Hood-mounted solar solution - Cascadia 4x4

[High_Country]

I ran across this company at an overland rally / music festival: Cascadia 4x4

Cascadia 4x4 | Flipster | VSS Hood Solar System | Overland Parts

Maker of innovative products for off-road vehicles. Designed, tested, and built in Canada/USA. Creator of The Flipster Winch License Plate Mounting System and VSS Hood mounted solar panel systems for Jeep, Toyota, Ford, Etc.

www.cascadia4x4.com

They make a pretty slick vehicle mounted solar panel "applique" that wires into your vehicle system with an available MPPT controller. They make vehicle-specific kits and overall wattage is of course controlled by available area. I can't confirm this would work on our Tremor's, but it looks like the general shape and space available on our hoods would be just fine.

Ford F-150 (2015-present) VSS System™ - 85 Watt Hood Solar Panel | Out of stock: Pre-Order for September Shipment

The cascadia 4x4 VSS system hood mounted solar panel system for the Ford F-150 provides a clean flow of solar energy to your F-150's battery. Perfect for powering 12v accessories while overlanding or camping. Great for work trucks as well. No more idling in order to keep your battery charged!

www.cascadia4x4.com

Just throwing it out there for you guys in that camping/overlanding/off-roading space. A plus of having this panel in the center of the hood is that it might cut down on the occasional sun glare / reflection off the hood when driving into low angle sun in the mornings or evenings.

 

[Fozzy]

I almost got this set up a few years ago, but 85W is nothing. Just keeps the stock battery charged if you don't drive it much. You can get 2 good 200W panels for that price. Not sure how it would look on the Tremor hood either.

 

[High_Country]

I almost got this set up a few years ago, but 85W is nothing. Just keeps the stock battery charged if you don't drive it much. You can get 2 good 200W panels for that price. Not sure how it would look on the Tremor hood either.

No doubt you could get more wattage/$ by purchasing universal panels. Don't forget to add the cost of a good charge controller and such though before comparing costs. I think the draw (no pun intended) for this type of product is an always-deployed, integrated solution you don't have to spend any time setting up, hooking up, taking down, storing in transit, etc.
85 watts isn't a lot, but it'd be enough to keep a battery topped off while running a fridge / freezer or other incidentals just to ensure the battery stays topped off (or doesn't run too far down).
A downside to this vs a standalone panel setup is that you don't have the luxury of moving the panel around the campsite, chasing the sun throughout the day.

 

[Yeti]

No doubt you could get more wattage/$ by purchasing universal panels. Don't forget to add the cost of a good charge controller and such though before comparing costs. I think the draw (no pun intended) for this type of product is an always-deployed, integrated solution you don't have to spend any time setting up, hooking up, taking down, storing in transit, etc.
85 watts isn't a lot, but it'd be enough to keep a battery topped off while running a fridge / freezer or other incidentals just to ensure the battery stays topped off (or doesn't run too far down).
A downside to this vs a standalone panel setup is that you don't have the luxury of moving the panel around the campsite, chasing the sun throughout the day.

Those look like they're Merlins. If they are, they'll act more like a tft in that they'll collect in low-light situations better than a mono or poly.

I have to say, that with another 450'ish watts of merlins on the super pacific and I'll buy an AC for my trips

 

[Rabidtastic]

Saw a hood mount on a friend's Jeep and it got me thinking about mounting a panel (or two) to the sections of my tonneau (hard trifold)