Reddit mentions: The best solar panels

Ok. Im sorry I don't have a book or a source because I was forced into this whole situation and had no time. I had to ask on forums and look on google, and perform the results the very next day. So now I have a little knowledge that grows every day by just asking around here on Reddit and on cruisers forums because Im out living In the moment lol.

This is a diagram I made of my electrical set up. I made it to ask a question to experts so a few crucial labels are missing to make it a complete beginners diagram in my opinion.

This is my solar Kit by RENOGY

These are the best batteries to get for house/cabin use and for solar power These are the ones I and everyone hopes to afford. I have 4 (lesser known equivalent) 6v batts, all brand new from Orileys, paired and converted into 2 beefed up 12v batteries. Mine will do the job, maybe last 5-7 years but Trojan T-105s last a life time.

Next is where I got the "Know how" from some forum posts.

• Here is when I first got my boat, and asked about what kind of batteries to get. I almost made the mistake of buying a big tractor battery before the guys on this forum set me strait, and they provided lots of helpful links and explanations.
  
  
• This is a new thread I made recently asking about advanced knowledge of electricity from batteries. I can build and set up the whole system properly, but I have no idea what the numbers mean, so these guys helped me out with that, again.
  
  Finally, here is a AWESOME detailed explanation of battery power, and solar power from a redditor who actually used my own setup as an example.
  
  
  
  With the right equipment, about 400 watts of solar power, 6 to 8 6v batteries. A 250-500watt wind generator, a working engines alternator, and a back up 2000 watt honda generator you can go on with your every day life using free energy. With care you can maintain your batteries health, and your own energy consumption in conjunction with the solar panels, or have a costly back up of a gas generator or the boats engine alternator to beef up your batteries and make sure they never go down. You can also invest in a water maker that turns sea water into fresh drinking water. Our unit can turn 38gallons of sea water in one hour.
  
  With all that in mind, your only expense is food/propane gas for the boat or generator and clothing. Anchoring is free anywhere and most marinas have anchorage spots close to their docks so you can get into town quickly. also some cities have free public docking, so living on a sail boat is pretty cool once you have built a complete self sufficient system. we have USB modems that use 4G signals to provide internet, or we can use our big wifi antenna to reach open wifi signals from a mile away, so gaming and Reddit is possible anywhere we go, especially if we can afford to buy some 4g data for the month.
  
  Im interested in this because I already have one solar panel and 4 batteries. I eventually want to have 2 big 250 watt solar panels that will make up a total 500 watts, and I want to have 8 6v batteries total.
  Instead of getting a AC inverter, I can switch everything I use to DC power supply, like a laptop, Wii U, Fan, Fridge to save power, and even more so if I upgrade my computer to run more efficiently.
  Ive alredy replaced EVERY SINGLE LIGHT with little LED bulbs, even my navigation lights and mast lights. I can turn them ALL on and my volt meter doesn't drop a single volt and its freaking amazing how little they draw.
  
  Ive come to realize that I can realistically save and continue to build off my current system, instead of struggling to sustain a "normal" lifestyle with bills and rent. $200 here and there, one new solar panel this month, two more batteries that month, and before you know it, you have spent less than a years worth of bills and finances, only this time its a permanent solution that no longer requires a yearly or monthly bill.

Here's a 'shopping list' for as light-weight a system that I can think of throwing together from 'off the shelf' components:

>Solar Panels:
Two of these will give you a light-weight solution for 400 watts of power!
https://www.amazon.com/Dokio-Monocrystalline-foldable-Inverter-Controller/dp/B075SZMFP2/

>Charge Controller:
The included controller won't be terribly useful I'm afraid, because it's for Lead Acid, and is a crappy PWM controller anyways. So, let's assume you're going to DIY this a bit and build a weatherproof box for your battery and a controller like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Solar-Controller-Monitor-Temp-Sensor-Package/dp/B06XNP1BGR/

>Batteries:
Here's where you drop the real cash; At least one but preferably TWO of these guys.
https://www.amazon.com/LiFePO4-volt-Deep-Cycle-Battery/dp/B06XX197GJ/

>Inverter:
If you'll be needing AC power, you'll want something like this:
www.amazon.com/AIMS-Power-Watt-Inverter-Cables/dp/B002AMPHHC/

>Container of sorts:
You'll be needing something weatherproof for all this non-weatherproof stuff to sit inside. Find the 'weatherproof storage lockers' at sporting goods stores, and you can machine them to be what you need for stuff like this. It'll need to fit your batteries, inverter, and charge controller, and you'll need to mount them in there somehow so it doesn't bounce around. Then all you need is some slick weatherproof electrical connectors to mount going through the wall of the box, and you've got yourself a great system. You can even put in things like a 12 socket and weatherproof volt meter to keep an eye on your battery voltage.

Overall, this would cost probably around $3000. But, it'd work well. :)

If you can give me more specs on what sort of weight you can carry, you could have the option of switching to Lead Acid as a battery type; but that would add like 150 pounds of weight to this whole setup, but you'd save $1500 or there about on the batteries, and you COULD use the included cheap PWM controllers... but honestly that MPPT I think would be worth the extra cash.

The comparable product (excluding the panels, and assuming you only got one battery) would be the Goal Zero Yeti 1400 Lithium. It's $1700 and is about the same thing, again excluding the panels.

Honestly, for your purposes, the Goal Zero Yeti looks pretty good if you're not really into the DIY stuff; cause you'd be looking at $1700 plus $500 for the 400 watts of panels, so $2200 total. That's not bad! (Assuming you DIY it like I'm suggesting, and only use one battery, you're looking at around $2000. So, really, not much cheaper if the weight matters to you.)

Uhh. No, it so can't. It has 100Ah capacity. Rule of thumb for 12v DC to AC conversion is 1 hour @ 100w AC draw = about 10A being pulled from the DC battery. 1000w would run it flat in one hour. Likely much less since that would be a very high discharge rate for such a battery and that generally reduces capacity.


While I admit I don't have a solid answer to your original question in my response I do need to express interest in why you're set on the goal zero platform? They are laughably over priced. The Yeti 1250 is 1600 bucks in Canada, and it's not a generator at all. It's a 12v Absorbent Glass Mat battery with 100Ah capacity, with a 1200w pure sinewave inverter and a Maximum Power Point Tracking solar charge controller. It's all stuck in a box with some connections and a nice display. It doesn't come with a solar panel to charge it at all either.

That 100Ah may seem like a lot, but it's not. Especially considering you shouldn't really discharge a lead acid battery more than 50% So 50 amps a day is all you can pull. About 2 an hour. Depending on the duty cycle of your fridge that's it right there. I'm a big fan of 6 volts for dollar/Ah, and you can grab two T105 Trojan batteries most places for 300 bucks. They are good batteries and can take a lot of abuse. I also like USBattery, and have picked these up in Alberta for 100 each. http://usbattery.com/products/6-volt-batteries/us-2200-xc2-lf/ that's 230 Ah for 200 bucks. My last load test on a pair of heavily abused ones that are about 6 years old now still pull just over 100A before 50% discharge. I can't argue with that quality. That leaves us with 1400 bucks to play with, and more capacity to run things from. Since we saved money on storage, I'd spend the money on a good inverter like this. Naturepower and Go Power should be avoided, but might be available a lot cheaper so by all means take the risk if you wish. That's 1500 watts vs the 1200 from the Goal Zero package. So we now have 800 to spend on a charge controller, a box, and 12v output/input options and a box. A box could be simply constructed with plywood and scrap 2x4's and could probably be sourced in any nearby alley. Charge controllers can be had for very cheap or for a little more depending on your requirements. The charge controller in the Yeti appears to be able to handle 20A, so our 13 dollar and change controller above works. Even factoring wire, nuts, bolts, crimping supplies and the time to build it all you're going to be coming out with 600 bucks in your pocket for solar panels. The Yeti doesn't even come with solar panels. They want TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS for 30w in Canada! Unbelievable! Another 30 bucks gets you more than 3x the charging potential. It's also in a nice aluminum frame suitable for reinforcing and adding hinges for portability should you want to pair it with another with all the money you're saving. There is absolutely no way you'd get me to support their over priced gear when it can be done so simply and cheaply on your own, all with better results.


Edit: the specs on the 30w panel say 2A output max, so they're only 24w peak. That extra 30 bucks on a real panel gets you (barely) more than 4x the charging potential. To max out the 20A capabilities of the Yeti 1250 using 30w panels would cost you 2000 dollars for 10 panels. Two of those 100w panels would be 460 dollars and cover just over 80% of that capacity. But why stop there? We saved 600 bucks, lets buy another pair of batteries for 200 to increase our capacity to 460Ah.
With over 4x the reserve you STILL won't be pulling 1000w for a few hours. Just about though, you might get 4.
My favourite part about this is I hate going retail and it's STILL cheaper to piece it together doing it that way. I could find a better inverter used thanks to the used marine market out in BC, for less, I could source a few used batteries after a load test for cheap. I could DIY panels for cheap using epoxy and reclaimed aquarium glass. About 80c a watt materials included. In Canada that's amazing for a single panel.

All Goal Zero prices were from here http://www.goalzerostore.ca/


The only opinion I can give you with pellet stoves is they are VERY expensive and installation is semi permanent, your landlord might even have to get different insurance if there is a stove pipe jammed out his roof. He's probably not going to be happy with having to duct the cold air supply in either. They are also equipped with hoppers for pellet storage, how long you intend to run it and what model of stove you get depends on how often you have to fill it. They are also electronically controlled, so it will need to be constantly plugged in for the auger to feed pellets into the stove to keep the fire going or between a specific range of temperatures. You want to do this for a month and that's a lot of effort for an experiment. You could probably get away with a propane heater of some kind, along with the appropriate detectors for safety. I wouldn't advise on running that unsupervised at all, and it's not going to be appropriate for cooking like a stove would be.

Hi, this is simple if your expectations are in line, and unworkable if not.

If you want to run devices that heat or cool with electricity, such as coffeemakers, hotplates, A/C, toasters, hair dryers, etc., you will not make your numbers or anywhere near them. Give that all up. There is a reason whole-house systems cost $30-40k, it is heating and cooling.

Now for the awesome: IT WORKS. I ran 30 feet of LEDs, a laptop, a small but nice stereo, a PoE wireless antenna, a wireless hub, iPhones and iPods, 18v DeWalt battery packs, a fan — plus whatever I am forgetting — off of 2 x 100W solar panels and 2 x 100Ah marine cells for ten weeks. I went dry twice, but with a fully charged laptop, stereo and phone.

First you must go ahead and do all the math of your usage, because we are are still at the stage where we must all do all the math, and math is good, but when you are doing all the math to the third significant digit, and looking up the model of that rechargeable flashlight you like for its charging amperage requirements, maybe say fuck it and start with half that; one beefy panel, one solid battery. You could easily add another panel and battery later.

As to wiring, your charge controller will have connections that include a legend where to hook up your batteries, panels and inverter, so easy peasy there. See the link below for an example. I recommend spending the extra on an MPPT controller, which converts some of your extra juice (the 12V panel below can run almost 19V) that normally is dumped when charging into increased amperage of the charging current. Do the math of your expected load, it's possible you will want a 20A. If it doesn't include fusing directions, go online and find a schematic of where to add inline fuses that, if that are not included, you will get at the auto parts store.

YOU WILL WANT TO DO THE MATH on wire sizes. There are calculators online. For your small setup, the important run is going to be between the battery and the charge controller. This is where the fires start. If you think you will EVER add another battery dig deep and wire for it.

For inverters, I feel better about everything by getting a well-respected pure sinewave unit. I run a Xantrex 600W in my 4Runner and a Cotec 350W for the solar, and they feel bulletproof. You could save a ton, and maybe in this case you should, by getting a cheap modified sinewave one and seeing if it meets your needs. Either way they will have outlets on them, so you don't need to wire it further.

Also, no SLA batteries inside the vehicle unless properly secured, sealed inside, and vented outside.

I also recommend the /r/vandwellers subreddit, it is excellent. This comes up there a lot, although this is the better place for the question.

Solar panel:
http://www.amazon.com/RENOGY-Monocrystalline-Photovoltaic-Battery-Charging/dp/B009Z6CW7O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417553121&sr=8-1&keywords=100W+solar+panel

Charge controller (10A likely okay, do your math, I got the 20 amp)
http://www.amazon.com/Tracer1210RN-Solar-Charge-Controller-Regulator/dp/B008KWPGS6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1417552788&sr=8-2&keywords=mppt+charge+controllers

Invertors:
http://www.amazon.com/COTEK-SK350-112-INVERTER-OUTLETS-CABLES/dp/B006W9IPA0

Not a bad price on that kit. Personally I pieced together my own, using a Renology 100W panel and a cheap Mohoo PWM controller, and what you're looking at looks pretty comparable for a comparable price.

To try and actually answer your question, though, here's a fairly quick run-down of how to roughly size your battery. I'll use my own situation as an example; I have a small popup camper my wife and I use in the boonies, nowhere near power, for days at a time. This will assume you're using decent quality, sealed AGM deep cycle batteries, not the garbage RV/Marine "deep cycle" batteries, which are not true deep cycle, just slightly tougher starting batteries.

First step is actually the hard part, the rest is easy. You need to know what you want to run, how much power it draws, and how much you want to be able to run it between charges. That sizes your battery. Finding the current draw on your items if you don't already have them can be the hard part - if possible, it's often best to have what you want to run, and measure it for actual numbers.

