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mini truck solar panel

It’s back! The electric mini-truck that keeps on giving has another fun trick up its sleeve. With a bit of DIY magic, I was able to outfit my Chinese mini-truck with a solar panel that can trickle charge it from the sun.

If you’re aren’t familiar with this unassuming little mini-truck, then here’s the background: I found it on Alibaba back in 2021 and paid the Chinese vendor it came from $2,000 to make it mine.

It went through a long saga of being shipped to the US, which cost slightly more than the truck itself. But it eventually arrived in Florida where it’s been living out a hard working yet rewarding life on my parent’s ranch. There it mainly serves as a work truck on the property, though sometimes it heads out just to delight the neighbors. Everyone loves this quirky little thing.

mini electric pickup truck

The electric drive means that it is quiet, largely maintenance-free, and doesn’t require any trips to the gas station to fill up.

That last one is important since it isn’t even street legal, and hence why it lives its life off-road as a work truck.

The fairly large (for a mini-truck) 6,000 Wh battery generally provided around a week or two of use before needing to be recharged from a typical 120V wall outlet.

That was fine, though it was a bit annoying to wait all day for it to charge.

So I decided to try to take advantage of the plentiful sun that bakes its roof rack each day while it sits outside. To do so, I got a small solar panel to mount onto the roof rack.

I figured if I could just let it trickle charge while it’s sitting out in the sun, then I wouldn’t actually need to plug it in for a big charge of the LiFePO4 battery nearly as often.

You can follow along with the process of installing the solar panel on the truck in a video I filmed of the project, or just keep reading for the details.

mini truck solar panel

The largest panel I could find that didn’t extend past the existing roof rack was a 50W Renogy solar panel. Not exactly huge, but it would be just fine for trickle charging. Assuming around 35W of solar energy (they don’t call Florida the Sunshine State for nothin’!) for 8 hours a day, I figured I’d get nearly 300 Wh of trickle charging per day.

Considering the truck only drives a few miles per day while it stays within a 10 acre ranch, that would probably account for around half of its daily use. It wouldn’t take it completely off-grid, but it should stretch out the time between charges by around double. And the panel would be small enough that it wouldn’t impact anything else on the truck or extend past the confines of the existing roof rack.

I was able to mount the solar panel by using PVC pipe to create struts across the roof rack. After painting them black, they basically looked like the existing steel tubes and make the installation appear more like a factory job.

The pipes also allowed me to angle the panel slightly, meaning I can park the truck facing north when I’m not using it and get a nice southernly angle for higher solar efficiency.

mini truck solar panel

To increase the roughly 18VDC coming out of the solar panel to match the charge voltage needed by my 60V battery in the mini-truck, I used a solar charge controller. It’s the same one I used in a previous solar electric bike project, and it’s way more powerful than I need. But the extra power means that if I ever want to create a carport or other installation with a few larger solar panels on it, I could plug them in directly to the truck and get a higher charging rate when parked near the solar array.

The actual process of connecting everything is pretty darn simple. The solar panels plug into the charge controller, which itself plugs into the battery’s charging port. I was able to access the charging port by using a spare plug under the mini-truck’s charging cap (I still don’t know why the mini-truck came with two different charging ports wired to the same circuit, but I was happy it did). The most difficult part was just peeling back the interior lining of the truck’s cab to hide the wiring that ran up to the solar panel.

With the installation complete, testing showed that in most conditions I could get between 30-35W of power. At one point I reached 45W when the sun was its highest point in the sky, though 35W was a more realistic figure on average.

mini truck solar panel

Since the solar panel installation, I’ve found that the charging period has basically doubled.

If my family charged the truck around once every 10 days or so in the past, now we can get away with doing it once every three weeks or so.

A panel that was large enough to completely charge the truck would be nice, but I didn’t want one so big that it could get in the way of the bed since we use the truck nearly daily for hauling things around the property.

The bed also has a hydraulic ram that lifts it up about 45-degrees in dump truck form, and so I couldn’t have a panel extend too far back.

I’d say that the project was quite successful, and it demonstrates that solar charging on vehicles can be effective if the vehicle is low enough power (my truck is around 5 hp).

Conventional solar electric cars can’t really compare, since a day of sun just isn’t enough to fill a reasonable portion of their massive batteries. But if you’ve got a small EV like a mini-truck or an e-bike, especially one that doesn’t need to go too far each day and generally stays in one area like this, you can actually make an impact even with a relatively small solar panel.

