I have a set of portable panels that I am converting to a permanent mount right now. I have had them for over a year.. We do mostly 3 day weekend trips with two week long trips each year. We spend about 45 days in the camper each year so we camp a lot.
I thought that the ability to put the panels into a sunny area would be useful but I never did it, not once.
If you set up at night as we often do, figuring out how the sun falls in a semi-shady area is hard.
We found that we almost never camped in a shady area with a good sun area nearby. If the campsite was shady, usually the whole campground was shady. Moving the panels didn't help.
If you are going to put the panels a distance from the trailer you will need a lot of very expensive thick copper wire.
People can trip over the wire.
You can't put the panels too far from your trailer without putting them in someone else's campsite.
Are conditions really that different only a few feet away? Usually not.
Laziness is also involved. I camp to relax. If I don't have a good solar location I'll use the generator or just drain the batteries for a few days. I have enough juice to do that.
