Is solar the way to go?
Looking for some input from those of you that use solar to charge your battery. What are good kits to buy that are affordable and portable? How long does it take you to charge in all conditions? Is so...
Forum Discussion
All of my systems have been portable so far. It takes mere minutes to set the panel out, fold out the legs and connect the wires. Adjusting through out the day takes seconds if I even do that. You can also leave them tilted south or lay it flat like it was mounted.
We generally camp pretty isolated but we have spent a weekend in a small busy dry campground right next to a road that sees traffic. No one touched the solar or the EU3000 next door.
One trip I strapped the 230w panel to the rack of the truck. Mounting one up there and running a set of wires to the controller, short for travel, and a longer set for when unhitch would be easier than a roof mount, allow charging on the road, allow you to put the trailer in the shade and the solar in the sun AND be more secure. It would also be easier to tilt or be used as a portable if you wanted, just build it into the mount.
This was my plan until we decided to upgrade. It didn't provide charging in storage but I remove the battery there so that it isn't stolen anyways. They will be inside after I mount the panels.
Different panels act differently to changing light and shading issues. I have a Canadian solar 220w that drops like a rock in leafy shade or cloud cover. In bright sun you can stick your hand in front of it with no loss. My 230w poly drops more according to how much cloud cover but stick your hand in front and it loses 25%. I don't camp in the shade much, not much to be had up there but I do deal with clouds. I want to test the new system in both series and parallel in hopes of getting it to provide at least the basics in most any situation.
Several members here use Uni-solar panels that do the best in lower light. The downside is they have a larger foot print per watt. They can get something even in the rain.
We generally camp pretty isolated but we have spent a weekend in a small busy dry campground right next to a road that sees traffic. No one touched the solar or the EU3000 next door.
One trip I strapped the 230w panel to the rack of the truck. Mounting one up there and running a set of wires to the controller, short for travel, and a longer set for when unhitch would be easier than a roof mount, allow charging on the road, allow you to put the trailer in the shade and the solar in the sun AND be more secure. It would also be easier to tilt or be used as a portable if you wanted, just build it into the mount.
This was my plan until we decided to upgrade. It didn't provide charging in storage but I remove the battery there so that it isn't stolen anyways. They will be inside after I mount the panels.
Different panels act differently to changing light and shading issues. I have a Canadian solar 220w that drops like a rock in leafy shade or cloud cover. In bright sun you can stick your hand in front of it with no loss. My 230w poly drops more according to how much cloud cover but stick your hand in front and it loses 25%. I don't camp in the shade much, not much to be had up there but I do deal with clouds. I want to test the new system in both series and parallel in hopes of getting it to provide at least the basics in most any situation.
Several members here use Uni-solar panels that do the best in lower light. The downside is they have a larger foot print per watt. They can get something even in the rain.
