overhead losses by minimizing charge time. Let the power station charge via solar up to 90%, then charge at max current until 10%, then repeat. Will only need to do this maybe 2x a day, but that might be a challenge if you're out backpacking in the woods.
Thanks, I like that idea. And if you want the range extender which is delayed again, this is not a bad alternative.
Yeah, I'd like to try again since the update, but the days are getting pretty short here again. I wonder if the API for the Anker would allow for something like an external Arduino control, where the Arduino monitors the Anker battery condition and controls the outlet power accordingly. Were you able to get 30 amps from the TT-30 at 110V?
That would be really cool if you built that out, please keep us posted if you do.
I'm on your team with that. 3 x435watt panels with micro inverters, to feed the powerwall with AC and have the AC output from P-Walls charge the truck. I know those wizards can do it.
I just installed 15 -420's maxeon's 6.3 on a awning I built, now running 3 full electric cars, wife and kids are chewing up 26,000 Kw's a year. My next move is to sell off my 315's and up grade to 435's with micro inverters...maybe its time to mount panels to my wind turbine tower.Thanks, I like that idea. And if you want the range extender which is delayed again, this is not a bad alternative.
For my use case, I don't see carrying more than 3-4kW of panels max. I've hauled 31 370W panels and this was like 1600lbs with them all bundled on a pallet. I'll be using this for my home charging.
However if you are doing a major overlanding trip or hurricane rescue, etc... I think what you are describing is a good solution.
Another option is you can get 2 of the power stations I'm using (E3600LFP). Part of the reason I chose it is I may go down this route. Here you can do 240V, 7200W total output, 5100W solar input, and 6kWh of capacity. They weigh only 80lbs each and are small enough to be placed anywhere with is a big plus.
What wind turbine do you have? How well does it work?
Ummm all your points have not only been addressed but called out in the OP. Some people create, some are reply guys who got no life so they do what you do.
It’s only a 1500watt HyE-1500L. 54 ft up , need some serious help programing the aurora inverter.
HYE-1500, Not worth the money,, Stay with Solar,,,this HWT in NJ, average wind speed is only 13kts. I dumped about 12k putting that up in the air, I did all the welding & wiring. I did the complete install. The amount of wind here sucks. It produced 100kws in a year so far. pay back is in another 40 years. ROI. I did it, just to have one..Call me crazy,,but it's cool having one. Kids love climbing the tower. Worth every cent.
Thanks for that info. Almost every review I've read for consumer grade wind turbines was negative. At least you kids are getting value out of it, lol