For anyone who ever wanted to try a DIY solar charging project like this, I’d definitely recommend giving it a shot. It’s surprisingly simple and easy to do. It’s also hard to describe the rewarding feeling of stepping back to admire your work afterwards, watching your device “magically” charging without being plugged in. Or at least, without being plugged in to the wall.

mini truck solar panel

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Labor Day Sales from Anker SOLIX, Jackery, and Rad Power Bikes, score massive $683 savings on Luckeep X1 Lite e-bike at $466, more

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20 mins ago

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August 22, 2025

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Labor Day Sales from Anker SOLIX, Jackery, and Rad Power Bikes, score massive 3 savings on Luckeep X1 Lite e-bike at 6, more

Closing out this week’s Green Deals is several holiday sales from some of our favorite brands, lead by Anker’s SOLIX Labor Day Sale that is taking up to 61% off power stations and solar bundles starting from $120. We also have further Labor Day Sales from Jackery (up to 50% off with bonus 5% and 7% savings) and Rad Power Bikes, a massive $683 price drop on Luckeep’s X1 Lite Folding All-Terrain e-bike at $466, and much more waiting for you below. Plus, all the hangover savings are at the bottom of the page, like yesterday’s Lectric Labor Day Sale with the $500 price cut on the ONE e-bike to a new low, Anker’s eufy SoloCam S220 deals, and more.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

Review: The ST3 Pro e-scooter brings serious suspension alongside smart controls and more as Navee’s latest flagship

As a long-time rider of Segway electric scooters, my expectations are quite high for new brands looking to climb their way up to the standard that the household-name has set in stone at this point. Only within the last few months did Navee come onto my radar, with the brand offering me the chance to test out its latest flagship model, the ST3 Pro Electric Scooter, which has been quite the surprise, to say the least. At first, it seemed like it was full of gimmicks that were destined to fail, but after riding around for several weeks now, I can happily say that Segway may just have found a new challenger. Head below to get my hands-on impressions of this high-end e-scooter that still retains accessible pricing for the stunning list of features.

To get our full hands-on impression of this new flagship e-scooter, be sure to check out our review here.

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Anker SOLIX power stations

Save up to 61% on Anker SOLIX power stations and solar bundles during its Labor Day Sale – deals start from $120

Anker has launched its Labor Day Sale running through August 30 and taking up to 61% off the brand’s lineup of power stations, solar bundles, accessories, and more. Coinciding with the new pre-launch promotion on the upcoming C1000 Gen 2 station, we spotted Anker dropping its first-gen C1000 Portable Power Station bundled with a 200W solar panel and protective waterproof bag back to $729 shipped for the second time. This bundle normally fetches $1,598 in full, which we saw discounts take as low as $799 until last month’s Prime Day Sale when it hit this low price for the first time. At Amazon, you’ll only find the station and solar panel pairing for $700 shipped, so you’re getting the waterproof bag (valued at $100) for $30 more. This is a 54% markdown that cuts $869 off the tag for a second chance at the best price we have tracked. Head below to browse this sale’s full lineup.

The Anker SOLIX C1000 power station is one of the brand’s best compact backup power companions for camping trips, right alongside the smaller C800 Plus, C300 series, and C200. While not as big as its home backup models, it still brings a solid 1,056Wh LiFePO4 battery (expandable up to 2,112Wh) along for your off-grid adventures with 11 output ports that provide up to 1,800W of steady power that can surge as high as 2,400W. It can refill its own battery to 80% in 43 minutes through a standard AC outlet, with it taking 58 minutes to reach full. There’s also the 600W max solar input that can recharge it in 1.8 hours, so with the included 200W panel, you’re looking at things taking a little longer, around five or so hours. And your solar setup gets the added protection of the waterproof bag that fits the station and keeps it safer from the elements.

Anker’s other SOLIX C1000 Labor Day Sale deals:

Anker’s SOLIX C800 Labor Day Sale deals:

Anker’s SOLIX C300/C200 Labor Day Sale deals:

Anker’s SOLIX F2000 Labor Day Sale deals:

To check out Anker’s full SOLIX Labor Day Sale lineup, including the larger power stations and solar generator bundles, be sure to check out our original coverage of this sale here.

woman riding Rad Power RadRover 6 Plus e-bike through farm

Rad Power’s Labor Day Sale takes up to $600 off three legacy e-bikes starting from $999 + 25% accessory discounts

