Portable Solar Panels for truck bed?

[MajorVictory]

Did a quick search and did not see a thread on this yet but I'd bet a number of us have thought about it.

Anyone have portable solar panel experience for camping and/or a solar generator/battery?

I realize it will not be a lot of juice but to add some off the grid electricity back into the CT battery sitting outside all day may be helpful noting the increasing solar panel efficiencies and lower costs each year.

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[cgladue]

meh, honestly its not worth the complexity and cost for the tiny amount of power you would get.

 

[Gigahorse]

Did a quick search and did not see a thread on this yet but I'd bet a number of us have thought about it.

Anyone have portable solar panel experience for camping and/or a solar generator/battery?

I realize it will not be a lot of juice but to add some off the grid electricity back into the CT battery sitting outside all day may be helpful noting the increasing solar panel efficiencies and lower costs each year.

The short answer is not worth it, the panels are big and most are fragile, they generate a small amount of power.
For instance Power of Light charged his Model Y but it took a couple of days and a LOT of panels before he could move on. You are going to be better off with a small generator, or waiting until the CT v2 comes out with a larger battery.

 

[MajorVictory]

meh, honestly its not worth the complexity and cost for the tiny amount of power you would get.

Perhaps, but hope to start a discussion here from folks with some experience with portable solar panels/generators camping.

I recall Elon said maybe 15 miles per day from portable solar possible years ago. 15 miles better than no miles, if stranded...etc.

 

[Gigahorse]

Perhaps, but hope to start a discussion here from folks with some experience with portable solar panels/generators camping.

I recall Elon said maybe 15 miles per day from portable solar possible years ago. 15 miles better than no miles, if stranded...etc.

I think the 15miles per day was also based on the early hopes for slightly better efficiency numbers, so drop that to today's real numbers and that 15 is likely around 11. That could be achieved by 2-3 high efficiency panels, but those would also need an inverter and FULL sun in a high producing region, there is also significant work needed to get that power into the truck, using an additional battery bank. So by the time you have your inverter, bank, panels, wires, etc, you are looking at a good portion of your storage. A small generator, propane would be best, would generate far more power with a lot less space used and time required.
For people wanting to camp, boondock, overland this will be a requirement for most circumstances until the 123kwh battery for the cybertruck is upgraded by Tesla for a 150-200kwh option on the next version.

 

[espresso-drumbeat]

I was thinking about this for a bit too. I understand that solar charging will not be anything meaningless for everyday but for camping or emergencies might be something.

I was thinking about buying something like below to serve a dual pursue as a backup solution for home and emergency charging for EV. Get some more solar panels for more juice to charge the external battery while it charges an EV as it has capability of distributing electricity while charging.

EF ECOFLOW Solar Generator DELTA 2 Max 2048Wh with 2x220W Solar Panel

 

[Strykerwsu]

I have 1kwh of portable solar that produces about 700 watts or so with really good sun . It fills my ecoflow delta2max in about 3 hours. So I could pump about 5kwh into the truck daily. Good for about 10 miles but if you really need those 10 they are possible. Probably not worth the effort and use to power other items.

 

[TexasRaider]

I was thinking about this for a bit too. I understand that solar charging will not be anything meaningless for everyday but for camping or emergencies might be something.

I was thinking about buying something like below to serve a dual pursue as a backup solution for home and emergency charging for EV. Get some more solar panels for more juice to charge the external battery while it charges an EV as it has capability of distributing electricity while charging.

EF ECOFLOW Solar Generator DELTA 2 Max 2048Wh with 2x220W Solar Panel

I’m more on board with Anker than Eco Flow.

 

[espresso-drumbeat]

I’m more on board with Anker than Eco Flow.

I dont have either, just contemplating, but would definitely not go with Anker for their shitty business practices as a company. Short while back they strait up lied about some of their privacy/security of customers data and got caught. Even of Anker product would be better or have more features, I'd go with an alternative.

 

[TexasRaider]

I dont have either, just contemplating, but would definitely not go with Anker for their shitty business practices as a company. Short while back they strait up lied about some of their privacy/security of customers data and got caught. Even of Anker product would be better or have more features, I'd go with an alternative.

I did not know of that. Wow.

 

[Crissa]

I was thinking about this for a bit too. I understand that solar charging will not be anything meaningless for everyday but for camping or emergencies might be something.

I was thinking about buying something like below to serve a dual pursue as a backup solution for home and emergency charging for EV. Get some more solar panels for more juice to charge the external battery while it charges an EV as it has capability of distributing electricity while charging.

EF ECOFLOW Solar Generator DELTA 2 Max 2048Wh with 2x220W Solar Panel

I already have this. It's fine, but only works in full sun. I get very little otherwise. The pack is overkill for most camping trips. I used it last year for unSCruz where you can't camp with your vehicle, and that was fine.

But usually I just bring the panels and a cable to plug into the car. I power all my camp lights, our devices, air pump, etc, from the vehicle.

That's the thing - anyone saying it's a waste, clearly doesn't use any energy while camping.

It's not about charging from empty - though you can do that - it's about not losing energy when you're parked from home. Lights, audio, things to not be a darkwad - they need power. And solar provides more than enough power to do this.

Solar attached to a vehicle can easily cover the electronics running in the background, and more. That's what it's for. To keep your vehicle from dying when it's stuck somewhere.

Why join a thread you think is useless and troll it?

-Crissa

 

[Defiant]

It's not about charging from empty - though you can do that - it's about not losing energy when you're parked from home. Lights, audio, things to not be a darkwad - they need power. And solar provides more than enough power to do this.

Solar attached to a vehicle can easily cover the electronics running in the background, and more. That's what it's for. To keep your vehicle from dying when it's stuck somewhere.

I totally agree. This is exactly what my goal has been with planning solar for the truck. We have done a lot of camping in our Model S as well as multiple long road trips (6,000-16,000 miles). Having the ability to not lose energy, or minimize that lose while camping is actually a big deal. Running the heat at 60 when it is near or below freezing, or use the a/c when it’s hot or humid all night usually costs about 8% of my battery each night.

I don’t need to get a full charge from solar, just be able to stay remote for longer before returning to a charger.

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