For example, my main loads are:

• I wanted to be able to run a pair of Fantastic Fans on low (1A each) overnight, for up to 10 hours each, which is roughly 20Ah.
  
• Alternately, on colder nights I have a propane heater with a fan that draws about 3A, but which would only run for about four hours tops in twelve hours on a really cold night, so that's only about 12Ah. Since that's less than the fans and I wouldn't be running both, I don't count it.
  
• I have a water pump that draws about 3A but that is only used for minutes a day (not worth counting)
  
• LED lights that are 3W (about 1/4A). Let's assume I want to run one of those for up to 12h per night, so that's 3Ah.
  
• I also recharge two phones overnight, which are usually roughly 2Ah batteries each, maybe 2/3 discharged. The charge circuits aren't very efficient, so you can assume at least 2Ah each to recharge those phones, for 4Ah total.
  
• I'm also recharging a pair of 2.5Ah small batteries for e-cigarettes ("mods" ) overnight. They aren't fully discharged, but assume 5Ah to charge those up.
  
  My worst case overnight loads basically work out to 20Ah (fans) + 3Ah (lights) + 4Ah (phones) + 5Ah(mods). That's about 32Ah of load per day, pretty much worst case in hot weather.
  
  Now, you can do a few different calculations to get a minimum battery size from that.
  
  Number one, you really don't want to regularly cycle your battery below 50%, unless you want to be replacing your good batteries a lot. Hence, your absolute minimum recommended battery size would be 2x your load between charges. In my case, that's about 64Ah. A deep cycle discharged to 50% will usually last about 400 charge cycles.
  
  Now, given the choice, you really don't even want to discharge that low. A deep cycle discharged only 30% (roughly 1/3) will usually last 1100-1200 cycles. I generally recommend you size for at least triple your daily load. This pays off big time in the long run. For 50% more battery, your batteries will usually last nearly 200% longer (3x as long). Enormous cost savings long term.
  
  Hence, my recommended sizing would be 32Ah x 3, or 96Ah. I'm running a 100Ah battery, UPG UB121000, part number 45981. In practice I'm not regularly discharging this battery more than about 25%.
  
  Now, you get some extra benefit from oversizing as well. By sizing to 1/3 discharge, I can run two days without charging if I have to, and not be worse than a 70% discharge. That's a good emergency backup, since if you regularly discharge anywhere near 100%, your battery usually won't last more than 100-150 cycles. That covers me in case I get a day with absolutely zero sun. In practice this isn't a big worry for me, as on days with poor sun I'm only running the fans about half as much anyway, and if I couldn't get topped off during the day, in a pinch I'd just connect jumper cables to my van and have the battery at full charge after about an hour at idle.
  
  Next, once you know your average daily usage, you can also size your solar panel. You actually need to size more by charge time than by pure wattage, since a 100W panel will not produce 100W using a PWM controller. My 100W panel produces about 5.3A at 19V under ideal conditions (that calculates to 100W), but since the PWM controller just knocks the voltage down to an appropriate battery charge voltage, I'll never actually get 100W out of this panel. The current maxes out at 5.3A, but my battery pulls the voltage down to around 13.5V at charge, so at most I'm actually getting about 72W out of it.
  
  To size your panel, look at the optimum operating current (usually listed as Imp), and use that to size in amp hours instead. Plus, you also need to include any loads you'll be running while you charge. In my case, my panel puts out about 5.3A, but if it's a hot day, I'm going to be running one of those fans on medium (2.25A) for our sheepdogs in the van, so I really only have about 3A to work with to charge. If I can get a solid 8h worth of good charging light, that's about 24Ah useable per day. As you could see, I'd really do well with a second panel. As it is, it's been just sufficient with one panel to mostly keep me topped up, since I haven't had a ton of hot weather where we've really had to run the fans a lot.
  
  If I added a second panel, I'd have roughly 8A to charge with even with that fan running, and could reliably charge my bank all the way with only about 4h of good, full sun.
  
  I know that's a bit long, but hopefully it'll be a help to get you going in the right direction!

As others have said you can do this with a relatively small setup. There is a LOT to consider - HOW portable, HOW efficient, etc etc. Help me out if the below suggestions don' t meet the need I can piece together just about any system for you :P

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You could get by on a small sealed lead acid battery designed for uninterruptible power supplies. They range in size but average 9 amp hours. I say get yourself a little 35 amp hour and never worry about discharge rate if you are only powering the win2 even if the sun don't shine that day. For the solar - buy BIGGER than you need - learned this the hard way with my truck camper. Right sized is great until the season changes or its overcast etc.

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Check out this little starter kit - it includes the solar panel and charge controller:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DCDZOI0/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_2ehvCbKCNM5MT

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Down in the frequently bought together you should see a 35ah battery - will fully charge the win2 a few times and not even feel it:

https://www.amazon.com/85980-D5722-Sealed-Battery-UB12350/dp/B001VV0318/ref=pd_bxgy_2/135-2046487-8709925?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B001VV0318&pd_rd_r=f062a34c-263c-11e9-b2b2-83751d0b2340&pd_rd_w=Nxcwh&pd_rd_wg=KqE5I&pf_rd_p=3f9889ac-6c45-46e8-b515-3af650557207&pf_rd_r=KWC3NGMZ50M5TJWJ1STT&psc=1&refRID=KWC3NGMZ50M5TJWJ1STT

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12v car charger that I use with the win2 - works great:

https://www.amazon.com/Charger-Anker-PowerDrive-Adapter-MacBook/dp/B071WYF9HP/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1549038482&sr=8-3&keywords=anker+pd+2+car+charger

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Plenty portable depending on your needs. Its almost as easy as color coding to setup. You can power the win2 and multiple devices if you so choose. Expandable at a later time if you choose with panel and batts. Will fit in any trunk or backseat. Hell it will fit in a big backpack (panel is 21x26). Large enough charge current to top off your battery quick even in partial sun - big enough reserve to keep you going for a couple days easily. This is just an example of an 'easy' bundle if you wanna save some more money I can show places to get these items cheaper.

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If you wanna talk more DIY and are not afraid of LI-ION 18650s you can build you a safe lighter and denser battery for pretty cheap. It would be piecing together a charge controller and panel but I would say stick to 50w range - affordable and covers your power needs even in less than ideal conditions. If you wanna go more expensive but more portable flexible/foldable panels are out there too.

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I actually just finished going through all of this.

1. I would recommend going solar. Powering your house batteries from your alternator works, but it puts extra stress on your alternator which means you'll have more repair bills down the road.
   
   1b) I have 2 vent fans installed in my roof, and it does wonders on a hot night. Set one to blow in, and the other to blow out, and you'll get some great airflow. Humidity is another story though. Even with the two fans humidity can be rough, but at least its something.
   
   
2. As for battery usage for the fans, the ones I linked you to use about 60w, so you are going to want to make sure to buy enough deep cycle batteries to last you however long you sleep. Two 60w fans running for 8 hours is going to be about 960w. I have 4 35 amp-hour deep cycle solar batteries, which give me a total of 1620 watts to play with, so I can run my fans all night, and still have 660w left over to play with in the morning. BUT, seeing as you are looking to also have a fridge, that is going to mean more batteries depending on the kind of fridge you are thinking of using. A fridge like THIS would only use about as much as your vent fans, and would save you money on batteries. Here is a calculator that helped me out when I was trying to figure out my battery bank.
   
   
3. Charging your house batteries off of your alternator only takes about 15 minutes or less for a full charge. Solar might take a few hours, but its less stress on your van in general.
   
   ​
   
   If you are worried about solar being too expensive, it really isnt. You can get a full 100 watt solar panel kit for $118. That give you all the wiring, a panel, and a charge controller all at once. Then all you need are batteries, which you can get a set of 4 for $250. You don't need those specifically, but just make sure whatever batteries you get, you make sure they are DEEP CYCLE batteries, and not starter batteries.
   
   ​
   
   Hope this helps! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask, and I'll be glad to help. Anything to help another vandweller so they don't have to go through all the hell I did trying to figure it all out myself. lol
   
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First of all, I don't agree that a generator is an important prep unless you have a specific life-or-death need, e.g. medical equipment or an electric-powered well. The average apartment-dweller should be able to get by without electrical service for a few days. Stock up on spare batteries for flashlights and such. Get some non-electronic forms of entertainment. Get a hand-crank radio — many of them can charge your phone as well. Get food that doesn't need refrigeration or cooking. Learn which food actually needs refrigeration for safety; don't throw out your whole fridge on day one of an outage.

That will cover the short term and, in a long-term disaster, fuel will be in short supply so a generator is of questionable use.

> Unfortunately, i live in an apartment in socal. Can generators even be used in an apartment? I have a small balcony.

Do not risk it. Carbon monoxide can get inside the building. Do not risk it.

As an alternative, consider a portable power pack, and remember to keep it charged up! Some can be charged from solar as well. Or DIY with a bare panel, a charge controller, a marine deep-cycle battery and an inverter. (Also, a lot of things such as LED light strips can run directly from the 12V battery and don't need an inverter.)

> How long do they last if i buy one and just throw it in storage?

All prepper equipment should be tested regularly. I'm not an expert but I would say run it for 30 minutes every month or two. Remember that gasoline goes bad after a few months. They also have starter batteries that need to be topped up like a car battery. You'll need to check the oil and air filter and replace if needed.

> Once i buy a house, what is the best generator to own?

Like any "what's best" question, it depends on your needs. How much power do you need? Look into a dual-fuel gas/propane generator as well. Propane is much safer to store and it stays good for decades assuming your tank doesn't leak.

Also for the love of god, don't jury-rig a connection to the house wiring. There are about seven ways to kill yourself or someone else by doing that. You need to use a proper transfer switch or at least a breaker interlock plate. The easier option is to rely on extension cords and not the house wiring.

The best thing you can is build a bed platform and some full length drawers for storing all your stuff, then install a decent high capacity (150ah+) secondary battery set up. This is a great write up on how to charge the secondary battery from your alternator. Once you have that you can have a fridge, get a decent 12v compressor and it'll last for ages, we have this wynter one and absolutely love it. As a fridge we've had it running for 4+ days off our 225ah batteries without recharging. Once you have a fridge the food you can keep makes all the difference in the world. We lived for 3 months in our bus with this setup and it was so nice.

From there you can add some cheap solar panels and you can stay in one spot for ages, although we have one, we barely use it because we were driving every couple days.

The best thing about this setup is that it's all totally removable, so if you want to sell or upgrade later you take it all out and put it in your new rig. Plus you're not limiting your resell market (most truck owners don't want an overlanding rig).

You have yourself an awesome truck, I loved our 96 T100, with 225k miles and it still ran like a champ, never broke down on us and everything except the shocks and wheels were stock.

> Congrats on a well-executed model!

Thanks. :)

> Based on the size of the roof area for the solar panels, I'm assuming you've picked out the panels already. Have a link? I'm curious in learning more about what you've selected.

Definitely monocrystalline panels. As an example, Renogy makes a nice little 200W starter kit with charge controller and such. May or may not wind up going with that exact unit, but it'll be something similar.

As for the size, I just hacked together a couple of 24" by 48" scale blocks, since that ought to cover a majority of pairs of panels i might settle on.

The basic calculations here are based on several trips to the field with my current rig running on a 101Ah battery.

• I generally seem to use 15-20% of the capacity (so, 20Ah) for a full night's imaging. So I'm planning based on being able to deliver 20Ah to the batteries on a clear day.
  
  
• At 200W, at what is a nominal 14V or so from typical MC panels, we're looking in the range of 14A. I always cut that expectation in half, so I'm looking to get 7A out of these panels.
  
  
• At 7A, that says I need 3 hours of clear skies and good sun to refresh from a night's imaging.
  
  
• Did some poking around in some historical weather data and some solar planning sites, and found that it's pretty reasonable to expect 3 hours of sunlight within 48 hours after any given clear night.
  
  
• So...I'll double up my battery...go to 200Ah of capacity...which should let me image 6-8 nights without recharges EASILY, and that should cover any oddball runs of "clear night, cloudy day".
  
  The system is almost certainly overkill, but I like it that way. :)
  
  > Also, how do you plan on sealing out moisture at the roof seam?
  
  A little flap of shingles, basically...sort of how Harry Page did his as linked in the OP.

I'd recommend you take something like this if you don't have one already.

Then some sort of tablet or smart phone.

This way when you're out on the river and find something that's potentially edible, you can snap some pics, upload and get an ID.

This way you can just pack in essential lightweight basics such as rice, beans, pasta, dehydrated eggs, and so on.

Then forage/wild harvest/fish to fill in the gaps.

There's this thing too. It's a fancy little rocket stove. You could build one out of tin cans for free but this one works a little better, it has a built in fan to make it burn better and a TEG(thermo electric generator) that converts some of the heat into electricity that powers a USB plug that you can use to run a small USB light at about 1 watt. Not super bright big good enough to camp with. Or you can charge/power a device.

The rocket stoves are nice. You can cook a whole meal with a handful of twigs.

You very well may know all this stuff, but just in case.. :-D

Absolutely. My favorite completely discreet as well as super easy to use/install are the flexible panels I talked about. They are awesome albeit they are long but they can pretty much replace shingles on your house for the most part.

https://www.amazon.com/Unisolar-Flexible-Solar-Panel-Laminate/dp/B006EP6MCU

This is what my friend got originally for his home in georgia and it worked great. In fact it's so hard to notice that when the power company came out to check out why his meter was going backwards sometimes(he had grid-tie) the meter inspector couldn't notice the panels and so just thought the meter was faulty and kept replacing it until he came by when my buddy was home and started talking about solar.

