Solar Panel on the roof of my Mounty

[WitchCityMounty]

So I installed a solar panel on the roof of the mounty this week!
Let me first address the reason of why: I'm a college student, my truck often doesn't move for a week or so. In the summer and winter I go to sea for a couple months on end. The battery always dies during this time. If I leave the truck for over two or three weeks the battery also dies. I know I should pull the battery and leave it someplace warm (especially in the winter) but I rarely have the time before shipping out. Basically, my battery often dies when I leave my truck for a long time. I put an amp meter in line with the truck main and the battery and found the truck draws .22 Amps when off. This is going to the PATS and the head unit to a smaller extent. So I decided a solar panel would do the trip to maintain the battery. I know it will not charge a dead battery but it should do a good job of trickle charging the battery and keeping it in great shape.

So here is the panel:
http://www.batteryjunction.com/12vsopabachs.html

Also at bass pro shops

A few notes about getting one... No matter what the websites say it is not waterproof out of the box it needs to be water proofed which I will cover later.
If you google product search you should be able to find one around $20 and change.
I like this unit because it has built in diodes and over charging brain. If you just buy a panel you will need to build or buy these components.

THE INSTALL:
first things first was water proofing. I used a flowing windshield silicon. I like this because it flowed into the cracks. It several applications with the panel leaned in different directions to make it work.
You can see in this pictures I have run a bead of silicon down one edge.

All sealed up

The bottom all sealed up

The install itself was pretty easy. I drilled a couple holes in the factory roof rack. I picked up some stainless fasteners at the local hardware store. I painted them in a flat black so they blend in.

here it is between my PIAA 80 xt pros

Here it is all bolted up

I drilled a hole through the roof on the passenger side and ran the wires through. I cut the clip off the solar panel wire and spliced it into some 12gauge wire. I then ran the wire down the passenger side roof inside the truck and down the passenger side A-Pillar. From there I went behind the dash over to the drivers side and out the hood release gasket. Then up to the battery and done. So now every time the truck is sitting in the sun the battery is being trickle charged!

Check the link in my profile for all my other truck mods!

Cheers and I welcome your comments and questions.

Again this is a great mod for those of you who use your truck on a less-then-daily basis. If its your daily driver and you use it every day this is probably not going to do you any good.

 

[CCr]

umm, just a quick question, why not just put it on your dash? woulda been an easier install. and I'll consider doing this also, my X can sit for weeks at a time on the oil rig locations

 

[WitchCityMounty]

umm, just a quick question, why not just put it on your dash? woulda been an easier install. and I'll consider doing this also, my X can sit for weeks at a time on the oil rig locations

I wasn't a huge fan of how it looked on the dash and this lets me park anywhere in any orientation and have sunlight. With it permanently on the dash I would have to think about how I parked. If you mean not permanently and just plug it in and out every time I get out of the vehicle. I just liked this more. Looks slick and works every time all the time (that its sunny). I'm not a big fan of 12v accessories with cords. I hard wired my radar detector and ran the wire around the windshield to get rid of the cord

I tried it for while up in the sunroof, I found that since the sunroof is tinted it didnt get enough light to be effective.

btw huge fan of the ZAPV!

 

[CCr]

I was just wondering, it's in a cool location but seemed like a lot of work. not only that but hving it roof mounted is less conspicuous than just sitting on the dash. good work!


hahaha, join up! I didn't start it but I sure am a member! check it out here
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=226875&highlight=zapv

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

lol. you have a "green" explorer!!!

pretty awesome though.

 

[CDW6212R]

That is a great addition, I could use that on a few vehicles.

 

[rabbit91]

I know this is an old thread and wasnt been updated in awhile but im wondering how the solar panel held up

 

[z13]

Inspired by this post, hope for an update

 

[Optimus Joe]

I too am looking into doing something like this.

Can you give us an update? How long did it last? Did you have any other modifications you had to make after the fact?

Thanks

 

[HarryN]

I too am looking into doing something like this.

Can you give us an update? How long did it last? Did you have any other modifications you had to make after the fact?

Thanks

Putting some small solar panels either on the roof or in the dash to keep the starter battery trickle charged is pretty common now - vs when the original poster did it that was a fairly forward thinking and expensive.

With covid we were driving a lot less so keeping the starter battery charged on my son's car become a bigger deal. (he went from driving 4 days / week to community college to all on line classes).

I added one of these to the vehicles that were not being driven very often.

7W Rollable Solar Panel (R-7)

The 7W Rollable is lightweight, flexible, IP67 rated, and incredibly durable. Designed to charge boat batteries or other 12V systems.

www.powerfilmsolar.com

I don't have any affiliation with them other than just a customer.

Vehicles like sprinters, transits and promasters routinely have 300 - 600 watts of solar panels on them now for camping and other uses since they have the roof space. Usually that power is fed to an auxiliary battery pack. I do this all of the time and so do many others.

Most people put in 12 volt auxiliary battery packs but 24 volt and 48 volt are also feasible.