Introduction: Off Grid Battery Box

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About: Hi, my name is John. My hobby is to solve problems from other people and creating nice and functional stuff out of trash. I'm living in Germany so excuse my not so fluent English (some technical terms are hard…

I'm often on the road with my roof-tent. Also I'm camping somewhere in the woods. I don't have a poweroutlet
there. I could use my car battery but then I have to keep enough power in it to start my engine. So I had the need of a off grid solution.

Beside a battery I need some charging controller and a power source aka solar panel. These three things are the main components.

Also the space in the box is used to organize all the adapter.

Step 1: The Base

It all need to be compact and easy to transport. The battery is by far the heaviest part (15Kg | 30Pound) also the battery has some handles. I've used the handles to transport all the stuff attached to the box. I found some aluminum sheet.

The base is made out of some leftovers as well.

Step 2: The Components

Like already told, the three main components are a solar cell a changing controller. Then I also need something to distribute the Power, this is done by a 3 way socket. The last important thing is a DC to AC converter (12V to 230V sin).

Noticeable is, that the charging controller not only charges the battery, it also has a deep discharge and a over current protection. This way I don't have to check the power system every night.

Step 3: Mechanical Assembly

The bended aluminum sheet are simply screwed onto the wooden base, together with all the other stuff.

I've found an old metal shelf in the neighborhood the frame was already defect but quite helpful to stiffens the box on the side.

Step 4: Electrical Assebly

Between the charging controller and the 3 way socket I've added a simple switch to allow a complete shutdown of the load.

Some things are missing, I'll add a switch on the Battery together with a fuse.

Also I'll add some photos how to use it.