As for making things nice it's really all up to your imagination. Think about anywhere you want or have shade i/e car cover, awning, porch, garden, shed, etc... and just imagine putting up panels instead of regular stuff. It not only does what you wanted but now you're saving money by doing it.

Now tax write offs might not always be applicable for solar projects if you're DIY but a lot of them still are it just depends on which program you're applying for. As long as the products you're purchasing are inspected and the final project is inspected too i/e pay for an electrical inspector to come out and certify it, you should be absolutely good to go. The big things to look out for are fire hazards, wire gauges, pure sine wave if on-grid and synced to grid, and of course fire protection requirements. Just basically don't leave lots of bare wires and allowing water to spill all over it or fling matches all over it and you're good to go.

I think so. Here's a much cheaper and simpler package after tax:

$200 in mounting hardware, glue/sealant and cables.

$3200 for a Goal Zero Yeti 3k that has inverter, charger, monitor, and all the other shit built right in to the box that holds a 3kwh battery (should be plenty) and is completely portable so you can use it wherever and safely keep it outside the bus when not in use. May easily charge it at home or on the road by plugging it into a wall if you drained it and wanna charge it quickly as well, and you can tuck it wherever you like on the bus rather than having a whole closet of components.

$370 for 4x of these wildly popular and over-performing 100w poly panels that punch above their weight.


That's less than $3800 for a package that is gonna charge far faster and allows you to take your power with you. Will also take up far less room in the bus and is extremely easy to "install". Properly bolt the 4 panels to the roof, run the power cable into the cabin, then plug that sucker right in to the yeti. Done. If you really need more power just get another yeti or even a battery expansion pack. Still way cheaper than your deal and will only take an afternoon for you to install, same time you'd spend fucking with your installation guys and driving the bus around.

But honestly, even that's a little rich, before I moved to a yeti for the portability (I use the yeti as a power source for my film equipment which goes everywhere and charge it with the bus panels), I just had an old inverter, a dirt cheap charge controller and about 400ah in lead acid batteries, all of which with 400w in panels cost me less than a thousand bucks installed and worked fine.

10 grand definitely seems too rich imo. I'd pay 5k tops for 4.8kwh of lithium batteries and 340w panels with charging and inverter, which is what you're getting. Mostly because with the yeti I get 3kwh, 400w of panels and a great portable system for less than 4, installed, after tax.

This is basically what I have. I bought a different battery and inverter because I have an account at batteries Plus but this is a widely accepted quality battery and a decent inverter. I would recommend buying at least the battery local as shipping them is expensive.

NOTE I did not include fuses/breakers in this list but you definitely should build these into your design.

https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Volts-Polycrystalline-Starter/dp/B00DCEKKQ0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1487256044&sr=8-2&keywords=renogy+100w+starter+kit

https://www.amazon.com/Trojan-T27-AGM-Group-Purpose-Battery/dp/B00NY0RAW4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487256242&sr=8-1&keywords=trojan+12volt

https://www.amazon.com/34-97-2-15-17-ENERGIZER-Inverter-charging/dp/B01N5LUMDF/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1487256346&sr=8-16&keywords=500w+inverter

Depending on what you really want to power this may be way more than you need. You really should start by figuring out the load you want to power and then design your system around that number. This is a great little tool for figuring out how much power the devices you want to power will use and it's certainly cheaper than buying too much system and finding out you could have done what you wanted with half as much as you bought.

https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487256555&sr=8-1&keywords=killawatt

I'm certainly not an expert at solar but am learning so feel free to PM any other questions.

For solar, buy anything that is Renogy brand. VERY nice stuff and well respected.

Here's the panel I use:

https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Volts-Monocrystalline-Solar/dp/B00DVPPFDS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484425808&sr=8-1&keywords=renogy+50+watt+panel

And the crappy PWM controller. Bought it because it was cheap. You really want an MPPT controller, but they're expensive and bulky. You can google around for the what and why, but this works for me.

https://www.amazon.com/Docooler-Controller-Battery-Regulator-Protection/dp/B00L37KZI6/ref=sr_1_2?s=exercise-and-fitness&ie=UTF8&qid=1484425831&sr=8-2&keywords=solar+charge+controller

I have a box full of these things though!
https://www.amazon.com/RENOGY-High-Precision-Meter-Power-Analyzer/dp/B00PSQPSWQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1484425929&sr=8-2&keywords=renogy+meter

Great to know what's coming from the panel, and coming out of your charge controller to the batter... or how much you're pulling OUT of the battery. 3 is ideal but if I'm out overlanding or camping, I wont use any of them. They're helpful and fun when you're setting up your kit.

Has a much bigger battery, has an AC inverter. Only issue is the inverter is rated up to 120w. This mean you can run a laptop and other small devices but don't expect to get to run things throughout the weekend. Much better than what op linked. However w/ the panel it's almost 4x the price.

It sucks that the solar panels cost extra but if you were to buy now, the 25w panels are on sale. I would get two and hopefully get up to 50w (under optimal conditions).

It would be nice for car camping or a camper. If it's a permanent or even semi permanent installation, It would be better to purchase a larger panel, solar controller/charger, deep cycle large capacity battery and an inverter.

100w panel ($120) - https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Volts-Monocrystalline-Solar/dp/B009Z6CW7O/

Simple Charger/Controller ($15) - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074WZB5XY/

AC inverter ($35) - https://www.amazon.com/POTEK-Inverter-Converter-Charging-Smartphones/dp/B01B3ZQG4O/

100Ah SLA Battery (Apprx $100) - Autoparts/Big Box Stores

Ends up being a $270-$300 investment. That's not bad. If you were to buy the monoprice system w/ larger solar panel, it would be close to $300 and it wouldn't anywhere as efficient as if you were to make your own system. Only thing are sacrificing is portability and weight. A 8Ah battery will be much smaller and lighter than a 100Ah+ SLAB but won't last anywhere as long. If you have a rainy/cloudy week, good luck.

> fortune

It would only cost you a fortune if you have to buy them. If you are Tesla and you are making those packs IN HOUSE then the cost will be much less. Plus easier to maintain them with your own experience staff. Tesla could essentially run a fully autonomous semi company and rip in huge profits moving items of all kinds around. Another thing is that semis+their vessels are very long and wide. Long and wide is perfect for solar panels. If they are fully autonomous and run all day long the sun could help out by some degree from continously charging. The more length and width the more solar panels you can place.

• http://www.truckscales.com/trailerinfo.htm
  
  
• Looks like the trailer by itself is 53' feet long
  
  
  
• What is the average length of a tractor trailer? | Reference.com
  
• A: The interior dimensions of a 53-foot trailer are 630 inches x 102 inches x 110 inches (length x width x height).
  
  Here is a 100 watt solar panel:
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Volts-Monocrystalline-Solar/dp/B009Z6CW7O
  
• Product Dimensions 47 x 1.4 x 21.3 inches
  
  So that is 47 inches long. 630÷47=13.4 So you'd be able to fit 13 and a half 100 watt panels on top. That is 1350 watts per hour. width of the solar panel is 21 inches. 102÷21= 4.8 So that is 4.8 rows of 13 and a half solar panels. I'm not the best at math but that would give you 1350×4.8=6480 watts per hour. That is almost 6.4k watts
  
  Plus also this is just using a regular home solar panel. Tesla could make a more specialized panel that utilizes the space better with less losses. They could do so many more things to specialize the panel and therefore get more solar power out of it. So that 6.4k watts per hour figure could increase perhaps as high as 8.0k watts per hour or maybe more?
  
  This is with out even taking the trailer truck portion into consideration (Where the driver used to be. Remember Autonomous.) Plus also you have the SIDES of the trailer though those won't be as effective as the top due to angle, but can still be used. I wouldn't be surprised if you could get 12.0k watts per hour through solar power with a trailer. Perhaps even higher like 15.0k watts.
  
  Sure it won't keep the trailer moving indefinitely, BUT it should increase the range of the trailer by some degree. Again if they could reach a figure like 10.0k watts in solar power per hour it should definitely help with the range of the trailer.
  
  -edit-
  I am bad at math I did mess it up

Here's a list and example found on amazon for all the major parts. I'll also include a wiring diagram at the end.

Solar Panel $169.99 - 100W Flexible & Thin

Solar Cable $18.99 - 20ft with male and female heads (cut in half for + & -)

[Charge Controller]
(https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B019QSX0CG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) $34.99 - 30A gives you room to add more panels

Battery $160 - 100Ah AGM will provide enough power depending on fridge but requires no maintenance

Fuse Panel $35 - 6 circuits with negative and cover

12V Sockets $6 - Get some of these for plugging in appliances and phones. You can buy 12V adapters for almost any electronic besides most kitchen appliances.

Pick up some 10 gauge stranded wire from your local hardware store (home depot) to wire the battery and fuse panel to the charge controller. You shouldn't need much since you want the battery as close as possible to the controller. You can buy smaller wire (16 or 18 guage) for wiring outlets/appliances to the fuse panel. 50ft of that should be fine unless you want multiple outlets on the other side of the van.

You'll also need some ATC blade fuses for your fuse panel. You can buy these at a local auto parts store pretty cheap. 15 amps should be enough than anything you'll be pulling.

To connect the wire ends to the battery and fuse panel you will need these wire terminals for the corresponding wire guages you are using. Along with these female terminals to connect to the 12V sockets. All of these can be found at your local auto parts store for cheap sometimes all together in a kit.

You'll also want a pair of wire strippers/crimper for wiring.

This is the best wiring diagram I can find. Most are so overcomplicated. This diagram does not show the fuse panel but you can see the empty slots on the far right of the charge controller where you insert the wiring for that, it's called the "load." This diagram also shows an inverter which is something I didn't go into because you will only need that if you HAVE to run a 110V appliance. I know you mentioned a kettle but maybe you could just install a gas stove in your van and use that to heat water? That's what we use :) Installing the inverter should be pretty straight forward though if you need it but remember you will waste energy going from 12v to 110v so 12v is more efficient.

Hope this can help you (and maybe others) in some way. I plan on making a more in depth version of this guide in the near future along with a video but finding the time has been difficult! Let me know any more questions you have :D

The most recommended setup I see from other vandwellers in Renogy. They make pretty much everything you need, and it's competitively priced.
You can buy a kit and have almost everything you need but a battery or you can build from scratch. The big components are deep cycle battery, panel, charge controller. There are obviously lots of other smaller things you'll need as well such as fuses, wires, mounting brackets, etc.

This option is much more cost efficient but also requires a good working knowledge of electrical setups (or the desire to learn them) in order to do it safely.

Let's go over a couple terms:

• An amp is a measure of current; think of it like how thick a garden hose is
  
• A volt is a measure of potential; think of it like how fast the water is flowing
  
• When you multiply the two together, you get a watt.
  
  A watt measures power, or how fast something can do work; to continue the analogy, how fast a hose can fill a pool. You can fill it faster by either increasing the hose size (ie. using a firehose, or thicker wires), or turning the water pressure up so that it moves faster (increasing the voltage).
  
  When you apply power over a period of time, you do work. We can measure work in watt-hours (Wh). Watts determine how fast your boat moves (just like HP on an engine), where watt-hours determine how far (just like how many gallons of fuel it takes).
  
  If your trolling motor draws 300W, then it consumes 300Wh every hour.
  
  Or, speaking in amps/amp-hours, 300W from a 12V battery would be 25A; in that case, it consumes 25Ah from your battery every hour.
  
  Having said all that:
  
  If you can find a place to mount it, I'd recommend this:
  
  https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Volts-Monocrystalline-Starter/dp/B00BFCNFRM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1485011099&sr=8-2&keywords=renology+100w
  
  Hook it up to your house / propulsion battery bank via the included controller.
  
  A few notes:
  
  

1. There are two types of solar controllers - PWM and MPPT. Long story short, MPPT is better, but more expensive. It makes the biggest difference on cloudy days, but even then, it's not a huge difference. On sunny days there's little difference. You can select PWM or MPPT on the link I sent.
   
   
2. To figure out how much energy you'll get out of a given solar panel, multiply the panel's wattage by 4. This gives you a reasonable estimate on the watt-hours you can produce per day, on average, in a Northern climate. This 100W panel will make somewhere around 400Wh/day, which equates to about 33Ah @ 12V. That's enough to run your trolling motor for an hour per day. If you have a 100Ah battery bank, it will take 2-3 days to fully charge it from empty.
   
   
3. Generally, you're always better off with a bigger house / propulsion bank, because batteries operate much more efficiently at low power levels. High power drain creates heat within the battery, and this heat is wasted energy.
   
   A 30A trolling motor load on 200Ah of batteries (ie. 2x100Ah deep cycles) represents a draw of 15% of its capacity per hour, and it won't create much waste heat. You might get 4-5 hours of propulsion.
   
   A 30A trolling motor load on a single 100Ah battery represents a draw of 30% of its capacity per hour, and the battery will warm up, wasting energy. You might only get 1.5-2 hours of propulsion (less than half the dual battery setup).
   
   200Ah of batteries would be ideal, but would weigh between 100-150lb, which might be a consideration.

