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I put a solar panel on the roof rack. It'll power my cooler on long weekends.
It's only a 100w panel, but has 16 bus bars to hopefully overcome some slight shading from time to time. I used 12"x1"x1/4" aluminum bars for supports - each bar has two stainless bolts w/lock nuts holding it to the panel and then another similar hardware mount where it ties to the roof rack. I have 1" diameter rubber bushings between the aluminum bars and the panel as well as the aluminum bars and the roof rack. I know it should be grounded, but I opted for this right not to make sure there aren't any vibration issues. The panel has a 10' pigtail that has solar connectors on the top end and an XT60 plug at the bottom end. My Anker 40L v1 cooler has an XT60 input on the battery designed specifically for solar charging and I wanted to take advantage of that. I do have a 2048wh Anker solar generator that also could be charged by the panel, but this setup will be used 99/100 times for the cooler on beach weekends or trips to the cabin. I had to pull two of the roof rack cross bars for the panel to fit but honestly we don't expect to store items up there.
I used Alumablack to tint the aluminum bars black, but this morning they had lightened considerably. Not sure if that is due to the dew on them this morning or if they require a second treatment...but I was a little bummed.
Tested it out by tossing a room-temperature 30 of Miller Lite in the cooler and set the temp 35 degrees. I figure that'll put a strong demand on the battery. Parked the 4Runner in the sun and plugged the pigtail in - success! The panel is inputting more than double of the draw on the battery from the cooler. I call that a win. Should make it easier on the cooler to live in the back of the 4Runner on long weekends and when on road trips.
It's only a 100w panel, but has 16 bus bars to hopefully overcome some slight shading from time to time. I used 12"x1"x1/4" aluminum bars for supports - each bar has two stainless bolts w/lock nuts holding it to the panel and then another similar hardware mount where it ties to the roof rack. I have 1" diameter rubber bushings between the aluminum bars and the panel as well as the aluminum bars and the roof rack. I know it should be grounded, but I opted for this right not to make sure there aren't any vibration issues. The panel has a 10' pigtail that has solar connectors on the top end and an XT60 plug at the bottom end. My Anker 40L v1 cooler has an XT60 input on the battery designed specifically for solar charging and I wanted to take advantage of that. I do have a 2048wh Anker solar generator that also could be charged by the panel, but this setup will be used 99/100 times for the cooler on beach weekends or trips to the cabin. I had to pull two of the roof rack cross bars for the panel to fit but honestly we don't expect to store items up there.
I used Alumablack to tint the aluminum bars black, but this morning they had lightened considerably. Not sure if that is due to the dew on them this morning or if they require a second treatment...but I was a little bummed.
Tested it out by tossing a room-temperature 30 of Miller Lite in the cooler and set the temp 35 degrees. I figure that'll put a strong demand on the battery. Parked the 4Runner in the sun and plugged the pigtail in - success! The panel is inputting more than double of the draw on the battery from the cooler. I call that a win. Should make it easier on the cooler to live in the back of the 4Runner on long weekends and when on road trips.
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