About Us - Case Studies

Primary Issues to Resolve

• Provide a way to charge the break away battery

• Provide a power source for the LED lighting inside the trailer, not mandatory, however nice to have

• Provide power for other devise such as chargers for laptops, cell phones and small tools.

  SOLUTION - VCT explored several options before ultimately deciding that solar power was the best solution. We dove into the research, worked through the technical details, and performed the necessary calculations to design a system that would meet our needs.
  
  We installed a solar panel on the roof of the trailers. Since the panel wasn't originally designed for mobile use, we custom-fabricated an aluminum bracket and TIG welded it for a clean, durable finish.
  
  Inside the trailer, we installed a compact yet high-capacity lithium battery to serve as the core of our power system. It's capable of powering essential devices, maintaining charge for the breakaway system, and running lights when needed. As there were no off-the-shelf mounting options for the battery or inverter, we fabricated custom brackets for both.
  
  To handle AC power needs, we added a simple but functional power strip. Taking it a step further, VCT built in the ability to connect to commercial power when available. This provides extra power and the added benefit of charging the battery from an external source. When working out of the trailer—as we often do—we can now easily switch between solar, generator, or grid power. (Let's be honest, we need that microwave for our Hot Pockets.)
  
  Even though Ohio's weather doesn't always cooperate, the battery has enough capacity to keep us running through gray winter days. Interestingly, we found that even illumination from street lamps contributes to charging the battery.
  
  As a final touch, we installed a monitoring system that sends alerts if the battery level drops too low, giving us peace of mind wherever we're working.