I am also a solar panel noob but i just managed to set up a system in my bus. I went with 4 renogy panels, they're cheap, good, and seem to have a good customer service.

https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Volts-Monocrystalline-Solar/dp/B009Z6CW7O

We have 3 of them for 2 people. You will need a charge controller to regulate the energy going to the battery. If you opt for a nicer MPPT controller, you will have 30% more nergy coming to the battery. That's what we did.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G3XTWTS/ref=twister_B01HHRLB1K?_encoding=UTF8&th=1

For more of an idea on what to do for the electrical system, i used a video by a guy named campervan cory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZY4BWEZ4ig

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

Hey, thanks!

I'm going to go into detail on the equipment I bought with my next video (and I've got a really fascinating powerpoint presentation where I try to explain a little electrical theory without putting everyone to sleep). I'll answer your question here though:

I started with a kit that came with the wires you're asking about. The solar panels have those short (2 or 3 feet) wires that end with what's called an MC4 connector. The wires have the MC4 connector on one end, and a bare wire on the other. The MC4 is a weatherproof, snap-on connector.

For the second panel, I had to get the MC4-tipped cables separately. From browsing YouTube, it looks like you can save some money by buying the connectors alone and splicing them onto a wire. I didn't feel like messing with this.

I got all my stuff on Amazon. Here's the list:

• Here's a link to the starter kit I got. It comes with a pair of MC4 cables
  
• A second 100w solar panel, identical to the one that comes with the starter kit
  
• These are the extension cables. MC4 on one end. The other end has nothing - you just strip it and screw it into the terminal on the solar controller
  
• Had to get another set of z-brackets for the second panel too
  
• This is the in-line fuse holder. It takes any automotive fuse. The solar controller specifies a 15A fuse.
  
  The parts for my installation came out to a little over $400.
  
  Hope that helps! :)

You may also look at dual battery under the car. I used to keep a 7AH SLA (sealed lead acid) from a UPS under my passenger seat, plugged into an accessory area of the fuse box. It had leads going out for cig-plugs, to charge phones and leave everything going when the car was off. SLA means there is less chance of off gassing, but they can be expensive, on the other hand, sometimes they are just enough to get the job done and use the main battery up less. Not to mention they can be tipped with no problem, and are sometimes available free from recovered items, such as UPSs, alarm systems or jump packs.


Also look for areas under the car that can hold a spare battery. Keep it away from exhaust and moving parts, but there may be a wealth of space you never even think to use.
I have also seen some of the fold-up panels available, so if you are in a place you can openly camp, like an open campground or a park, you can lay them across the top of the car, or on the ground / against a tree, for some extra charging, especially of a house battery or phone. Also, the flexible panels are more able to be removed and replaced as needed.
https://www.amazon.com/ALLPOWERS-Bendable-Flexible-SunPower-Irregular/dp/B013DZWDI0/

With your starter battery double duty, you may want to look at a good deep cycle, especially if you can fit in a bigger one, as deep cycle tends to lose cold cranking amps as you gain deep stability.


Spent a while out there, myself, and want to prepare if I ever have to do it again.

Definitely check out couchsurfing.org and create a profile and try to connect with some folks. I'm sure you could spend 2 nights one place, 2 nights another, or maybe even all week in one place.

Otherwise, you could also stay at the Minneapolis International Hostel which has some pretty low rates.

Uptown would be a good place to stay, I think and you could take a bus into town for some stuff. There are free publications all over downtown that have different events and shit going on.

Check out the MetroTransit Fare Page for getting a week pass for both the light rail / Northstar line / and busses. Not that you'd need to take the Northstar line anywhere...

There is a KOA campground in Maple Grove, Minnesota and according to this Google Maps transit information, it would be a 2.5 mile walk/drive to get to this place from the closest bus stop.

Where are you coming from? You could take the Amtrak into town with your bike, bus out to the campsite... set up shop with said bike. Bike to the bus stop, and most (probably all) buses have bike racks on them... take the 38 minute bus ride into town in the morning, bike around town all day... come back, bike to campsite, relax.

Or rent a bike when in town, and then just walk 2.5 miles to that campsite.

I'd suggest getting a solar charger like this one
if you plan on staying there, so that you can charge your phone in the morning, during the day, etc and will always have a GPS thing. There are so many handy apps to have for navigating around the area, finding current arts and shows information, connecting with people, etc!

Heck, maybe even make a Craigslist post stating you are looking for a place to stay for a week, or respond to some sublet ads! I'm sure there are some people with an empty room who would gladly take $100 or something so long as you give significant background information!

Lastly, here is a link to a USA Today Article about what to do in Minneapolis in terms of camping and here is another, similar USA Today Article

I had the same deal with my brother, and then gave my boyfriend the same gift down the road.
A solar charger, that can charge battery packs and lights. One like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Goal-Zero-41022-Guide-Recharging/dp/B00DD6B9IK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450199341&sr=8-1&keywords=goal+zero+solar+charger

Kind of pricy, but my brother said he used it all the time during his deployment (He was in the middle east where the sun was abundant) and he could charge his electronics on it and then have an external battery pack that could charge up and be used as a charger when it was dark out! Pretty cool, and I know he uses it all the time, even in the field when he's stateside on base. You can buy add on parts for it all, like a light that can be used as a quick flashlight and stuff.

Hope this helps!!

I'm not a pro on the subject but I think you should start the process with a budget in mind. Then you can look at amazon or eBay and find something like this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00BFCNFRM/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1418164194&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SY200_QL40
Preferably with good reviews within your budget and the documentation that comes with the product will usually explain pretty clearly how to connect everything together. Remember you can always add more batteries and panels in the future.

I want the cheapest, lightest, smallest, best way to get 3 amps at 12 volts 24 hours a day for 7 days straight at 47 degrees latitude in the summer in the US. How would I do it?

My thinking is 100watt panel at $150 I kind of like the flexible for my application, and lighter is better here:

https://www.amazon.com/DOKIO-Monocrystalline-Flexible-Lightweight-Irregular/dp/B074G1CN6N/ref=sr_1_10?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1525191310&sr=1-10&keywords=100+watt+solar+panel


This could work, but the metal and glass and weight will be harder to mount: https://www.amazon.com/Newpowa-Polycrystalline-Efficiency-Module-Marine/dp/B00L6LZRXM/ref=sr_1_7?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1525191310&sr=1-7&keywords=100+watt+solar+panel

A second panel, esp. flexible is not out of the question.

A mppt controller at $100 I'd like the controller to have the possiblity of a second panel.

Can I get away with one of these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071ZVD7R5/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B071ZVD7R5&pd_rd_wg=TpZ8s&pd_rd_r=3NBQTEN5HQV42CS632RT&pd_rd_w=nuxLH

Or is something like this better: www.amazon.com/HQST-MPPT-Solar-Charge-Controller/dp/B01B28DBX6/ref=sr_1_11?s

How close can you run the controller to the limit, is a 20amp controller good for 200watts of panels, or is it better to not be so close and go to 30amp?


A 4x10 amp hour 12v in parallel, LiFeP04 bank at $500 (battery might be a bit small, but 3 amp constant might be a bit exaggerated and a dark period might be ok)

https://bmsbattery.com/ebike-battery/652-12v-10ah-38120s-lifepo4-battery-4-cells-ebike-battery-pack-battery.html 17lbs


SLA could work probably x2 www.amazon.com/HQST-MPPT-Solar-Charge-Controller/dp/B01B28DBX6/ref=sr_1_11?s Can you run the SLA as far down as a LiFEPO4? 3x the weight, but 1/3 the cost. How does the life compare?


Am I thinking wrong, or missing something significant other than wires and connectors?

Are their controller considerations if looking at LiFEPO4 vs. SLA?

>This is the most ridiculous argument I’ve ever heard.

57% of US Greenhouse emissions come from transportation and electricity. Both you can absolutely change yourself. Nothing is stopping you from buying an EV and solar panels with a storage system. And in fact it is cheaper to do so now.

Lets focus on electricity, the average daily electricity consumption of a US residential utility customer is 10 kWh. (Which is very high, but whatever) that means that in a year it will be 3650 kWh. If we price it at 13 cents per kWh that's 475 USD per year. Or a total of 38K USD in 80 years (average lifetime of american).

A 5KW solar panel array will cost you 4.1K USD, in a good day it will produce about 25 kWh. Those will last 25 years. (they will still work after 25 years, just that their output drops about 1% each year).

A 10KWh lifepo4 battery will cost you 4.8K USD. This one will give you 10 000 charge cycles with a 65% DoD (that is about 6.5 kWh each night from the battery), 10 000 charge cycles is 27 years. In reality it might last longer because I don't think you're going to pull more than 6kWh each night out of the battery.

The reason why the battery is 10 kWh and the array produces 25 kWh is because it is an off grid system, so you need the extra to get by during cloudy days and the extra size of the battery helps with the cycle life. If you're going to be on a grid tie system you don't need the battery, and the array can be much smaller.

Giving that the average american lives about 80 years, that means that the battery and panels would have to be replace 3 times (in reality you don't really have to replace it all, those products will still work after 25 years, just that their output power and capacity wont be the same).

Either way, multiplying the total of the panels and battery (8.9K USD) by 3 gives 26.7K USD. 30% less of what you would otherwise pay on electricity with the somewhat overkill conditions I used. And of course you don't have to go and dump 8.9K USD at once, you can start with a small system that can be expanded in the future.

And I haven't touch wind power, microwind turbines are cheaper than solar panels and don't need as much battery storage. If you live in an area with average wind speeds over 8mph they are absolutely worth it.

Edit: Just in case, I know I didn't add the cost of the inverter and the solar controller, those two don't have that much of an impact in the total either way.

Worth noting that even though a grid tie system sounds better than an off grid one, it's got several issues, at large scale it isn't easy to implement because the utility company will have to deal administrating the extra production of the solar panels (which doesn't match with the peak hours of demand), also if the grid goes down you can't get power out of the panels as well. It all goes down. And finally you might end up paying back to the electric company because they usually pay you less for the kWh that you produce, as well charge you more in peak hours.

Edit2. The batteries as well can be gotten way cheaper by buying them used, there are lots of those. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L43bArxyszU

Edit3: Here are the panels and batteries that I used for my calculations.

https://www.amazon.com/Richsolar-Polycrystalline-Efficiency-Module-Marine/dp/B07DNP14JY/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=100W+rich+solar&qid=1565595960&s=gateway&sr=8-3

(50 of those for a 5KW array).

Battery: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PV5FCYX/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_pMruDb244PVQ

12.8V 100AH (1.28 kWh) 600$. (8 of those for 10 kWh). Need BMS.

I also realized of an error in the calculations and the total of the panels is way less, either way even with the mistake it was 10% cheaper than the grid.

I would hope they allow you to recharge other batteries but I bet you have to daisy chain. Goal zero has had these type of products forever. They have a ton of options and they are weather resistant and great for those on the go...which I imagine is the primary user on this since if you aren't you would just plug into an outlet. :)

Here is a link to the one I have on my wish list:http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00DD6B9IK/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1452479010&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=goal+zero&dpPl=1&dpID=41H08qRnDLL&ref=plSrch#

Edit: autocorrect garbage

GPS tracker: stored in a hidden pocket, to track if the bag is stolen. I've had a similar bag stolen before from under my nose, and I'd like to be able to track it immediately.

Air mattress AND sleeping bag: It's a bivvy really, works well with additional thermal layers inside, like a coat or towel or dry leaves. Not enough padding for comfort sleep or thermal ground insulation. A world of difference between a good sleep and not being able to fall asleep because uncomfortable. Especially in survival situation when need to be alert and focused. The ratio between value and cost/weight/size is enormous for me.

Portable Toilet: For use in a car when stuck in heavy traffic, or waiting for accident ahead to clear.

Grappling hook: It is also a gravity hook, to pick up stuff that fell far down a steep hill or into a hole that can't get into. I've had this situation before, don't want to be caught unprepared again.

StunGun/Pistol/Spray: Not everything requires lethal level escalation. Pepper spray is nice for aggressive animals, Stun Gun is a great source of high voltage for various applications beyond immediate personal self-defense (perimeter electric fense around camp). And a gun is for 2 legged animals that need to be stopped from harming me, my family or my friends.

Luxury/Comfort: Yes, I like comfort. It is important enough for me, that I'm willing to invest in it, by having things with me, that I needed before and didn't have.

Water: I have a full bottle of water when I leave home, and 2 water filters. I should also have purifying tablets with me, which I've realized in a different response.

Car or something: It is sitting mostly in the car when traveling, because everywhere I need to go from house involves driving and/or flying. So my EDC is always GHB. I do not see why to choose a duffel over backpack, because I need to carry it around as well.

Solar panel: I was carrying one before. I have 2 foldable solar panels: large 60W https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00RFCVR62 and small one https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DD6B9IK. The large one is too large and heavy for EDC bag, and small one is somewhat worthless in my experience. And it's pretty much seasonal, since I'm in PNW. I've opted to carry powerbanks with total of 120Ah, that can power my laptop and all other electronics for 2 days, or just electronics for more than a week.

Well there is no complete set on amazon.com, but you can assemble it yourself just like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Monocrystalline-Solar-Starter-Wanderer/dp/B00BCRG22A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468309528&sr=8-1&keywords=solar+panel+200w

https://www.amazon.com/SolarEpic-Inverter-Stackable-10-8-30V-90V-140V/dp/B00XJCVC44/ref=sr_1_5?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1468310171&sr=1-5&keywords=solar+inverter

https://www.amazon.com/Cycle-Battery-Solar-Energy-Storage/dp/B018R8BRCG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468309743&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=AGM+battery+100ah&psc=1

You can scale with the numbers of solar panels, but then you probably have to consider a different controller. It depends on how much wattage your desired fridge has. You probably have to consider a powerful fridge with a good insulation, if it stays in the hot sun the whole day. You maybe have to scale the batteries, depends on how much "sun downtime" you have in your region.

