Trying to live in a camper shell with a freezer and fan powered powered by solar-HELP

[myanc005]

So here is my prospect, I want to live in my camper shell but I have a very hard time sleeping when it is hot, actually it is almost impossible for me. I recently came across a youtube video of a guy who used a small Styrofoam ice chest (like the ones you can buy at Walmart for $5) and he put a frozen gallon jug of water in it. Then he cut a hole for a small fan and a whole for a vent and it was used to cool a small space, such as his car. So my next question was how am I going to get ice in the middle of summer, so I thought solar power. Now it may be a far fetched idea, and I definitely am not familiar enough with electricity to just go attempt to do this alone or even know if it is possible. I also didn't want to spend a lot of money on it, mainly because I don't have much. I have seen various applications of a solar panel system that is sold by harbor freight that costs about $180 plus the battery and inverter if needed. I was thinking that I would mount the solar panels to the top of the camper shell for those curious. I really don't need to run a big fridge, right now i have a mini fridge Walmart sells (Igloo 1.7 cu. ft. Refrigerator and Freezer, FR100) but I am not sure if i can turn it up high enough to freeze water.

-My truck would be parked in the sun all day, during the day I would freeze the ice, during the night i would run the small fan and most likely turn the freezer off if needed.
-I was planning on have the system completely dependent, as in it wouldn't be hooked up to my trucks battery it would have its own.


Thank you so much for any guidance and tips.

V/R,
Matt
__________________________________________________ _______________________________________________
Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3YvF4eVQO0

link to minifridge: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Igloo-1.7-...FR100/15162466

link to solar panel kit: http://www.harborfreight.com/solar-p...att-68751.html

[Shockah]

So here is my prospect, I want to live in my camper shell but I have a very hard time sleeping when it is hot, actually it is almost impossible for me. I recently came across a youtube video of a guy who used a small Styrofoam ice chest (like the ones you can buy at Walmart for $5) and he put a frozen gallon jug of water in it. Then he cut a hole for a small fan and a whole for a vent and it was used to cool a small space, such as his car. So my next question was how am I going to get ice in the middle of summer, so I thought solar power. Now it may be a far fetched idea, and I definitely am not familiar enough with electricity to just go attempt to do this alone or even know if it is possible. I also didn't want to spend a lot of money on it, mainly because I don't have much. I have seen various applications of a solar panel system that is sold by harbor freight that costs about $180 plus the battery and inverter if needed. I was thinking that I would mount the solar panels to the top of the camper shell for those curious. I really don't need to run a big fridge, right now i have a mini fridge Walmart sells (Igloo 1.7 cu. ft. Refrigerator and Freezer, FR100) but I am not sure if i can turn it up high enough to freeze water.

-My truck would be parked in the sun all day, during the day I would freeze the ice, during the night i would run the small fan and most likely turn the freezer off if needed.
-I was planning on have the system completely dependent, as in it wouldn't be hooked up to my trucks battery it would have its own.


Thank you so much for any guidance and tips.

V/R,
Matt
__________________________________________________ _______________________________________________
Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3YvF4eVQO0

link to minifridge: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Igloo-1.7-...FR100/15162466

link to solar panel kit: http://www.harborfreight.com/solar-p...att-68751.html

I did not watch your video links, but I can tell you there is no $180 solar kit that will freeze you a block of ice each day.

Also, re: the "ice block in the cooler idea"... it's a hoax.

Real air-conditioners remove the heat and humidity from the air, they do not simply add cool air.

The styrofoam cooler will blow cooler air at you, with added humidity... eventually all the windows will fog up and you'll have every Father of curfew-defiant daughters knocking on your camper with a bat.

[russ]

You can find proof of concept for anything you want to on you tube - some fool has made up a phony recording of most everything.

[Mike90250]

you will get better results parking in the shade, and not letting the camper super-heat in the sun. Then a small fan will be more efficient at keeping you cool.

Maybe remote mounting a panel on a "sandwich board" and letting it charge a battery for the fan. (need a theft alarm?)

[Wy_White_Wolf]

Other things to add to the equation:

Batteries in the topper area are going to add heat. If you can move them to somewhere outside the sleeping area it would help.

The frig/freezer will add heat to the area. Move it elsewhwere too.

I googled the frig. It's rated to use about .9KWH a day. That rating is in a 70dF house. Outside in the heat it's going to use more. Likely 1.5 times more. When you figure that in and MPPT effeciency losses you're looking at least a 450W array for summer use only. I didn't add in reduced production from the panels being mounted flat so better make that closer to 600W just for the frig/freezer.

WWW

[myanc005]

It seems like the general consensus is what I want isn't possible :/

[Sunking]

It seems like the general consensus is what I want isn't possible :/

Correct just a dream.

[SolarShadow]

myanc005,
I am assuming that the outside air is still too hot for you to just air out the camper. In that case you have 2 options both of which mean using a small air conditioner.

1. This one involves using a generator to provide some power to run the A/C.

2. Uses a sine wave inverter off of the alternator to run the A/C with the truck engine running.

Now you need not run the A/C continuously as an hour or 2 will drop the heat and humidity down enough that you should be able to sleep and just circulate that air with a small fan. To run this from solar would take a great deal of area and panels to run it all with and that it isn't worth it.

[jony101]

two words swamp cooler

If you haven't given up yet do what I do build your self a swamp cooler. As long as the humidity isn't in the 80's it will keep you cool.
Even in Texas where the humidity is always high we use to use swamp coolers and it kept us cool.
In my van I have a 240 watt solar panel on the roof and i use that to run a small swamp cooler I built which puts out almost 300 cfm of air and use a little over 2 amps. My 240 watt panel can run 5 of these swamp coolers at the same time but I only need one to stay cool in the hottest part of the day.
Many people disregard swamp coolers but they do work but once you reach humidity in the 60's you wont get that much cooling effect but it doesn't hurt to try it to see if it will work for you. Just remember that it needs to have outside air to work, you cant just put it in your camper and close all the windows. I cut a hole on the side of my van and that's where the swamp cooler gets its outside air.
Also if it gets too hot in your camper, use foam insulation, home depot sells rtech insulation 4" x 8" for about 7 dollars. Cover everything in your camper especially the windows and you will notice a difference. Most of the heat comes from the roof and windows. The entire rear of my van is covered in insulation, even in the hottest part of the day I'm very cool with my swamp cooler. As far as water usage, It might go through 4 liters of water in a regular day, so its pretty efficient.
How good is the foam insulation? I dropped some water on the carpet of my van usually it drys up after a day park in the sun, after I installed the foam insulation, the rear of my van wasn't getting hot enough to evaporate the water, a week later the carpet was still wet, I had to remove the carpet and let it dry in the sun. It is very good. It will also keep you warm in the winter. just make sure put the reflective side facing outwards and use gorilla duct tape to install it.

in this forum is a picture of my swamp cooler I built

http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=10608&sid=5be26291812396db5469aa9c684471f1&start=15