A quick guide to setting up a portable solar battery rig

I built my cart setup last winter and I noticed the efficiency realy improved once I moved away from the cheap pre-wired kits. My system uses a 12V lithium battery bank and it handles the peak load of my fridge and lights without any major drops in voltage. The original post was right about keeping the DC run minimal because the heavy copper wiring made a huge difference in preventing heat buildup under the hood. I used 4 AWG cable for my connections to the charge controller because even though my total draw is only around 800 watts, I wanted plenty of headroom for future additions. Running the heavy gauge wiring separately kept the entire system running much cooler on sunny days. My biggest refinement was how I routed the AC side. I kept the inverter tucked completley out of sight under a plywood shield to minimize vibration and keep the noise down. When I first tested it, the voltage reading was slightly erratic, but after tightening all the connections at the charge controller, everthing stabilized. It is surprisingly quiet given the size of the unit. This whole mobile approach has been fantastic for weekend trips. The weight of the whole thing stays consistent regardless of the season, which makes moving it around much easier.

I have found that the panel angling is actually less critical than I first thougth, as long as the surface is level and the panels are secured tightly to the frame.

Kind of a lurker here so bear with me. I want to do something like this but keep it parked on the side of my shed instead of rolling it around, since my budget only covers a couple panels right now. If I'm not moving mine, does the wire still need to be as chunky, or can I get away with thinner stuff since my run will basicly be one short hop from the panels to the controller? Also wondering how you both deal with the carts sitting out in rain, do you cover the battery end or just leave it be? My garage floods a bit so I'm nervous about where to put this thing.

The thing that saved me on mine was a pair of cheap gate hinges. I bolted the panels to a hinged board on the cart frame so I can tip them up toward the morning sun and lay them flat for driving. Before that I was just propping them on scraps of 2x4 and one fell forward onto the frame on a bumpy road, cracked a corner. Now they sit solid at whatever angle I set and I just throw a strap over the whole thing before towing it out to the campsite.