You really need to research this a bit further, as I dont have any experience with your 115/120v grid/appliances and not much practical experience with solar panels and its combination with fridges.

And you need to consider if its worth the 600+ Dollar for a cold beer in the middle of nowhere. Those solar panels do have more uses, but I guess you know what I mean.

Well, based on the spec sheet for that model, it draws .6A at 9vdc, so it should need about 6 watts to run. 6 watts for this, 1 watt for the raspberry... I would go with a ten watt panel to be safe, like this one. Looks like each node will run about $120.

Edit: thinking on it, you would likely need to go to a 15w panel, to allow some variability in power output, and some kind of battery for each. Deep cycle batteries would be best, but golf cart batteries would be pretty useful for this application.

It's better to be safe than sorry. You don't want to bring out all that gear only to find you can't turn it on.

You'll be fine with any of these with the top one being your best candidate. Just remember to be courteous to your neighbors if people are trying to sleep!

Xantrex 806-1210 PROwatt 1000 SW Inverter

MicroSolar 1000W (Peak 2000W) Pure Sine Wave Inverter

BESTEK® Dual 110V AC Outlets 1000w/1200w Max Car DC 12V to 110V AC Inverter Power

You'll probably want to get a fuse holder and a cable kit depending on how far you expect to keep the table from your car.

You could also go the more environmental route and get some solar panels to juice up a spare solar battery each day.

Tell me about what you're trying to do. If all you want is to power some interior lighting and perhaps run a radio then a small solar system isn't terribly expensive. If you want to run the 12v DC water pumps and an inverter then you're going to need a much beefier system. If you want the AC or the microwave to work I would recommend a small generator for when you need it. (Something like a Honda EU2000i or the next one up.) All of the appliances which can run off of propane should be run that way. Stock up on propane now. It will be cold in the winter don't waste propane on heat.

Below is a slightly larger system than what I mention in the post above. As an example, to power just your DC systems you don't need an inverter.

• $90 Sunforce 30 Amp Charge Controller
  
• $70 Whistler Pro 1200W
  
• $170 RENOGY 100 Watt PV Panel
  
• $230 Optima D31T 75 Amp Hour Battery
  
• $30 30 foot 8 AWG cable - cut in half to run from panel to charge controller.
  
  Grand total: $590 plus shipping and tax. (You will also need a set of cables to go from the battery to the inverter but I am not sure what you can use with the 30 Amp Sunforce Controller. They shouldn't cost more than $20.)
  
  If you add more than one solar panel you will need a Y connector of some variety. Here are ones for two panels, three panels and four panels. If you want more than four panels you will need a better charge controller. Depending on your usage you would also want to start adding more batteries in parallel. Make sure you use 00 AWG or better cables for battery interconnects.
  
  I am building a variant of the solar system listed here. I am buying a much more expensive 60amp MPPT charge controller, a pure sine wave inverter and bigger batteries. I already have one of those 1200W Whistler inverters as a part of my backups. I plan on having 8-10 panels in my system eventually.

This is the most popular solar set-up. Then a battery like this. You may need an inverter, too, but that depends on your needs.

Water depends entirely on you. You can get five gallon jugs that re-fill at Home Depot for $7, for example. A lot of people get water for free at gas stations or parks.

It seems like you're just getting started thinking about this. I recommend the FAQ. There's lot of good stuff in there!

Hi there! Our Starter Kit might also be a good alternative for you as well because unlike our Bundle Kit, it also includes Z-brackets and a tray cable. If you have any questions relating to your system, feel free to message us. :)

All the best,

The Renogy Team

BTW, for anyone wanting to do something like this, the technology is there. For example, these:

https://www.amazon.com/DOKIO-Foldable-Monocrystalline-Inverter-Controller/dp/B075SZMFP2

are foldable. You could have 8-9 in the trunk and an inverter and do real level 1 charging. If you really wanted to get crazy, fold down the rear seats and put something like 50 or 60 of these in:

https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Extremely-Flexible-Monocrystalline-Solar/dp/B079HJQBVW

You'd be able to do something like level 2 charging.

Both of these would require inverters and possibly even some kind of battery buffer to keep the Tesla happy when things are cloudy. I would expect lots of issues as this isn't anyone's primary use case.

The thing that amazes me are that panels like this exist and don't cost all that much (historically speaking). The idea of carrying around 8kw worth of panels in a small car would have been laughable just a few years ago.

I bought a Powerfilm USB+AA charger some time back but have never integrated it into my kit. It's always been easier to simply plan ahead and pack extra batteries. Anyway, the Powerfilm gadget does work fairly well at recharging a pair of Eneloops, and it can also be used to recharge a USB device. I now notice that they've come up with a larger AA charger that supposedly recharges a pair of AA batteries in 3 1/3 hours, but it weighs 8oz.

Great write up by the way, very informative. I'll have to order one of these lights and possibly the Liponano suggested by /u/atetuna.

/edit-just weighed my USB+AA charger, with a pair of AA Eneloops it comes in at 179 grams. There's a lot of room for modification since it has an extra flap of cloth, plastic cover, etc that could be removed.

I think this is super cool.

Spendy, but safer:

http://www.optimabatteries.com/en-us/shop/bluetop/bluetop-group-31-dual-purpose-deep-cycle-and-starting/

Maybe you could stick one of these on the top roof. I like how inconspicuous the rig looks. I'd only worry about peal-off in the wind.

http://www.amazon.com/Unisolar-Flexible-Solar-Panel-Laminate/dp/B006EP6MCU

I didn't see a battery disconnect (aka camper diode aka battery isolator) either (maybe you didn't mention it), but if you run down the rear battery, make sure it doesn't run down the car battery too, thus leaving you stranded. It allows you to recharge via the car battery too. Like a one way valve to protect the truck's battery from accidental discharge.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/NOCO-5-x-4-5-x-3-5-in-90-Amp-high-performance-12-48-VDC-gray-battery-isolator/_/N-25wr?itemIdentifier=1333_0_0_

You are cheating yourself (and imposing on others) by not learning the math. A better way to do this is "Here's the math I came up with -- can I get some feedback?"

Some observations: Renogy stuff is perfectly fine but that kit is, IMO, an unforced error on their part. Mono panels are wasted on pwm controllers: the poly version of that kit is cheaper and will deliver more power via PWM than the equivalent 100w mono.

> and I'm driving say 1h/day

When you drive makes a huge difference in this scenario. Solar + isolator charging is a great combination because they can cover each other's weaknesses. You would get the most benefit from the combo if you are driving in the mornings when the battery bank is at its most depleted. The reasons for this is given at the link above.

If you are not driving in the mornings for errands, work, etc, then a DC-DC charger (a special kind of isolator) would suit you better, as /u/211logos points out.



> how long could I run these devices per day?

When you run them matters, too. If you wait until the right time you run those loads without affecting the batteries at all.

Here's another option for a peltier cooler A/C.

250W peltier cooler - $30 - https://www.amazon.com/TEC1-12710-Thermoelectric-Cooler-Peltier-Pinkcoo/dp/B009T0FE7G

3 100W 12V solar panels - $415 - https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Volts-Monocrystalline-Solar/dp/B009Z6CW7O/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1469635563&sr=8-9&keywords=12v+solar+panel

2 heat sinks and fans - $26 - https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Aluminum-Bearing-Connector/dp/B005P1ZLAI/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1469635833&sr=8-5&keywords=heat+sink+fan

add some wire and some mounting odds and ends - $100

So for around $500 you mount this little contraption in a window with the cold heat sink on the inside and the hot heat sink on the outside. When the sun starts shining, the panels will start powering the fans and peltier and you can enjoy that sweet solar A/C.

Of course, a peltier is only about 10% efficient, so it's only going to move about 25W or 85 BTU/hr, but it's free energy right!

This is the one I use works awesome for charging on thing at a time it does take the day to charge something from empty to full but when shtf itll be a awesome thing to have stick it in the window and your good to go

https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwj8pYHhqZfjAhWDGH0KHQ8RAH8YABAIGgJwdg&ae=1&sig=AOD64_2VAhtLNPutr36tjo8xIfIpJ5W_JA&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwjXufngqZfjAhUFP30KHW8GDSsQwg96BAgKEAw&adurl=https://www.amazon.ca/Coleman-22007-7-5W-Folding-Panel/dp/B007JU9K32/ref%3Dasc_df_B007JU9K32/%3Ftag%3Dgooglemobshop-20%26linkCode%3Ddf0%26hvadid%3D293002272198%26hvpos%3D1o2%26hvnetw%3Dg%26hvrand%3D16798034189496052952%26hvpone%3D%26hvptwo%3D%26hvqmt%3D%26hvdev%3Dm%26hvdvcmdl%3D%26hvlocint%3D%26hvlocphy%3D9000801%26hvtargid%3Dpla-442020479418%26psc%3D1

https://www.amazon.com/Newpowa-Polycrystalline-Efficiency-Module-Marine/dp/B00L6LZRXM?psc=1&SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-iphone-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B00L6LZRXM
I have 4 of these that I can place out to power this bad boy: https://www.thereadystore.com/inergy-kodiak-battery. It’s expensive but it will last a life time and is super light. (20 lbs). Around Black Friday you can usually get all of it for about a grand, and never worry about power again.

For camping I use: https://www.amazon.com/25000mAh-Hiluckey-Compatible-Smartphones-Waterproof/dp/B07FMFGGNR/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?keywords=portable+solar+power&qid=1555207794&s=gateway&sr=8-5

Awesome! Thank you so much!

Amazon is selling a great [kit] (https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watt-Polycrystalline-Solar-Starter/dp/B00DCDZOI0/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=50w%2Bsolar%2Bpanel&qid=1549817864&s=gateway&sr=8-6&th=1)

I use this setup and it works pretty well.

My ebike is a 52v nominal Bafang BBSHD with a 12ah panasonic GA cell lithium battery.

My solar setup is http://www.powerfilmsolar.com/products/?fm167200_120w_foldable_solar_panel&show=product&productID=271514&productCategoryIDs=6578 for when I am stopped, + https://www.amazon.com/ALLPOWERS-Bendable-Flexible-SunPower-Irregular/dp/B013E07FNM mounted on top of a BOB ibex trailer, this charges the system while riding, and I rigged it so I can set up the powerfilm in parallel for a total of 220watts solar while stopped.

To step up to 56.8 volts (roughly 85% charge on the 52v nominal system) I got a https://genasun.com/products-store/mppt-solar-charge-controllers/golf-cart-solar-charge-boost-controllers/ GVB-8-Li-56.8V-WP


The system works pretty well, if you have time to burn to recharge. Its not as fast as charging from mains, but I have seen it pull 9 amps in full sun, which is pretty dang good for a sub 10 lb total system.

I've never used them, but Flycrates says they will ship to places that Amazon sellers won't. According to this page, the main problems are extra shipping costs, customs forms, and import duties that have to be paid. Flycrates will supposedly do that for you and let you know what import duties will need to be paid up front.

AllPowers makes a flexible 100w solar panel that sells on Amazon, and there are other companies that also sell flexible panels.

I purchased an AllPowers flexible+foldable 80w solar charger panel and a Suaoki 150Wh Solar Generator (lithium battery+inverter) for camping, and it's worked well. It will run a few lights and power a laptop. I did have to custom-make the connector cable between them to charge the Suaoki, however.

Hope that helps!

Well it just seems strange to have way more inverter capacity than generating capacity. So in this case you have a battery that has 900Wh of capacity, so your little 50W panel will take 18h of full sun to charge it (figure you can get 3 or 4 equivalent hours of sunshine a day, so we are talking most of a week) if you don't have any other load connected. Then if you connect your 1kW inverter and use it at full capacity, you'll discharge the thing in less than an hour. In some specific cases this may be desirable, but in general you need at least as much generating capacity as you have loads, or even more, depending on the load profile. But maybe in your case it makes sense just to have the ability to run the odd 110V appliance off your battery every once and a while, while mostly running DC loads like your light and radio

But I think your biggest problem right now is that you are pairing a panel with 18V Vmp with a 6V battery and a 12V inverter. At the least you need to switch to a 12V battery to use that inverter, but even then you will be wasting alot of solar power by forcing the panel to work at 12V (ie you'll only get around 30W out of it), so you would be better off finding a panel intended for use at 12V, like this one

Edit: you may want to look at this exchange from a few days back. /u/MrCloggy was offering some helpful advice to someone looking to set up a system similar to what you want. Actually, now that we've summoned him, perhaps he'll chime in over here.

I designed this kit about 15yrs ago when I worked at Unisolar. (I am a little surprised there are still some available.) It was designed for RV's, but could be used for a tractor trailor.

They could be stick them on top of the trailor. From it you could probably power a small living space and maybe a small refrigerator which would save the cost of idling overnight. The advantage of this product is that it won't break if a rock hits it and don't have to worry about wind uplifting a glass panel.

128W is probably too small, but there are a few kits available !?!

http://www.amazon.com/Unisolar-Flexible-Solar-Panel-Laminate/dp/B006EP6MCU

I've read that they are having trouble with the 100 watt version, but I think the 50 watts are still being produced.

I was looking into HQST. They seem to have good reviews and they are cheaper.

