Solar project for car
Hi I love driving and to be able to go into the middle of nowhere and enjoy myself, whether it be camping, hiking, or anything I guess. So how do I get reasonably reliable power while moving around? Solar!
My plan is to use a roof rack kit and and attach the solar panels to a bracket that can be installed, removed, assembled, and broken down easily as required. For the first iteration of this project, I would like to just work on getting the right equipment, mounting it properly and maybe reasonably aerodynamically for a slow drive around town, by roughly following the curve of the car.
As far as real estate goes, here's what I've got:
Roof in question (not my picture)
Measurements from trim of windshield to trim of rear window, not taking into account curvature
In case my handwriting is too bad for you guys, the dimensions are 52" front to back, by 42" side to side. The roof racks will be placed at approx one quarter from the front and back boundaries, which is 13 inches.
I figure adding a little bit of wiggle room for overhang (given the panels will be sitting above the roof rack technically), I can safely increase my working area to between 46-48" side to side, and 55-58 inches from front to back.
The first iteration of this plan will be to have the car parked in front of my house, powering either a 12v or 24 bus through a bank of batteries, which then sends power to an inverter and into the house through a wall plug (if possible). I will build the bracket for the solar panels to be able to give angle, at least in the side to side direction, so I can get the panels angled the most efficiently.
Ideally, I would like to have 200-300 watts of capability, that is adaptive to differing conditions such as desert trips or just cloudy days. I think I can keep total project weight under 100 pounds, without batteries taken into condition. I can attempt to offset this with weight reduction strategies such as manual steering conversion, partial interior removal, lighter body panels, etc etc etc.
After reading, it doesn't seem like the difference between poly and mono crystalline panels are too drastic anymore, other than price, but I am not put off by paying a little more for more output, efficiency, a better warranty, etc
Here comes the questions:
Who are the reliable brand for solar panels? Can I grab a set of Renogy panels off amazon, supporting equipment, and call it a day, or is there a better 'bang for my buck' hanging around?
For example, there is this kit which would be just a touch too big to fit on my car with four panels, but the fourth panel could be a trunk or ground mounted panel, depending on what I feel like doing. This would also give me a good amount of generation capability to get my foot into the solar/renewable door
I see that kit come with a charge controller, but I assume I would need an inveter also.
Could I structure my system like a uninterruptible power supply, where i have the batteries in parallel with the solar panels for charging capabilities when an inverter is not being used/low use, but surge/backup capabilities when i'm drawing from the panels?
Is it possible to get an inverter with the capabilities to power back into the wall? I figure this would be a simple way to kill two birds with one stone; get power while exploring and generating a little bit of clean energy while at home.
If I have a massive bank of batteries, can I charge them, store the energy, and offset night time loads with a high-powered enough solar/wind/etc.. array?
What should i consider in the sizing of my inverter? I would like to have the option to scale larger, either by covering more space on the car in panels, having panels on ground based brackets, or incorporating wind power into my power portfolio. Would something like 2000 running, 4000 peak inverter be good enough for a versatile system with room for expansion?
Thank for the help and any constructive feedback that can be offered
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