Rad Power has launched its Labor Day Sale promotions through September 3 with up to $600 taken off a selection of e-bikes alongside up to 25% discounts on accessories (applied in cart). Alongside the ongoing $999 low on the RadExpand 5 Folding e-bike that now sports a “last chance” mention, Rad has added one of my favorite models to the deals lineup, the RadRover 6 Plus Step-Thru Fat-Tire e-bike at $1,299 shipped. We last saw this model come off its $1,599 price tag back in June for the brand’s Father’s Day sale with a $200 discount, with today’s deal being the first we’ve seen its $1,299 pricing show up in 2025, which has mostly kept costs at $1,399 or higher, except the brief fall to the $1,199 low at the top of the year. Aside from that low price in January, you’re otherwise looking at the best deal of this year, saving you $300 off the going rate. Head below for more on this and the other models seeing discounts.

If you want to learn more about this model or the other models seeing discounts, be sure to check out our original coverage of this sale here.

Man standing next to Luckeep X1 Lite folding e-bike atop mountain

Affordable get up to 60 miles of commuting support on Luckeep’s X1 Lite folding all-terrain e-bike at a $466

AliExpress is offering a great deal for commuters shopping for e-bikes on a budget, with the Luckeep X1 Lite Folding Electric Bike currently available for $465.77 shipped, after using the code USAFF100 at checkout for an additional $100 off, which beats out Amazon by $84 and the brand’s direct website pricing by $283. This model normally fetches $1,149 at full price from the brand, and is now seeing a giant $683 price drop for one of the lowest prices we have ever tracked and delivering a much more affordable means to commute to your daily appointments.

If you want to learn more about this budget-friendly model, be sure to check out our original coverage of this massive discount here.

Jackery power stations sit atop box with flag in background for Labor Day sale

Jackery’s Labor Day Sale offers up to 50% off on power stations and more with bonus 5% and 7% savings starting from $89

Jackery has launched its Labor Day Sale through August 28 with up to 50% discounts on its lineup of power stations, as well as bonus 5% and 7% savings on orders over $1,300. Among the offers this holiday season, we spotted Jackery’s legacy Explorer 1000 Plus Portable Power Station bundled with an expansion battery and two 100W solar panels for $1,519.05 shipped, after using the code EMAIL5 at checkout for an extra 5% off your cart’s total. This bundle would normally cost you $2,099 in full, with discounts having usually being on the station and solar panels for $1,299. The addition of the extra battery would cost you $459 right now, meaning you’d normally be spending $1,758 for this same setup. You’re looking at a combined 28% markdown here that cuts $580 off the tag for the best price we can find. Head below to get the full lineup of deals we’re seeing during this sale.

If you want to learn more about this solar bundle, or browse the full extent of Jackery’s Labor Day lineup, be sure to check out our original coverage of this sale here.

woman cutting branch with greenworks 60V 16-inch cordless chainsaw

Clear storm debris with Greenworks’ 60V 16-inch cordless chainsaw kit at $190 annual low

Amazon is offering the Greenworks 60V 16-inch Cordless Chainsaw with a 2.5Ah battery at $189.99 shipped, which beats out the brand’s direct website pricing by $50. While it normally carries a $300 MSRP, we’ve been seeing it recently keep down at $240 at Amazon, with discounts having only gone as low as $200 this year. You’re looking at the best price of the year so far on this model, which has shed $50 off the going rate ($110 off the MSRP) and lands as the second-lowest overall price we have tracked – $40 above the low we last saw during Christmas sales.

If you want to learn more about this chainsaw’s capabilities, be sure to check out our original coverage of this deal here.

woman handing man drink from goal zero alta 50 portable electric cooler

Save 30% on Goal Zero’s Alta 50 single-zone and Alta 80 dual-zone electric coolers starting from $560

By way of its official Amazon storefront, Goal Zero is offering its Alta 50 Portable Electric Fridge and Freezer for $559.89 shipped, with its larger Alta 80 variant also seeing an equally significant discount (more on that below the fold). This smaller unit normally goes for $800 at full price, which we’ve mostly seen discounts this year drop between $640 and $560, though there was one fall to $559, not to mention the falls to $550 and the $522 low back in 2024. You’re looking at the second-best price of 2025, though, with the 30% markdown here cutting $240 off the going rate, landing it at the fourth-lowest price overall that sits $38 above the one-time all-time low from Black Friday.

If you want to learn more about this cooler or its larger variant, be sure to check out our original coverage of this deal here.

Best Summer EV deals!

Best new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.