Edit: Looks like Renogy sold their raw materials to HQST. I'm not sure what they did to fix the issue that Renogy had, but those who have purchased them seem happy.

If you're going to drive a lot each day, then you can charge it using the vehicle alternator by attaching it in parallel with the vehicle battery, but you should use a switch to make sure it's only connected when the vehicle is running (charging) so you don't drain your vehicle battery running electronics in the camper. Many trailer harnesses can't provide enough power for charging like this, so you'd likely need to run your own wire from the vehicle battery.

If you don't drive a lot, you'd probably want a solar panel. Again, this is one where you want to look at how much power each of your electronics are using and estimate how many panels you'd need to keep up with your usage throughout the day and battery size to get you through the night. E.g. you could use a panel and charge controller like this: https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Monocrystalline-Negative-Controller-Connectors/dp/B00BFCNFRM/

Or if you're going to be parked somewhere with a power plug, just use an auto battery charger to keep your battery topped up.

Hopefully this is the right place. I'm working on wiring my camper and have this 225Wh, LiFePO4 battery pack. I would like to pair it with something like this, a preferably flexible 100w panel. The only way to charge the battery pack is via a 15V 4A wall charger. My battery pack is made to charge via solar, albeit with their proprietary panels. I would have contacted the manufacturer about what peripherals I need to get and ask them if/how I could use 3rd party panels, but the company has gone out of business. My question is, can I buy this solar panel, splice a DC charger tip on to it and charge my battery? Or am I missing some critical steps? I believe the battery pack has a built in charge controller, but I'm not sure. Any help would be awesome. Thanks!

It'd be much cheaper and more energy efficient if you did everything 12v with no inverter. Phones are easy and most laptops have a 12v charger available for purchase.

Also I recommend something like this for a panel, because of its portability. - Solar Panel, MOHOO 100W 100Watt Bendable Foldable Thin Lightweight Solar Panel Battery Charger with MC4 Connector Charging Sunpower Cells for RV, Boat, Cabin, Off-Grid https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XVWPD7N/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_ig1CzbEJHC1R6

Sorry for the late response... we spent some time on public land, no wi/fi!
You can get a cheap (but good) Renogy 100W kit: https://amzn.to/2JiRPh4, then shop locally for a small battery (in the 50-100 Ah).
Or you could just charge using your alternator with an isolator (cheap solution, but in this scenario you need to drive frequently).
If you don't want to worry about wiring/fuse etc, Goal Zero has good plug-and-play solutions but they're NOT CHEAP (https://amzn.to/2LFW04J).
Good luck!

FYI for others considering solar. Flexible solar panels weigh much less and are simple to mount - heavy duty double sided 3M tape. They will fit on curved surfaces great.

100W, $180. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013E07FNM

I bought this kit many years ago to charge 12v batteries and it works great (though I got a better inverter as that one is a joke,and you need to provide your own battery).

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CIADLG/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

but looking at amazon listings now it seems this is the most popular, affordable entry level kit (note that you are again providing your own inverter and battery):

http://www.amazon.com/Renogy-100W-Mono-Starter-Kit/dp/B00BFCNFRM/ref=zg_bs_2236628011_3

These both charge batteries. Wiring into you home is a much bigger undertaking.

Looks like the maximum amperage of the panels I'd use is 5.7A each. So even if I put two 100w panels up they would only produce 11.4A.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B017OMTAV6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1458266599&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=flexible+solar+panel&dpPl=1&dpID=41%2B3J-Kt2sL&ref=plSrch

Also, 25ft is definitely excessive (I'm in a minivan) so I'd feel fine cutting down the size to closer to 10-15ft. So, looks like 10 guage would be fine for 11.4 max amps at 10-15ft. Do you think those calculations check out?

Also, since one side of each wire (positive/negative) would have to go into the solar controller, would I be okay to just buy one wire and then cut it in half? I'd leave the sides with the male and female mc4 connectors where I expect the panels to go, and the exposed sides where I expect the controller would go. Does that make sense?

Love Renology panels. Just ordered a 2x 50w since the 100w is a bit tough to store after the burn. This charge controller came today for testing. I like the addition of USB as all my lighting is now wired for USB battery packs and USB on the charge controller provides easy recharging.

I traveled around the country in a van with an 85 watt solar panel and a 70Ah deep cycle battery. If you got a laptop with good battery life (my last two Asus laptops have gotten around 5-6 hours on dim screen lower performance), you should not invest the money in a solar setup. I would instead recommend you get an inverter for your car (20 bucks) and charge it to and from school and at school. Even getting a small solar setup will set you back a little bit, plus weather problems may become an issue if you can't mount the large windsail that a solar panel becomes when the wind picks up. For entertainment purposes, I'd consider a cheap <$150 tablet and something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-22007-7-5W-Folding-Panel/dp/B007JU9K32/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406255468&sr=8-1&keywords=coleman+solar

This would work well for charging up any phone, mp3 player or usb charging speakers as well.

Not this one specifically but my coop with about 35 chickens uses this timer design.

Automated Chicken Coop Door

I added a 12V LED light bar to give them some light at night during the winter. It definitely re-started their egg production then. It's all run off a 25W solar panel and 10Ah battery. Only thing I may change would be to add more battery capacity so on the sunny days during winter it can bank the additional power for the not so sunny days.

For reference, I'm in Northern California zone 9a/b and we get lots of sun here.

It would be pretty easy to build something similar for a lot cheaper. Pick up a used suitcase at the thrift shop, mount a 50w panel on the outside (much better than the 10W panel in the case you linked to.) Inside the case, mount a charge controller with USB, this 20Ah battery (again, better than the 16Ah in the other one), and this 500W inverter (not sure how big the one in the expensive case it, but 500W should be enough.) So for less than $250 and a little bit of build work, you can have a much more functional system (500% larger solar capacity and 25% more battery capacity).

Thanks for the reply. Here's what I've planned to purchase, although your 1st comment shows I don't fully understand all this yet... so perhaps this may not be the purchase:

Kit: http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00DCDZOI0/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_6SXbvb0S8AR8D

Battery: http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/6v-renewable-energy-deep-cycle-battery-0102010p.html#.VQhCFNLF_AQ

Inverter:
http://www.amazon.ca/emergency-appliances-converters-generator-MRI10011-1/dp/B007SLDDHQ

My thoughts on the 1000w inverter is for as much power as possible, if there were ever a black out in the area. At least this is how I understood what I was reading. Can you shed some light on why this makes no sense with a 50w panel? Should a 50w panel only be paired with a certain inverter?

Thanks for the clarification on the excess power!

Yeah, I thought anyone interested in the thread would be! But as soon as I posted the original version with amazon links, it was auto-deleted. Weird.

Oh well, here are my products:

Solar panel: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017OMTAV6/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3NTUA0DGQ65YX&coliid=I2R53I6ASRE7TH&psc=1

Charge controller: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JMLPP12/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3NTUA0DGQ65YX&coliid=IMF9F8IHLJ6EN&psc=1

House battery: http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/SSBQ/3478PLT/03321.oap?year=1967&make=Ford&model=Mustang&vi=1332302&ck=Search_03321_1332302_-1&pt=03321&ppt=C0005

Battery isolator: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0058SGDFK/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3NTUA0DGQ65YX&coliid=I2UYT4LFVI14AN

Van fan: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002OWAIB8/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3NTUA0DGQ65YX&coliid=I1Q9S1UN7Z94H7&psc=1

LED lights: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007JF2A6G/ref=od_aui_detailpages02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Fuse block: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000K2MBPA/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3NTUA0DGQ65YX&coliid=IK1ERB55YT6QX&psc=1

Busbar: https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-MiniBus-Grounding-Terminal/dp/B0058GA4IO/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1467345205&sr=8-11&keywords=6+terminal+bus

Main line fuses (inline): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WZHE3A4/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3NTUA0DGQ65YX&coliid=ICS8GYAQNUJV1&psc=1

Is this the kit you had in mind: http://www.amazon.com/Renogy-100W-Mono-Starter-Kit/dp/B00BFCNFRM? Thank you for the straightforwardness. Do you have a fuse box that you would suggest as well?


I never really considered solar energy before this post but I think I'm going to go for it, especially since I don't really have a need for a lot of power. Thanks again man!

Portable or roof mounted?

I used the renogy kit from Amazon, works good, very very easy. Id suggest 2-6v trojan batteries in series if you dont have any batteries yet.

Solar pannels are always getting better, just do some quick checks on the internet(amazon for me) and compare the efficiency of the panels. If the efficiency it is not directly stated divide the panels power by the panels size. Ex 100Watt panel / (47.3" X width 21.3" ) = 0.1 watts per square inch.

my example pannel

https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Monocrystalline-Solar-Panel/dp/B009Z6CW7O/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=renogy+solar+panel&qid=1567164957&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyOTkxVTJMUUY4VVFQJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMjA0NTQwMUlFN1BMRk4xM0JaVCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNTA0NzM4MTNSOFFYRlY1TUJITiZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

I have two of these on the roof of my van and love them: http://www.amazon.com/HQST-Monocrystalline-Flexible-Solar-Panel/dp/B017OMTAV6

I attached them with the strongest outdoor double stick tape I could find, and ran caulk around the edges to seal it from water getting underneath.

If I know I am going to be in a survival situation?

Phone + Battery, 50 Flares, vehicle with a full tank of gas would be my top 3.

More serious you say? Just limiting myself to ordering online, mostly amazon -

1. Warbonnet hammock and tarp
   
   
2. Sawyer water filter
   
   
3. 1,000 feet of 750 cord
   
   
4. 50 bic lighters
   
   
5. 12 Months supply of food
   
   
6. Heavy knife
   
   
7. Light cheap knife
   
   
8. Any expensive sleeping bag
   
   
9. Cell phone, including my favorite RPG games.
   
   
10. Solar recharger
    
    
    

• Assumes I am stranded in the forest of the Northwest United States.
  
  
  Given a more specific survival situation, a budget, weight limit or other constraints, I may adjust my list accordingly.
  
  

Get this battery, it's frequently on sale for like $111

You can recharge it with a solar panel. I got this one on Amazon. You'll also need the adapter and some connectors

You'll get much better performamnce if you get a DC adapter for your CPAP.

Powertools is a big step up from AAs. Very very different setups required.

First do you have DC powered chargers for your tool batteries? These should exist for people to recharge stuff in the truck and should run off of 12 volts DC.

You're going to want to get a 12V - 24V solar panel in the 30W to 150W range. That is about as big as can be easily handled for a temporary install. And then voltage regulators to turn the fluctuating panel voltage into something more steady. Then choosing DC powered battery chargers and choosing a standard connector to use for everything. Here are some examples of things:

• 50W solid panel
  
• 50W flexible panel much easier to transport
  
• adjustable buck-boost regulator
  
• USB regulator
  
• Nitecore D4 charger
  
• barrel plugs
  
  Personally I perfer to avoid using a 120VAC inverter. It is much easier to run everything off of low voltage DC like you would in a boat or RV. But you need to be a little more selective about your devices.
  
  But that is for a bigger setup. The smallest setup would be a 5W usb panel and an Olight UC charger.
  
  Avoid the panels that have batteries built in. Overpriced junk. And putting batteries out in the sun is dumb.

I went with two 100 watt polycrystaline panels from Rich Solar. Around $165 for the bundle.
https://www.amazon.com/Richsolar-Polycrystalline-Efficiency-Module-Marine/dp/B07DNP14JY?psc=1&SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-fpas-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B07DNP14JY&th=1

Chose these after watching a video review by Will Prowse: https://youtu.be/k8hYSGI5hiU

Mainly picked these over the Renogy because I have a plug and play battery unit. Otherwise, I probably would have taken advantage of Renogy's bundles with a charge controller and mounting accessories.

I've had good luck with the Renogy Panels from amazon and the price isn't too bad at all.

Edit: and they went down by 5 bucks since I bought one last week!

Things that will kill your battery quick are TV's, electric coffee makers, hair dryers, or anything you use a DC to AC converter. Like mentioned earlier, use a french press or good ol' stove top percolator for coffee.
TV these days can be replaced with a laptop and a hard drive full of movies. If you are using DVD players and satellite you will triple your consumption of battery power. Solar is only good for a slow charge of the main batteries or to power small appliances like a cell phone or small laptop. And if the weather is bad then so is your solar system.
I have rough camped in my motor home and my batteries started going dead after the 3rd day. I had to run the motor home generator for a few hours to charge them back up. I have since then replaced all of my interior lights with LED bulbs and got a solar panel charger to use on the main batteries. This has extended the charge on my RV well past 4 days. I don't have TV's but I use a laptop and a tablet for entertainment so I cant comment on that. But the LED lighting has made the biggest difference.
Otherwise you can use your vehicle that pulls the trailer as a source of power to charge batteries Personally I would get a nice small generator to power the big stuff like air conditioning and microwave ovens.

It is unlikely that you will be able to power a heater with solar power; heaters simply require too much electricity. A sleeping bag rated for the temperature you will experience is probably the most effective thing for you.

A quick look at Amazon shows the Nintendo switch has a wall outlet power adapter that outputs 5v at 1.5a. Assuming that is correct, you can charge your electrical devices from a wall outlet at McDonalds or Starbucks, or from a cigarette lighter adapter in your car. If you won't be in cities or won't be driving daily, a small solar panel and battery (I like that battery for its dual inputs, which makes it charge twice as fast) will likely be sufficient. Price for solar panel and battery about $100.

