Box Van Truck Tiny Home Conversion #6: HUGE 1,500W Solar Panel Array

[@Being_There]

Lol the dance club drone shot made me spit my coffee out! Appreciate your videos man…your not afraid to show the REAL process which inevitably includes the challenges along the way. For someone considering doing this themselves it helps keep it in a realistic perspective..thanks for that!

[@maehay4065]

You have a sense of humor. Drone shots!

[@SuperClare]

Not the music!!!! Haha. Love your videos. Thank you. 😍

[@connief5154]

I found you this morning and have watched 1-6 of your build. Thank you so much for letting us observe each step of your progress. Your work is without question. I love your detail, and can not wait to tag along on your journey. I know your build will be amazing. Surprised that you are not making the mother's attic your bed---or are you??? Can't wait to see. Thanks again for sharing your time and efforts with us.....and thanks for not including the music.

[@TheTechnoBarbarian]

Moms attic will be one of the two beds... Will sleep 3 in the end.

[@ninjax105]

Gyms are all going to close down if everyone does work like you. All the strength involved!

[@Lylo-mj8ek]

I have never been so into a build as I am with your creation. Can hardly wait for your next installment! Peace.

[@MrRShoaf]

Just found your channel. I really appreciate your logical approach to the build so far. I have been plotting my project in a similar style. I am considering starting with a heavier duty truck for several reasons. My goal is to end up being to have boondock capacity for 30 days, good insulation, good refrigeration, on board washer and dryer, shower, etc. I like the heavy duty for several reasons. First the durability, and the under floor space. I want most of the interior to be modular.id the event of a need of a needed change of vehicle or a collision repair.. Note how many expensive builds go away in a couple of years. I also appreciate your commitment to stealth. I like the option of flying under the radar in my travels. If you are in the boonies leave the back door open and you have I great view. Keep it shut park in an industrial neiborhood and you are invisible. I also like the fact that your videos don't describe themselves as epic, ultimate or suggesting scantily clad will reveal more skin of you click. Being cheap, big tanks cost the same to dump or fill as a small tank. I'm watching and looking forward to the rest of the story. I also like the craftsmanship.

[@commanderosis435]

Sikaflex is one of the best sealants I've ever used. I did all my parents windows at their house with it. Another good one is fuze it. Ive used that sealing freezer boxes it's rated for crazy temperatures. One suggestion you might want to consider lock washers over thread locker and in some cases it looks like you didn't use any locking hardware. You're going to be dealing with a lot of vibration. You're doing great work I'm very curious about the actuator. What's really awesome is since you're mobile you can always position yourself at the optimal angle for solar.

[@TheTechnoBarbarian]

Actuator has been a pain in the ass. I'm on the 4th iteration of the install but I I think I've finally got it figured out.

[@livingworkingoutsidebox]

The cheesey house music 🎶 🎵 brought it to the next level Bra!🤙💪👍🌞

[@MA__]

Hahaha you were right since subscribing to your channel and watching your videos I've been getting so many van life recommendations! You're the only one I've seen that wants to have a discreet outside look, which I think is very smart. Great seeing the progress!

[@TheTechnoBarbarian]

A lot of conversions call themselves "stealth" when they aren't really stealth at all. I want to break that trend

[@shallowada]

Matrix moment.... I was just commenting to my wife how I like that you don't put cheesy (I used another term that rhymes with hay grass) music on your videos probably at about the 17 minute mark. And then wallah, the 17:44 mark in the video. Classic! Bravo, man. Love the videos.

[@dleon0902]

No complaints. Just work and work.

[@steventaylor7716]

Good job bro, I like your ethics and application.

[@shadowwolf9482]

sticking with the original content..... good choice

[@serenitysealed485]

Use isopropyl alcohol to wash off and paper towel. Also you can use vegetable oil to soft skin after the scrubbing and it will also take of a little of the permanent marker. First use the alcohol.

[@TheTechnoBarbarian]

Thanks Sharon! I'll try that next time it breaks on me.

[@C.Church]

Trick from the 80s: Aquanet. Yes the aerosol hairspray and cheap artist version of a drawing spray sealer. Aquanet removes ink stains. Also at the college I work at we had a phantom graffiti writer in the women's a few years ago. Scrubbing, heavy cleaners, alcohol etc didn't work. But dry erase spray cleaner made it melt off the tile and stall doors.

