Off grid power setup

Looking into doing a power system setup to run a fridge for the bed. Curious as to what everyone is doing for their power. I have a goal zero 200 but I haven't gotten any solar power panels yet to keep everything charged. Do I go with something like offgrid engineering? Or what do you guys recommend? I'm open to all suggestions.

 

I would be curious to hear what you guys on the forum have done as well.

I plan on running a 40amp fused positive from the battery to the truck bed. That positive goes to a bcdc charger or something that can manage a smart alternator and has a solar controller for later down the road when I get some panels. I plan on running an agm battery in the 100 to 120 amp hour range. Power then comes off the bcdc to the battery. Then I plan to run off the battery to some kind of fuse box like a blue seas with a negative bus for easy grounding of everything I add later. For now I’ll just have a cig socket and usb and probably an Anderson coming off the fuse box aswell for my fridge.

I thought about going the goal zero or jackery route but I actually want something more permanent since I live out of my truck for months at a time in Baja. Since you already have the goal zero though I would probably just try that out and if it doesn’t meet your needs you can always upgrade. Hooking it up to your trucks 12v while driving and some solar panels for long stays at a camp should keep a fridge running.

 

Try google searching TacomaWorld and bed power. You can also check out the wedge camper threads.

I personally have an Off-Grid setup with one AGM battery up front and plug-ins in the bed, no solar right now. For me, the one AGM does fine with recharging phones, running Drifter camper lights and my 50L fridge. If you're worried about draining a battery on the trail, just carry a NOCO jump starter. Also my fridge has a low voltage cut-off that I can set so it shuts off prior to the battery draining.

 

Check out the Renogy set ups. I ran #6 wire from the battery to a 100 ah renogy lithium gel battery , then to a 3000 watt inverter. Then mounted 2 receptacles on my tool box. When the power goes out , i can run my fridge , cable box , tv and some lamps off of it. I usually can run those things for about 8 hours before i turn the truck on to recharge. I can take some pics today if anyone wants to see it.

 

If you move your vehicle during the day I dont think solar makes sense. The alternator will charge the battery when you move to the next camp site or whatever. A secondary battery makes a lot of sense though.
If you park for a few days at a time then it does.

I've installed and use a solar system on a camper to run a 12vdc fridge so I am familiar and comfortable with them.

 

I guess another thing that needs to be mentioned is what voltage do your devices require? Are they all 12V like some of the dometic fridges? If so, that simplifies your setup considerably and makes it more efficient. Running an inverter is where you will start to see more substantial losses since they are only about 80% efficient.

And I agree with @ZColorado about a second (isolated) battery. That's a must regardless of whether you're planning to run a solar panel or not.