Solar panels on Job Shack

[still learn'n]

Has anybody put a solar unit on a reefer trailer/job shack? Recently we put our def tote into our 43' job shack so we didn't have to haul it around separately and now we was thinking of putting a solar unit to charge the batteries and could also mount lights inside it to see better. The pump on def tote is 12 volt and could also get 12 volt light if I need to.
We do have Milwaukee cordless tools in it so was thinking about and inverter to charge the batteries. Another thought I had was if the gps base station wasn't to far away like within 100' could string a cord out from job shack and use the solar power to run it when the batteries went low so then we would have all these meth heads and whoever else hauling off with the batteries by the gps base station.

Do you have a good source for solar panels?

Do I need a regulator so it don't over charge the batteries?

How do I know what size of solar panels and how many watts as the def pump don't run very much.

 

[Birken Vogt]

You definitely need a regulator for the panels.

Look at the Midnite Kid if you want something that will work hard. Probably overkill but better than underkill. Solar panels you can get from an electric supply house, you might be able to get a good deal since you will probably only need 1 or 2 and can use left over end of run stuff.

Get a good industrial electrician who does neat work to wire it up, I see too many spaghetti nightmares with this kind of stuff. Just because it is 12 volts doesn't mean no care required, put it in conduit etc. and then it will stay working and not get torn out or whatever.

 

[thepumpguysc]

I was at a jobsite last month & the customer had a cheap Harbor Freight 2w solar panel, sitting on top of his outside diesel fuel storage tank.. The wires ran down & were alligator clipped to a cheap Walmart battery to power his 12v fuel nozzle for the storage tank..
Seemed to work just fine for him..??

 

[Theweldor]

Did that a few years ago on a 15 mile reconstruction job. I do not remember all the specifics though. I do remember we had 2 solar panels on each gps repeater of which I think there were 7 of them. We did have line power to the base but there is no reason it can't be done. There were 2 batteries on each repeater along with a charging controller I used an old pile of road plates and made make shift boxes that held the batteries and controllers and mounted the gps and solar panels to the top of them. Granted 3/4 and 1" plate was a little heavy for boxes but used what layed in the yard instead of buying new. They worked for two years out there and were pretty dependable

 

[Ronsii]

also if the only thing you want the inverter for is the milwaukee tools just get the 12v version of the charger( #48-59-1810)... of course I'm assuming you mean the M12/M18 milwaukee tools I just got some of those myself and am loving them!!!

 

[DIYDAVE]

One thing I'd worry about is vandalism, before putting much $ into a job shack, spend a little on cameras, and maybe catch the lil soap eaters, afore they take an axe to your stuff...

 

[still learn'n]

Thanks for all the replies.
How do I size the solar panels or if I get a regulator is that not necessary if I get big enough ones?

One of my co-workers called a place and they said just to get the yeti goal zero like this
https://www.goalzero.com/shop/power-stations/goal-zero-yeti-1250-portable-power-station/
But that looked like way more options then we needed and having to buy the solar panels yet to would end up quite expensive.

We have had our shack vandalised in the past but not lately I don't have any pictures but I took recreater tube and cut the one side out and made it to cover the handles with the hockey puck style locks that a bolt cutters won't work on and haven't had any problems since then. And there has been other things around there vandalised and stolen. We did have somebody come in the middle of the day and steal a chainsaw and polesaw out of it when it was unlocked in broad daylight.

 

[Delmer]

If you have a SMALL enough panel compared to the battery, then you don't need a regulator. Like a 20 watt panel with a used starting battery will work fine for what you're talking about.

If you need more power than that, bigger panels will overcharge a battery without a regulator, or not enough watts in will drain and kill your battery. PV panels are in the dollar a watt range, so the panels are CHEAP compared to the batteries in the medium term. Systems that used to use more batteries are more economical with more panels and fewer batteries these days.

That yeti looks like a hipster product, aimed at the demographic that will pay hundreds of dollars for a thermostat for a house. The baby boomer generation had to grow acres of pot to pay for their solar panels back in the day. Gen X has it so much easier, if they can afford the land in CO, then the panels are cheap and the pot is legal. Millenials are just lost...

BirkenVogt mentioned in another thread that it's getting harder to find 12V panels. Most new "full size" panels are in the 300 watt range, that make the wiring size a big factor in favor of higher voltage. They're out there to order, I'd be surprised if your electrical supply house in Kansas has them though.

 

[chroniekon]

Check out the RV industry. A very common accessory for motorhomes and travel trailers. My motorhome has 2 100 watt flexible panels glued to the roof. They have a controller to keep 2 12 volt batteries charged.

 

[hvy 1ton]

Goal Zero started out marketing lightweight power packs and panels for the backpacking crowd. They've always had hipster tax pricing and now that yeti is involved it can only get worse. 200 watts of panel, charge controller, and a deep cycle battery would run a 15 amp load 1 hour per day no problem and keep an powered inverter for charging tool batteries. Renogy supposedly makes affordable stuff that isn't junk.

 

[EZ TRBO]

To quote hvy 1ton. The Renogy stuff has been worked pretty decent for us. We have 100w panels set up in our truck scale houses to run the indicator, outside readout and printer. Most of the scales we have set up with a 12v battery, with some having 2 for extra storage capacity. For what we are doing there they work quite well.

Trbo

 

[Delmer]

It looks like you can get a 50 Watt polycrystaline panel and 30A charge controller for $110 shipped from renology. They have bigger panels, but the freight shipping kills the prices. If you can find panels local, they will be at that price point of $1/watt and no shipping.