kawayanan
New Member
I didn't use a trickle charger, and mine is isolated from the car electrical system. I posted about it in this thread.
I have it permanently mounted to my hard bed cover, which still folds up without any touching/interference from the solar panel. As mentioned earlier in this thread, having the solar panel behind glass (inside the windshield for example) really killed the power it produced. On sunny days I seem to get better than 10W per hour average over the day (lower in the morning/evening due to angle, closer to 15-20W when overhead). As described in the other thread, this is running to a power station (this one). It was cheap (I got it on sale) and has worked fine, but If I was to do it again I'd probably spend the extra and get a ECOFLOW. I think the added features would be worth it in the long run. All in all, the solar works well and I am happy to have the solar and power station isolated from the car electrical (no chance of running down my trucks battery). With the power station able to take the solar input, there is no need for a solar charge controller (the power station handles it). Since it also outputs 12V DC that can be directly used for the dash cam, its a pretty easy solution all around. Much easier than what I was first thinking with batteries and a charge controller. Its also nice having the power station available for other uses if needed.
I have it permanently mounted to my hard bed cover, which still folds up without any touching/interference from the solar panel. As mentioned earlier in this thread, having the solar panel behind glass (inside the windshield for example) really killed the power it produced. On sunny days I seem to get better than 10W per hour average over the day (lower in the morning/evening due to angle, closer to 15-20W when overhead). As described in the other thread, this is running to a power station (this one). It was cheap (I got it on sale) and has worked fine, but If I was to do it again I'd probably spend the extra and get a ECOFLOW. I think the added features would be worth it in the long run. All in all, the solar works well and I am happy to have the solar and power station isolated from the car electrical (no chance of running down my trucks battery). With the power station able to take the solar input, there is no need for a solar charge controller (the power station handles it). Since it also outputs 12V DC that can be directly used for the dash cam, its a pretty easy solution all around. Much easier than what I was first thinking with batteries and a charge controller. Its also nice having the power station available for other uses if needed.