[@micah_noel]

Haha, I knew there was a reason I liked you.

[@purplegravy]

Looking good!!

[@spanklestorm8717]

You are a legend sir

[@davehale8513]

11:58 it took me longer than I care to admit to recognize that you intentionally pixeled out the symbol on the barn. I was thinking, man, that is a weird shadow! How is that fascia shaped so weirdly. Anyways, great build.

[@gabrielgarza8283]

Looks like a lot of work. I think I’d rather buy one.

[@clivetucker176]

Looking good Dude.

[@laurieedeburn2449]

thanks friend...

[@rebeccazuckman9059]

You are right down to the milameters if that at times

[@jedics1]

I did the same, I put as many panels as my roof could fit, I got 2000w on because I am a full time house cat with a hungry gaming computer. Can use as much power as I want for 8 months of the year and either need to be frugal in winter or plug in somewhere. I am interested to know how much power you gain in winter from tilting them, from what I read it is about a 10% gain which is why I have never once bothered to tilt mine in 3 years :) But I wasn't clever enough to add an actuator.

[@C.Church]

9:40 What's wrong with me? I actually rewound and played this part again to The White Stripes "Hardest Button To Button". It's 4am and I woke up too early.

[@jle1597]

@2:05 sec; What was the thick tape like stuff that you put on the solar panel, then put the metal framing over? Did you do that on all of the metal framing pieces? Does that make sense?

[@TheZehani]

This is huge ! And very nicely done 👍 are you going to let some space for a roof fan ?

[@TheTechnoBarbarian]

No I'm going to have alternative ventilation methods. The rest of the roof space is going to be used for a roof hatch/skylight.

[@ronaldduck7567]

Good choice. I'm thinking fans that exhaust out thru vents in the bottom of mom's attic?. Maybe intake thru filtered floor vents?

[@TheTechnoBarbarian]

@@ronaldduck7567 Bottom of the moms attic is one of options I'm looking at, the other being straight out through the floor or out the front wall as I have a ~4" gap between the cab and the box to work with.

[@ronaldduck7567]

Between cab wall sounds like good option too. If you are planning a shower and cooking area, intakes above those using flex tubing to the moms attic to keep it up high used to pull out steam/smoke. The Central air intake in floor with filter to displace the air moving out

[@Daddiodave1]

I'd be concerned that you've weakened the roof supports by drilling out-sized holes on them. Also, if you'd used removable pin hinges, your life would be sooo much easier! Good luck, young man.

[@TheTechnoBarbarian]

Good call on the hinges. The roof is still super strong, and the load on it isn't that great anyway. Should be good

[@MrFlavioTS]

where did you buy these solar panels? I can't find

[@TheTechnoBarbarian]

Added a link to the description.

[@MA__]

Also I'm curious how much power you get out of those panels, can you explain it like we're five?

[@TheTechnoBarbarian]

Best way I can explain it is that this is bigger than almost any other van you'll see and it will allow me to run everything I would in a normal apartment (AC, dual monitors for my desktop computer, induction cooktop, residential size refrigerator) without ever having to be conscious of how much energy I'm using Most vans only have 100-400W of solar and they cant really run much electrical outside of a coffee maker or small TV/laptop and occasional induction cooktop

[@MA__]

@@TheTechnoBarbarian so are you saying you won't have to plug into electricity to recharge at all? If so that's amazing. Didn't know solar had so much capability

[@MA__]

@@TheTechnoBarbarian we will just hold out hope that Elon musk and Bill Gates allow us to keep enjoying the Sun ;)

[@commanderosis435]

@@MA__ there's 2 factors. How much solar energy you can absorb and how much you can retain. Batteries have made huge leaps and bounds. Im not a Musk fanboy but he has really started pushing energy storage.

[@TheTechnoBarbarian]

@@MA__ Thats right. 100% off grid. Any energy use beyond what can immediately be handled by my solar input (or cloudy days) will be handled by my massive battery bank which should hold me for 3+ days without any sun

[@sandrafromtexas1957]

a year later but rubbing alcohol will get marker/ink out/off