If you need more electrical power, put a roof rack on your car, then buy a battery and a 100-watt kit from Renogy (the kit includes mounting hardware, cables, a solar controller and instructions to wire everything together). Price for solar panel kit and battery about $400.

Amps x volts = watts. You only want to use 50% (Less if you can) for that battery life so 42amps at 12v or ~500 watt hours.

The panel will give 50watts around 4-5 hours a day. So it should generate around 200-250watt hours per day. (If you get more sun or constantly adjust the panel you can get more hours but I would be surprised if you got more than 350watt hours a day in the summer).

So lets say 200 Watt hours per day, that's around one LED light running around 20hrs.


I would suggest something more like this 200 watt system plus a few golf cart batteries. (Sams club has them for around $100 for 200ah 6v batteries). I put my cabin system together with this for around $700 total. 200 watt in panels, 230ah at 12v and lots of LED lighting and places to charge my cell phones and laptops.
http://www.amazon.com/200W-Mono-Starter-Kit-Controller/dp/B00BCRG22A/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1409684525&sr=8-4&keywords=200+watt+renogy

This? This whole get up? Well the camebak and bladder is from REI. The Solar panel is from Amazon. Dogs were rescued from ARF

For sure I will... I ordered these 2 Renogy panels and they should come in on Monday... of course I start work Monday too, so I will be working on it every evening next week. Mine will span roughly 8' x 2' across one side of the van on a hoisting ladder rack that will allow for tilt-adjusting towards the sun and easy cleaning.... I'll keep you in the loop with it

Agreed. Renogy's kit is far superior to Harbor Freight: https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Volts-Monocrystalline-Starter/dp/B00BFCNFRM?ie=UTF8&Version=1&entries=0

It's just one 100W panel at the moment propped up in the field about 70' from the cabin, it came with a 20' run of the cable and i bought another 50' extension. I've found a good spot for half the year, and then have to move it to another spot for the other half to get decent charging. This is the starter kit i got: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00BFCNFRM/

I ended up replacing the PWM charge controller with an MPPT which performs much better under lower light conditions, made a huge difference with charging.

Good catch ;-)

I'm using the Renogy 100w monocrystalline panels. They claim to be 21.3" wide by 47" long: http://amzn.com/B009Z6CW7O. My roof is 92" wide, so it will be a tight squeeze but they will fit.

I used this pump:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XERUTY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1#

Powered by this battery:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004DR3IIC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And this solar panel:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BCRG22A/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This simple and cheap setup basically gave me 2 garden hoses (2ea 1/2 inch pipes t'd off of the main 1" line)

I could water for like an hour in the morning, an hour at sundown and probably 3-4 hours at mid-day in full sun with the battery never running down more than a tiny ammount. I also charged phones, computers, flashlights, etc with this system at the same time. You should be able to pump your ass off with a system like this.

Things to note... The pump only has about a 20 foot lift so if the top of the water in the swamp is farther than 20 vertical feet (not linear) from where the end of the hose is you may be in trouble. Also, make some sort of coarse filter so leaves and mud and such does not clog it. A few mesh bags around a 5 gallon bucket with a ton of 2" holes and a rock to weight it down did the trick for me! Good luck.

I had a similar idea a while ago and the general consensus is that a solar generator, while it seems practical, isn't much more simple than a DIY solar set up, but it is much more expensive.

Heres a simple list I could find that'll give you the same wattage (someone correct me if I'm wrong with this, I'm no electrician):

$185 [100w panel (comes with mounts for your roof)] (http://www.amazon.com/Renogy-100W-Mono-Starter-Kit/dp/B00BFCNFRM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421722028&sr=8-1&keywords=100w+solar+panel)


$189 [Inverter] (http://www.amazon.com/Cobra-2575-2500-Power-Inverter/dp/B00126K8DA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1421722161&sr=8-3&keywords=5000w+inverter) (the gene you linked is a bit sneaky, saying 5k watts, but thats the peak, not the continuous, so this inveter is the same wattage). Also, the generator produces a modified sine wave. This means the inveter isn't suitable for things like lighting and (so i've heard) isn't good for expensive electronics, [you can do some research on the difference between pure and modified] (http://www.civicsolar.com/resource/pure-sine-vs-modified-sine-wave-inverters). The one I've linked is pure and good for any electronics.

$183 [100 AH sealed AGM deep cycle battery] (http://www.solar-electric.com/batteries-meters-accessories/batteries/unba/unba100amagm.html)

$100 for the extra wire you'll need. You have to get wire for the charge controller to the battery, then from the battery to the inveter, so not too much. The $100 is probably much more than you need.

So in total, thats ~$660 for the same power. You could toss the components into a box and seal it up and make your own generator if you really want to.


Just to add, I thought it'd be cool to see what I could do with the $1000+ the gene costs. For just ~$150 more, you could more than double the system with [these panels] (http://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Solar-Panel-Bundle-200Watt/dp/B00B8L8MD2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421722532&sr=8-1&keywords=200w+solar+panel), [this inverter] (http://www.amazon.com/Power-Bright-PW6000-12-Inverter-6000/dp/B002EA22YQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421722161&sr=8-1&keywords=5000w+inverter), and [this battery] (http://www.solar-electric.com/batteries-meters-accessories/batteries/unba/unba200amagm.html).

http://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Volts-Monocrystalline-Starter/dp/B00BFCNFRM

Expand from there with more panels depending on how fast you want to charge the battery. I recommend spending the few extra bucks for the MPPT charge controller, those cheap chinese PWM controllers can be pretty notorious for QRM. The charge controller specs will determine how many more panels you can add to the system.

Buy a couple large deep cycle batteries and a battery tender to keep them charged

For example, this battery:
https://www.amazon.com/Universal-UB121000-45978-100AH-Cycle-Battery/dp/B00S1RT58C/ is 100ah at 12v, which is roughly 1200 watt hours. For comparison, A 3.7v 20,000 mah phone power bank is 74 watt hours.

Get something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Chanzon-Cigarette-Terminal-Accessory-Inflator/dp/B07CQMQL9L/ to allow using your car charger with a standalone battery.

Add a 100w solar kit: https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Monocrystalline-Negative-Controller-Connectors/dp/B00BFCNFRM/ if you expect sunny weather during your power outages

I'd like to attach a large 100w panel with suction cups to the windshield. Then I hope to further secure it by wedging the sunshade behind it. I won't be too worried about "stealth" as I usually won't be in the car when I have that in. Plus, I'll just look like an LA environmentalist in a Prius.

Solar panels are my problem. I figure I'll need something like 100 watts to make up for the sub-optimal charging through the windshield.

The problem with that is 100 watts is too big to easily place in the passenger seat. I need a folding unregulated 100 watt panel. And it has to be a lightweight panel.

This is the only one I could find in the entire world. It folds in half to the size of a 50w panel.

Unfortunately, it has shipping times of 4-6 weeks to the US. Also, it doesn't have those holes in the corners which would come in hand for attaching the panel to the windshield with suction cups. Maybe there is some way to devise them...

The only other folding 100 watt panels seems to be $100 more, but too long—when expanded—to fit in the dash.

I suppose I could get away with a 50 watt panel, but I'll probably end up being annoyed I didn't get a 100 watt panel on those days when I could use the power.

If cost is an issue, I'd suggest a crappy solar setup just to keep lights and fans going. There's also some DIY methods to greatly increase the efficiency of your cooler. With a highly efficient cooler and enough access to refill your ice there's not a lot of need to invest in a proper mobile refrigerator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFDnwzJ8dhQ

For some quick and dirty solar:
http://www.harborfreight.com/45-watt-solar-panel-kit-10-pc-kit-68751.html

If you need more than 45W of power, add one of these buggers:
https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Volts-Monocrystalline-Solar/dp/B009Z6CW7O/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1468960577&sr=8-3&keywords=solar+panel

You can tie it into your current vehicle battery or split it up and get a dedicated battery or two for your power needs.

ok lets start off with correcting your requirements..

Phone 3.24Ah x 3.7v = 12Wh

Laptop = 42 Wh (per spec sheet)

Fan .5Ah x 12v = 6Wh/hour of run time

LEDs 0.8Ah x 4.5v = 3.6Ah (assuming 3 batteries)

With 7 hours of run time on that fan lets call that an even 100Wh/day that you will need to generate which that panel should be able to crank out in about 1 hour of direct sunlight if it was perfect with no loss anywhere so plan for 2 hours and you will be very safe if you never have a cloudy day without charging.



In theory a 20Ah 12v battery will meet your needs based on your stated design with only a 50% discharge. (less if you recharge the laptop while the sun is out)



My suggestions:

Use this panel kit instead https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BFCNFRM/ . Same rated output but the mounting kit saves some headache and gives flexibility on the charger about what kind of batteries it can feed.

For batteries I would highly recommend looking at a pair of 35Ah 6v golf cart batteries run in series.

For lighting just get some 12v LEDs and run the straight off the battery and don't mess around with AAA batteries.


Extra note - Any time you are charging something else there is a voltage change and you are going to lose some energy in the step up/down transformers or inverters that can be as horrible as 20% loss. Just keep this in mind when doing calculations.

I don't recall right now, but it was in south california, maybe 6-8 hours? I can look it up tomorrow.

Worth it.

Did it have power? I'm trying to recall. It may not have, come to think of it :|

You could certainly do something laptop based:
Renogy 100 Watts 12 Volts Monocrystalline Solar Panel

I picked: Model MB7420 motorola for an example.

power draw: 12v @ 1a. 12 watts.

12v supply is really REALLY nice for the next thing i'm going to suggest: solar and a battery.


https://www.amazon.com/MOTOROLA-MB7621-Approved-Spectrum-Downloads/dp/B077BL65HS/


26 bucks for a charge controller:
https://www.amazon.com/HQST-Regulator-Charge-Controller-Display/dp/B00FB3OPKM/

46$: a 20 amp hour battery will be more than enough to get your thru the night. if you're concerned about cloudly days then you can double it up.
https://www.amazon.com/Chrome-Battery-12V-20AH-T3/dp/B00BW3ULZI/

130 bucks for a 100watt solar panel
https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Volts-Monocrystalline-Solar/dp/B009Z6CW7O/

figure 20-30 bucks in wiring and mounts and random stuff.

total cost to power it: 200-250$.

$220.00: (2) 6 volt golf cart battery's from Costco or Sams club wired in series to equal 12 volts and approximately 220 amp hours of capacity

$349.99: Renogy kit: https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Monocrystalline-Solar-Starter-Wanderer/dp/B00BCRG22A/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1542503494&sr=8-3&keywords=Renogy+200+Watt+12+Volt+Solar+Starter+Kit

Total equipment $570 dollars

various wire $40.00 dollars

PSW inverter $170.00, might not need.



So 200 watts of solar will work. You may NOT need an inverter because LED's will work from 12 volts directly, you may be able to take the light apart and work around the 120 volt power supply. or buy 12 volt LED lights.

https://www.amazon.com/Samlex-America-PST-300-12-Pure-Inverter/dp/B00DVYWP8C/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1542504072&sr=8-3&keywords=psw+inverter+12v

​

Final advice, inverters use power whether they are being used or not unless you shut them off when you are not using one.. I strongly suggest sticking to 12 volt lighting and skip the inverter

If you absolutely need 120 volts, get a pure sign wave inverter. They cost more but you wont have limitations like you would from a modified sign wave inverter. buy something good in the 300 to 400 watt range minimum in case you need to charge battery powered tools, a radio, charge a phone or other small loads. stick with brand name equipment for reliability.

You could easily fit 300w of folding panels in the car...

https://www.amazon.com/DOKIO-Foldable-Monocrystalline-Inverter-Controller/dp/B075SZMFP2

The solar panel in the photo looks a lot like a Renogy 12v 100 watt solar panel. You would need a minimum of 3 of those 100 watt panels along with a decent battery bank and sizable power inverter to power that refrigerator 24/7 while maintaining a fairly cool temperature inside of the fridge.

source - assuming "average use" for the fridge

Solar! I have two deep cycle batteries, and use this to charge one at a time during the day. My power needs are pretty small-- just running ipod/computer speakers, lights, and charging a few electronics. It works for me!

But keep in mind you don't have to charge the whole battery. So, if you have 400 watts of solar, which is easy to haul in the back with $100 flexible solar panels from Amazon, assuming you get 10 hours or sun each day for 2 days, you very roughly end up with 31 miles of range using the Tesla miles per Kw efficiency ratio of 3.9 miles to kWh (assuming I did my math right).

Not quite what you get out of a jerry can (5 gallons), but if you carry the same weight in solar panels - 5Ga Jerry can of gas holds roughly 30lbs of gasoline, 2lbs/100 Wh for Allpower flexibles, so (1500 W/h 10hrs) 2 = 3000 Wh), which over the course of a weekend gets you roughly 117 miles.

That said, solar panels don't leak, don't build up parafin, and don't explode if they get too hot.

I have a solar panel and power station. In tandem they allow me to power basic electronics. Eventually I'd like to get a generator hooked up to the circuit breaker in the garage and have it automatically switch on. Being in the South, A/C is paramount.

I will say that if you DO spring to buy lithium batteries, you get more wiggle room about draining your batteries. If you get to 0% they just turn off, so it's much easier to buy two and then say "nope, they aren't enough" and then just pop another one in.

Also, you mentioned that you don't have enough space on the roof for panels - have you looked into the flexible ones? Something like this. https://www.amazon.ca/ALLPOWERS-Lightweight-Flexible-Connector-Compatibility/dp/B07195WHHX/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=flexible+solar&qid=1563121815&s=gateway&sr=8-1

200w I don't think is quite enough, but 300 is getting there.

