Hello y'all! I wanted to make a post showing my journey building the Surthrival trailer thus far.
I started this project as a dream I had thinking about how I could create a mobile system that could house everything people needed to become self sufficient and rapidly create the infrastructure for a small village with modern comforts. My search started around August of 2018 to find a dual axle enclosed trailer. I found my best deal off craiglist from a seller up in Tennessee.
To build the mounting for all the solar panels I found a local steel supplier to get my sticks to weld for the frames of the solar panels. I didn't have my truck at the time so I had to strap everything down to the roof rack of my old 1999 Subaru forester.
Using a stick welder a good buddy of mine let me borrow, I was able to weld my first frame together that would hold the first panels I would mount to the trailer.
It was so hot out around this time I had to shave my head, but I would work in the evenings to attach the solar panels to the frame.
It was a 3 beer operation that day.
My truck was in the shop for a while when I first started the project and I just got it out in this photo.
I started the mounting process to get the side panels on the trailer. I devised a way to hoist them and hold them in position with some scrap 2x4's I had laying around.
Using some wratchet straps and my neighbors fence I was able to hold the panels in place as I used my drill to attach hinges to the steel L bracket I attached to the trailer.
I was so happy after completing this part of the project.
It was free standing and attached to the trailer for the first time.
Here are the first set of wet cell batteries I set up in the trailer.
This was the first haul with truck I devised a way to use a ratchet strap to hold the panels down.
I started the wiring for my battery bank.
I mounted my inverter/smart charger system the sol-ark and integrated it with my battery bank and the first solar panels.
I got to the point where I was looking to mount panels to the roof.
I laid out my steel for the frame so I could verify my measurements to take for welding.
I welded all this up close to the end of the summer, I learned a hard lesson by welding in shorts. I had the worst burns on my legs after this work.
I found a cool aluminum roof rack mounting system online.
I figured out how to use some u-bolts with nylock nuts to attach the solar panel frame to the roof rack.
I hefted the solar panel frame up to the roof rack.
It was fun getting the panels up to the frame here, I was able to pull my truck bed up beside the trailer and lift each one up to the frame to make the final attachments. This is when everyone in my neighborhood started wondering what the hell I was doing.
The solar wires were a complete mess when I got all the panels on the trailer so that was the next step.
I tidied up all my wiring on the inside of the trailer.
I created some supports to angle the panels during the day to get some extra solar power.
I added an outdoor enclosure for a 30 amp 120v plug that integrates with the Sol-Ark smart charge controller.
After I created an extension cord with the proper plug in I was able to run my generator as part of the system.
Here's the generator all set up to integrate with the system. I fired it up and made a video showing the capability of how the generator will input its power to charge the batteries at night time.
I integrated a dehumidifier and biosand filter for drinking water.
Here's the overview of that system now.
I have a few more additions for the trailer to include an aquaponics system that can transfer and seed new systems.
Thank you for you time if you gave this a read!
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