Solar Panel on Crossbars?

[MacO512]

His only question was about wind, not power output.

How did you read that it was only about wind - not power from this post I responded to:

Hey, here's a thought for ya. Buy a long trailer, stock it chockful of solar panels and haul it along wherever you go jury-rigged to the battery pack. The longer the trailer, the more solar panels, the better!!!

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[MacO512]

I've got 1300W on top of our camper. Took over four weeks here in Michigan in mid-summer to charge my polestar 2 from ~20% to 90%.

If the panel is somehow replacing another panel on the vehicle, and not making you use significantly more energy while driving, it might be worthwhile. If it's not offsetting some kind of continuous drain, you're probably better off just having that additional weight as a buffer battery for your usage instead though.

At least unless you need to be unplugged for multiple weeks in a row without a place to plug in.

Flexible panel wouldn't be too bad with aero, I could see mounting that on a roof - but no way can I ever see rigid panels making sense.

With the R1 having such high energy use while awake I agree with others it would have to be a powerbank that was charged then use that to quickly dump some charge into the rivian.

 

[bigsky]

I think the OP should rig up not one but two trailers together like the semi trains you see on the highway. That would be a ton of solar panels getting towed around. Heck, perhaps you could even level 3 DCFC your Rivian off them!!

 

[docwhiz]

How did you read that it was only about wind - not power from this post I responded to:

Read the OP

 

[MacO512]

Read the OP

I did - I responded to the OP previously.

The reply of mine you quoted was not to the OP.

 

[MacO512]

Ok I've been thinking about it, this is what somebody should get for camping;

1. 7 units of the 400w portable solar panels - 34"x112" each - 30lbs each or 210lbs total and folded to tall 34"x28" stack during transport - https://a.co/d/1S1SaXq
2. Delta Pro Ultra - 6kwH storage and 7kw inverter - 170lbs - can basically max out Rivian portable charger 30A@240V
3. 12 Pieces of aluminum 10ft unistrut for long rails- 45lb - bolted to the rack for transport. 4 pieces for the length and the other 8 pieces for widths could be cut down to 9'
4. Fasteners to create large grid, attach to Rivian rack, and attach to panels

-At the camp site setup the strong fasteners to attach 10ft pieces to Rivian rack which would become two rails 20ft long in ideally a sunny parking spot. This would overhand the front and back by less than a foot each.

-8 pieces of 9' unistrut are attached to the rails but ran perpendicular over the width of the vehicle. They support where the panels meet at 6 spots plus two ends

So solar panels fold out to width of the vehicle and layed out 7 in a row from front to back.

That will be 2800watts of solar feeding the Delta Pro Ultra per day which is probably about 20kwH per day. Can certainly charge your Rivian much of the way over a long 4 day weekend even if you arrive close to empty.

If you need even quicker charging - just throw in another 5 solar panels to setup for the ground - now your at 4800 watts of solar. That will max out the solar on the Delta Pro Ultra. Need another 12 panels? Then bring them and a 2nd Delta Pro Ultra. Your now at about 10kw of solar and can charge an R1 battery most of the way each day. Can also wire the Delta to a box to get 48amp charging.

 

[bfpierce99]

Did you get this set-up? I was thinking of getting solar panels for camping as well. Curious what you got and how it works.

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