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Fort Polk goes green: 97 acres of solar to power US Army housing

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30 mins ago

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August 22, 2025

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Fort Polk goes green: 97 acres of solar to power US Army housing

Fort Polk solar
Photo: Onyx Renewables LLC

Fort Polk, a US Army installation in Louisiana, is about to get a big solar power boost. Clean energy developer Onyx Renewables has wrapped up construction on two 13 megawatt ground-mount solar projects. The solar arrays are scheduled to come online this fall.

Despite Republican opposition to solar, the Army recognizes its benefits. Developed in partnership with sustainable infrastructure company Corvias, the project at Fort Polk (formerly Fort Johnson) is part of a push to help the Army cut energy costs and improve resiliency. The solar systems are designed to deliver stable electricity prices for the base under a 25-year power purchase agreement – and in their first year, they’re projected to meet 40% of the electricity needs for on-base housing.

Fort Polk’s solar arrays sit on 97 acres and will be financed, owned, and operated long-term by Onyx. Battery storage and microgrid tech will also be added later to help strengthen the base’s energy independence.

“By increasing onsite energy capacity with distributed resources, we are not only bolstering crucial resilience across the base but also generating savings that will benefit the military community stationed there,” said Kevin Cox, SVP of Origination at Onyx.

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Onyx and Corvias have worked with the Army before, such as on projects at Fort Riley. Corvias CEO Chris Wilson said the company’s work across military housing reflects how critical energy resilience is to national security. “By enhancing the energy infrastructure of military installations, we are helping to meet tomorrow’s defense needs.”

Read more: 5 US military bases in the Carolinas just signed up for solar power

The 30% federal solar tax credit is ending this year. If you’ve ever considered going solar, now’s the time to act. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them. 

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.

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Hyundai and Kia join forces with Korean EV battery giants to take on China

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35 mins ago

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August 22, 2025

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Hyundai and Kia join forces with Korean EV battery giants to take on China

Hyundai-Kia-EV-battery

South Korea’s top automakers and battery companies are teaming up for the first time to take on China and advance new technology. Hyundai and Kia announced a new alliance with three EV battery giants to help Korea gain an edge.

Hyundai and Kia form new EV battery alliance in Korea

The global EV market is a “national competition,” warned Kim Dong-myung, CEO of LG Energy Solution, on Friday.

Kim is also the chairman of the Korean Battery Industry Alliance, which aims to solidify the country’s leadership in electric vehicle battery technology.

According to Kim, “The government and companies must become one team,” he added that “LG Energy Solution will also run until the end to ensure Korea’s future competitiveness.”

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LG Energy Solutions is one of the three major Korean battery companies, along with Samsung SDI and SK On, which have joined forces with Hyundai and Kia to remain competitive. It’s the first time the country’s top carmakers and battery companies have joined forces.

After proposing a “Battery Safety Task Force” last year, Hyundai and Kia made it official on Friday, signing a new business agreement to “further enhance cooperation in the future.”

Hyundai-Kia-EV-battery
Hyundai, Kia, LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI, and SK On join forces to advance EV battery tech (Source: Hyundai)

The companies announced the collaboration at Hyundai Motor’s Namyang R&D Center in South Korea, with several government officials and company officials in attendance.

At the event, Hyundai, Kia, and the battery companies revealed several projects where “each company will leverage its own specialized technologies.” The partnership will focus on five areas, including new safety patents, digital battery passports, design quality, manufacturing quality, and firefighting technology.

Hyundai-Kia-EV-battery
Kia EV4 testing in Europe (Source: Kia)

Developing safer battery tech, Hyundai said, the new partnership will “further contribute to strengthening national competitiveness.”

The partnership comes after Hyundai and Kia launched a joint project in September to develop lower-cost lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries, aiming to challenge BYD’s Blade batteries and other Chinese leaders.

Electrek’s Take

According to SNE Research, China is widening its lead in the global electric vehicle battery market. In the first half of the year, CATL and BYD alone accounted for over 55% of global EV battery sales, up from 53% compared to the same period in 2024.

Meanwhile, the combined market share of LG Energy, SK On, and Samsung SDI decreased to 16.4%, a 5.4% decline from the same period last year.

With Hyundai and Kia preparing to launch a series of lower-cost, mass-market EVs, the new alliance could be beneficial for everyone involved.

China is still leading the global EV race by a wide margin, but South Korea has ambitious plans for the future. Can they close the gap? Hyundai and Kia are quickly becoming top-selling EV brands in a number of global markets, but so are China’s BYD, Geely, XPeng, NIO, Li Auto, and others.

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