Inexpensive Mobile Solar Power Systems

Need a solar power system for your vehicle dwelling but lack the funds? No problem! The recommendations below will allow you to build a system to power fans/lights/small water pumps and other essential electrical appliances for vehicle dwelling. The system below is not recommended for beginners. It will also fail, and require maintenance (especially the batteries). If you do not know what you are doing, save up your money and buy one of my other solar power system packages. If you are a beginner, and you buy my book, then you should be ok with building the system below. 

This setup works well if you:
  • Do not care about the weight or efficiency of your system
  • Do not mind replacing batteries every 1-2 years
  • You are broke
Recommended components:
  • Chinese made 100 watt panel ($100- $119)
  • PWM 20 amp solar charge controller ($20-$30)
  • Refurbished Fork Lift batteries  ($80-$160)
  • Harbor Freight Inverter ($35)
  • Jumper cables from walmart to wire it up

Choose a Chinese made glass solar panel:

All solar panels are rated to withstand rain/snow/high winds for safety reasons, so whether you buy a cheap one or an expensive one, will not make a huge difference. These panels work well, and have high reviews. Most of the "american made" solar panels are assembled here in USA, but the cells are made in china. (China is ahead of the curve when it comes to solar. In america, we still favor oil/coal production, due to corrupt politics, and large pre-existing infrastructure. Really pathetic.)

Be sure to check craigslist for cheap solar panels!!! I have found $.50 a watt solar panels on there.

Choose a battery:

No matter what battery you buy, it needs to be a true deep cycle battery. This means that you need to buy 6 volt fork lift/golf cart/wheel chair batteries. These can be obtained quite cheaply. Google search your cities name and "refurbished batteries".  I was able to buy 2x 6 volt fork lift batteries for $80 dollars! They only lasted for 2 years, but they worked well. Also, be sure to check craiglist for some deals.

Lithium batteries are technically cheaper than sealed lead acid because they last so long. The initial cost of lithium batteries is so high that I will keep them off this page. 

If you want to buy a new lead acid battery (that will actually last 5-7 years), this one is a great price: Click Here to see the Vmax 50 amp hour battery

Choose a PWM Solar Charge Controller

I absolutely hate these controllers (they are horribly inefficient). But they are cheap. If you plan to run more than 300 watts of solar panels, a MPPT charge controller is technically cheaper (PWM is so inefficient that you will be forced to buy more solar panels, which cost more money than buying a MPPT charge controller).

​If all you need is the cheapest possible system, buy one of these:

All powers 20 amp controller 
Click Here

Choose an Inverter:

Harbor freight has the cheapest inverters around, and I used their 750 watt one for about 4 years or more. Worked great.

750 watt harbor freight inverter
Click here

Or buy a cheap inverter on amazon by clicking here
If you need some cheap wires, you can use jumper cables from walmart, or buy them at a thrift shop or swap meet. Connectors should be bought new. Crimp tools can be bought for nearly nothing at harbor freight. 

The other solar power system pages on this website has appliances and tools that you can use, but they may be out of your price range. If you are smart and look around, you should be able to make a super cheap system. It may take some time, but keep looking. Check craigslist in large cities, and check ebay solar section. You would be amazed at some of the deals you can find!