General Discussion

to study putting solar panels on top of refer truck trailers. As an investment at that time, I bought a used tractor trailer rig with a refer trailer. Those trailers have a totally independent fuel / generator system for running the freezer that keeps the frozen produce frozen. They run off of a "small" diesel tank under the trailer. Many of those systems now are equipped with a "shore power" option when they are parked and you don't want to burn the diesel when you have a electrical hookup handy ( many truck stops have this now ).

The diesel costs a fair amount for running the refrigeration.

I worked out the number of solar panels and mounting system, the inverter needed, and the mechanism to hook up the power to the shore power input of the refer... and then the cost savings of independent owner operators over a 4 or 5 year time frame. However the panels and inverter and labor to install, etc would be a major expense for many small trucking firms so I was looking for some money to explore the concept and then later, bigger money to finance the small trucking companies and independent truckers to be able to afford adding this feature. Not free money, just a 3 to 4 year loan. Reduce the consumption of diesel for over the road truckers, especially along I-10 which ran through her district.

The benefit to her was creating jobs in Cochise county to build a company that would install and service these solar equipped trucks ( my investment ). I wasn't looking for a handout to build the company, just some seed money to build the first such trailer to prove the concept... plus a promise to look at the revolving government sponsored finance (at least until the banks figured it was a good business).

She was receptive to the idea being that she was a big proponent of rooftop solar in southern AZ.

Other things came along and the idea never followed through and I sold my truck and trailer to a guy that drove it for me and got out of the trucking business, moved back to California... and then she was shot in the head at another "Congress on your Corner" event a year or so later. So it all died. Don't know if anyone else has done this or tried it. Solar costs have continued to decline so it would not surprise me. One issue that I hadn't solved is that typical rooftop mounting kits add a few inches on height... and on the top of a tractor trailer... those clearances are very important at some bridges and loading docks, etc. so the entire idea might not be workable.