Solar setup & fridge/slide out ideas

[Mdsertell8]

I’m wanting to add slide out fridge and solar setup.

I have a 21 Ram 2500PW with a Roofnest condor Xl and OVS 270DS awning.

Currently using a yeti 75q cooler for weekend trips. Works ok for water and body armor/Gatorade but not so much for food. Right now we’re in the heat of travel baseball season so most weekends it’s 3-4 nights away from home.

What does your setup look like? I’m interested in installing flexible solar panels to RTT and a fridge/slide out setup mounted to my Decked drawer system.

I’ve read a lot on this forum and others and watched some “u-tube” videos but would like some actual, real-world users not ‘influencers’ opinion.

Thanks everyone for your time, knowledge and ideas!
-Matt

 

[smritte]

You fixed panels will have better output than your flexible. With that said, I have a 180 watt Renoligy panel on my Tear Drop trailer, a 120 watt fixed panel I use to carry with my RTT on my M-100 trailer and a 180 watt folding panel.
The 120 works great but is bulky to carry, my flexible on my trailer works good but I have to park in the sun which means heat.
I pretty much rely on my folding now. I have 40 foot of 10 gauge wire and can put it where I need it. It ties in with my controller on my cruiser and my trailer. If I was to do it over, I would just use my folding with the exception of the small 50 watt fixed panel I have on my cruiser to keep my batteries topped off when I dont drive it.

Fridge slides, I built my first two. Way too much effort. I bought the slides for my second trailer and was happy for it. Make sure the slides you buy have a lock on them.

 

[grubworm]

there are a few threads on here already about that, but i couldnt find the ones where i already posted, so heres my set up:

i didnt want to go with the flexible panels, so i just bought 2 of the renogy 100w panels and screwed them into two pieces of aluminium angle and then screwed the angle into some yakima track mounts. this is permanent and works great because the panels are working as im driving versus panels that fold and can only be used when stationary. i have rhino crossbars that hold the kayak, etc, so i went with using the angle so that my panels are a little bit off the roof and still below the crossbars so i can use them without moving the panels. you can probably zoom in on the pic and see better, but its pretty straight forward. i have a similar set up using the cargo basket on top of the camper shell on my tundra.
for the camper, i have the 2 panels feeding a 100ah AGM battery with a renogy waunder charge controller. works great and has plenty of power for my 65qt dometic fridge and all the led lights i need, etc. i also installed a few USB ports in the camper for charging phones
i bought a trailer tongue box from harbor freight for $90 that stores the charge controller, battery and inverter

 

[OTH Overland]

We have a small ARB fridge with their frige slide that they sell for it. Currently powering the fridge from a Jackery 1000 which will run the fridge for about 3 or 4 days without any solar charging. This is sufficent for most short trips. Currently gathering parts to create a built in house battery system with DCDC charging and provisions for solar and shore power. We have two portable 100 watt panels, which on a partially sunny day will refresh the battery back to 100 percent in about 4 hours or so each day, although typically we travel enough each day it gets rechaged from the alternator. We have a soft shell tent on a JK so not much room for fixted panels, and I think the folders work well and can be repositioned as needed during the day to keep them in the sun, while the rig stays in the shade. Also kept out of the weather when not needed.

Biggest beef with the setup is the fridge slide, really well built but super heavy. Also it does not slide out far enough for my liking, makes it so I can not open the fridge lid all the way as it hits the roof of the jeep. I have heavy duty locking drawer slides on order and going to build my own slide this weekend to see how much lighter and more travel I get. One thing for sure, never going back to a ice chest and wet food..lol

 

[El-Dracho]

I can't help you with the fridge slideout, but I can give you an idea for the solar panel.

I am having a solid 100W solar panel with aluminium frame on the roof for years now. Have mounted this on airline rails. The fittings are made of an aluminim profile and just holding the panel agains the rail. This works absolutely perfectly for me. There is also no wind noise. Additional height is minimal. The advantage of this mounting is that the solar panel gets ventilated from underneath. Thus it doesn't get too warm in the sun (which can affect the performance of the module). The panel is feeding a 100Ah AGM battery via a MPPT charge controller. The battery powers the fridge, etc. Works perfectly.

Here you will also find some suggestions:

Solar Panel Open Discussion/Debate/Review

After some solar panel discussion in the New Fridge, got it under $275 thread I thought a thread like this was needed. I'm currently shopping for a 100W solar panel to charge my Flexopower Solar Generator and I've already changed my mind a few times. It seems not all solar panels are created...

www.overlandbound.com

Bjoern

 

[Brian Forrester]

I have a domestic 55im in the back of a work truck that runs off an auxiliary battery and solar. The cooler is just strapped down to the bedslide right at the tailgate, works well for me.
It runs off a group 65 battery in a modified E series battery box on the frame rail. I have a redarc two way solenoid between the auxiliary and the truck batteries and a 175 watt flexible renogy panel mounted to the top on the are commercial shell, don't remember what charge controller it has in it.
It has worked well for me, it has been perfectly capable of running the cooler during the summer months in SoCal. The truck is generally driven most weekdays, but has sat for a few weeks with no issues. It is also nice to have the solar charging the truck batteries once the aux is above 13.2 volts.
I have the panel attached with industrial Velcro, it's held for about 1.5 years so far. Like somebody else has mentioned, for a camping rig, the ability to park in the shade and use a remote panel would be good.

 

[Mdsertell8]

I can't help you with the fridge slideout, but I can give you an idea for the solar panel.

I am having a solid 100W solar panel with aluminium frame on the roof for years now. Have mounted this on airline rails. The fittings are made of an aluminim profile and just holding the panel agains the rail. This works absolutely perfectly for me. There is also no wind noise. Additional height is minimal. The advantage of this mounting is that the solar panel gets ventilated from underneath. Thus it doesn't get too warm in the sun (which can affect the performance of the module). The panel is feeding a 100Ah AGM battery via a MPPT charge controller. The battery powers the fridge, etc. Works perfectly.

Here you will also find some suggestions:

Solar Panel Open Discussion/Debate/Review

After some solar panel discussion in the New Fridge, got it under $275 thread I thought a thread like this was needed. I'm currently shopping for a 100W solar panel to charge my Flexopower Solar Generator and I've already changed my mind a few times. It seems not all solar panels are created...

www.overlandbound.com

Bjoern

Thanks for the info!