Redsky wrote:
I went to solar panels in part not to have to carry around gas cans with my diesel truck. If I was going to carry it around it would be in plastic gas cans tied to my roof rack on the camper.
With solar there is nothing to turn on, nothing to shut off, nothing to fuel or maintain. The solar works 365 days of the year and requires none of my time to do anything at all.
I too thought all I needed was solar (210watts) and thought about selling my honda eu2000 generator. I left it at home on a trip from san diego to colorado last november. Boy did I wish I brought it. With constant cloud coverage (I was still getting some charge but not enough) and it getting dark early that time of year I struggled to keep the batteries up. I even left my power chord at home so I couldn't plug in anywhere. I was up on the roof during a snow storm sweeping the snow off the solar panel with a broom. On our recent trip we camped in the redwoods and the redwoods blocked the sun most of the day.
We don't use the generator too much and rarely ever need to fill the gas tank so on short trips I won't even bring any extra gas just make sure it is topped off. When we do long trips I have stored gas the wheel wells, the cargo carrier, and strapped it to the bumper. I usually end up using most of the gas to start the fire or make molotov cocktails. (Kidding about the molotov cocktail part) :)