Coleman has a folding one rated at 7.5W with a cigarette plug and a usb plug. I've since repourposed it and it's still going strong!

http://www.amazon.ca/Coleman-22007-7-5W-Folding-Panel/dp/B007JU9K32

Amazon has a 100 watt kit that looks to include what I need minus the battery and inverter. Would something like this be what I am after?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00BFCNFRM/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1526590632&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=solar+panel+kit&dpPl=1&dpID=51tMu4DA-EL&ref=plSrch

I mean it is a generator. With a quiet one will come more cost. If your just looking for a way to emergency charge phone and batteries look at a crank charger or sometimes called a dynamo. Most will be integrated with a radio or flashlight already or look at goalzero solar charger products. Some of there basic sets can charge a tablet and they only cost about a hundred bucks. If your looking for good lights look at the 30/60 day light, extra batteries will be easy to carry than a generator + gas.

30 day light
http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Survival-Technologies-30-Day-Lantern/dp/B00ABUSWR2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407277032&sr=8-1&keywords=30+day+light

Goalzero
http://www.amazon.com/Goal-Zero-41022-Guide-Recharging/dp/B00DD6B9IK/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&srs=3555756011&ie=UTF8&qid=1407277085&sr=1-1&keywords=goal+zero

Backpacks in the picture were $315.65 and now are $157.82 . The price is still a bit steep on an item like this. It would be cheaper to buy a backpack and a foldable solar panel to hang on the back (like this) than it would be to do this. I'm sure this is someone's dream though.

I hope you're joking.

One human unit of power is equivalent to 600 watt-hours. A "decent" electric car has a 60,000 watt hour battery bank (60 KWh).

The smallest decent portable solar panel is about 100W in size.

So after a full day's worth of charging (sun and no clouds) for six hours on your exercise bike in the woods, you'd be at 1.05 KWh, or 1.75% of battery charge.

According to random internet forums, that would get you about 3 miles of driving in the woods.

I have a 2018 ford transit van. We take this with us camping ( I camp about 20 times a year, 2-3 day trips ) .

​

I am looking to get a small electric generator / battery and a simple solar panel to charge it. This will be used just to run a water pump for once a day quick shower, power some low energy fans at night and charge devices.

​

I already own this power source - https://www.amazon.com/Aeiusny-Generator-Portable-Emergency-Solar/dp/B01IW408R0/

​

I was debating getting this solar panel - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009Z6CW7O

Is it compatible and will charge the power source listed above or is there a better one? Am I missing any critical components to get this to work?

​

I plan to mount it on top of the van as a permanent structure.

Thanks in advance.

Anyone have this Renogy Solar Kit and use it for amateur radio? Or, if you are a solar guru, how does that kit look features/price wise?

The title is rather innacurate, I agree. But let's look at what he has actually made.

His machine takes these solar panels, which cost $0.50 per watt (peak output), and wires the components into a series then seals them against the elements (likely costing ~$0.25 for plastic/glue/ect, wild guess there). Meaning you can get $0.75 per watt for a solar panel that you can stick anywhere.

For comparison, a medium scale solar panel costs around $1.15 per watt. This includes a charge controller, which costs about $70 on its own (and the $70 has been included in the cost-per-watt).

So instead of having a huge panel that may need repair and may have one component fail which takes the whole thing offline, you have a hundred plastic packet solar panels. That each cost less than half as much.

If it works as advertised, it has the potential to bring home solar panel costs way down by a third, and make maintenance easier (just throw it out and replace the broken ones). As well as making installation costs easier because you'd really just need a big box that has divots to place the plastic wrapped solar panels in.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009Z6CW7O/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481992359&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=Renogy&dpPl=1&dpID=41rOZxjogoL&ref=plSrch

Cheaper per panel if you bulk buy.

You will get more power from more expensive panels though, be aware. But it's looking like 400w is going to run me just fine.

Thing is, manufacturers only give their lowest prices to large quantity buyers. Your best bet would be buying those brands off amazon or ebay. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DNP14JY/

Here's a quick one - RichSolar 100 Polycrystalline Solar Panel. I've been using this when camping to charge devices (6-8 people, one of whom uses a CPAP and needs power, plus several cell phones and tablets). So far, it's worked well. But, it's a big, glass panel. I suggest spending a little more to get a flexible monocrystalline instead.

So if I understand you correctly I can buy the product you linked as well as a solar panel such as this one

Renogy 100 Watts 12 Volts Monocrystalline Solar Panel https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009Z6CW7O/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_B9TqDb33X1GGH

And I should be fine for making let's say 10 margaritas a day for a week (assuming my solar panel is in the sun all day)?

Also does 288kh mean that, on a full charge, it will be able to power anything up to 288 watts for an hour before running out of juice (assuming it's not hooked to the solar panel)?

If your car breaks down or battery dies (more common in cold weather situations) a solar charger could save your life.

http://www.amazon.com/PowerFilm-USB-AA-Solar-Charger/dp/B001RMBHMK/ref=cm_lmf_tit_4

Regular car batteries are made to have a lot of cranking power, and then stay on a trickle charge once the alternator gets going. Running the battery voltage down each night and charging it daily will kill the life of your battery (if it's not deep cycle).

Honestly, charging a phone (5w), running some small LED lighting (8w), and a couple 12VDC fans (6w) can all be done through your cigarette lighter port and won't be drawing more than 20watts. If you ran that all night, you would only be using 15amp/hrs or so of your battery; and if you get 8 hours of sunlight, you only need a 30watt solar panel to charge it back up. Whenever you are talking about solar though, you should plan on doubling your capacity to account for non-optimal performance, cloudy days, long winter nights, etc.

kieranmullen gives a pretty good rundown of what you would need to setup a separate 12v system but seems like overkill for what you are asking (and would run you about $300-400).

Personally, I would get a 100 watt panel, 7 amp charge controller, the cheapest 12v deep cycle marine battery from walmart, and maybe a 3-400w inverter (for a laptop charger or any other AC devices). Also, I'd put an inline fuse between my charge controller and load, and maybe another between the battery and charge controller.

Also if you got $265 to spare order one of these, it will help powering smaller items and batteries, and this is relatively portable.


https://www.amazon.com/DOKIO-Foldable-Monocrystalline-Inverter-Controller/dp/B075SZMFP2/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=DOKIO+200+Watts+12+Volts+Monocrystalline+Foldable+Solar+Panel+with+Solar+Charger+Controller&qid=1555789816&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-1-fkmrnull

I'd get one of these and carry it on:

https://www.amazon.com/MOHOO-Bendable-Lightweight-Connector-Compatibility/dp/B06XVWPD7N/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1506055237&sr=8-11&keywords=100+w+folding+solar

Note that you'll need a battery (AGM/sealed) and at minimum a solar charge controller. I like these ones:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0191QN7OO/ref=sxr_rr_xsim_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=3008523062&pd_rd_wg=dnE5M&pf_rd_r=86BF01NK65JWJANM0TKG&pf_rd_s=desktop-rhs-carousels&pf_rd_t=301&pd_rd_i=B0191QN7OO&pd_rd_w=BQDtY&pf_rd_i=solar+charge+controller&pd_rd_r=8YE8X122ADP49YFNBB11&ie=UTF8&qid=1506055373&sr=1

Appropriate battery:

https://www.amazon.com/ML35-12-Battery-Replaces-Mighty-product/dp/B00K8E0WAG/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1506055420&sr=8-10&keywords=agm+battery

I can't seem to find the Ah capacity of that battery, but it doesn't look very big. What's the capacity? It won't always be sunny out, so I'd do an energy audit and build up the system such that you can run it for 2-3 days without dipping below 60%.


100W will recharge those batteries, but not very fast. I've only met one legit fulltimer so far IRL, he had a fridge on 100W. It barely ran; I suspect because the batteries were so low it wasn't getting a full 12V.

I went with Renogy 100W panels. I put 7 of them on my van, so I'm sure you can get a crapload of 'em up there. You might prefer a larger panel for simplicity, but balance that against the weight, height you have to lift it, and when one breaks you incur a bigger loss.

The mini fridge won't need too much power. 200W should be fine for that. 100W may be enough if you're careful about your usage and keep everything 12V. My 12V fridge says it pulls 7A @12V, but the reviews indicate it's closer to 3-4A. I barely notice its power draw. I would expect it to be much worse on a 120V dorm fridge.

There are 12V fridges and slow cookers. I hope you'll be getting those in 12V so you don't need to run the inverter all day. A full house-style 120V appliance will use more power, and you'll incur additional overhead from the inverter running. Unless you're on shore power, of course.

You may be able to find a 12V power supply for your laptop, but those are hit-or-miss. With the projector you're basically stuck with 120V. Which is OK as long as it's not a lot of the time.

Of course if you go with the big ("real") solar panels (the ones i linked, or larger), you'll need a charge controller and a bit more complexity. Not sure what your budget and knowledge levels are. The small one you linked has its own controller built in.

Definitely do that energy audit; I think you underestimate your power needs.

You can do much better on panels now, http://www.amazon.com/Renogy-100W-Mono-Starter-Kit/dp/B00BFCNFRM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415138291&sr=8-1&keywords=solar+panel

I highly recommend the Goal Zero Guide 10 battery pack & Nomad 7 panel

another thing... i looked at the renogy panel description and it says this:
Diodes are pre-installed in junction box and a pair of 31-inch cables with MC4 connectors comes with the panel automatically

so from my research, it really seems like the diodes which would bypass the entire panels... for when wired in series... would go in the junction boxes... essentially bypassing the entire panel if the previous panel was pushing more power? maybe? and that there would be no other real purpose for a diode in this location... so they already have bypass diodes?

I am going off the top selling panels on Amazon. Renogy 100 Watts 12 Volts Monocrystalline Solar Panel 47 x 21.3 inches

Further down on that solar charger's page:
>Specification:
Voltage: DC 12V / 24V
Self-consuming: 10MA
Rated Charge Current: 20A
Rated Load Current: 20A

>Over charge:
Protection: 14.4V / 28.8V
Floating charge: 13.5V / 27V
Recover: 13.2V / 26.4V

>Over discharge:
Protection: 10.8V / 21.6V

Those 14.4V and 10.8V work nicely for lead-acid, it should work for LiFePO4, but Li-ion might be a big problem.

Those 200-300 charge cycles you mentioned could happen if you have a small battery (low Ah) that is drained to (below) 80% DOD (depth of discharge), basically if you double the battery's 'Ah'-size, the DOD drops to 40%, and cycle life doubles to 600.

A simple calculation, if you go to http://pvwatts.nrel.gov/ you'll find about 63 kWh/kWp during december (Fresno, CA), 2 kWh/day, your 72W LED-strip (at 70% battery efficiency) for 4 hours needs 400Wh, the panel size should be 400Wh/2kWh=200Wp (two of these in parallel?)

Those LED-strips: 72W per 5 meter?, if you look carefully you'll see you can cut them in 3-LED sections (individual LEDs are 4.2V, three in series for a 12V supply, all the 3-LED sections are wired in parallel), and with careful soldering or possibly special connectors you can make shorter low-power sections yourself, or buy a 'remote controller' (as offered on those links) to reduce brightness/energy-use.

That brightness control is done using PWM (pulse width modulation), for bulls-eye practice you probably want a constant high(-ish) intensity, when hunting cardboard vultures and plastic crocodiles you can also use an Arduino-type to (remotely) program whatever sequence to make life a bit more challenging for the hunters.

I've got one as well -- Solar + 2AA batteries + usb. With a full charge on the AA batteries, it gives me about 55% charge on my iphone, however.

EDIT: I have this one, here:
http://www.amazon.com/PowerFilm-USB-AA-Solar-Charger/dp/B001RMBHMK/ref=sr_1_cc_3?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1346784782&sr=1-3-catcorr&keywords=powerfilm

For 100ah goal zero price is $1599

For 215ah if you do it yourself (golf cart batteries, pure sine inverter, various plugs and meter) its about $400. It wont be as attractive,but for $1200 or so less and double capacity, ill buy some plywood for $20 and make a pretty vented box if i was worried about looks.

Even if you spend a little more for a 12v agm battery you will make out way better.

Its the same thing with the panel kits, less capacity for more $$. Their 1250 kit is 30watts in panels to charge 100ah battery ("generator")? Id not go much less than 1watt per 1ah or you'd be undercharging. So 1999-1599 (gen)=$400 for 30 watts in solar. You can get a 200 watt panel kit for $340, hook it into above.

My boat didn't come with the solar setup, but I fitted them myself. You'll need the panel itself, a charge controller, and some sort of battery to store the charge. You could have the same sized system I have (without the battery included) for $200 bucks on amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Volts-Monocrystalline-Starter/dp/B00BFCNFRM

You can go less than a $3 a watt using [this kit.] (http://www.amazon.com/Unisolar-Flexible-Solar-Panel-Laminate/dp/B006EP6MCU/ref=sr_1_4?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1342927366&sr=1-4)
You're going to have a bit of challenge on a budget like that though. Batteries will be an additional expense but this is a good learning experience.

I would look at something like this Renogy 50w Mono Panel if you want a fixed panel. It's over the max that an OmniCharge will take, but that gives you overhead for non-ideal conditions and the OmniCharge won't eat more than it can take.

I'm looking at that panel for myself.

I was thinking about geting the flexible ones glued directly onto the roof. It's almost twice as expensive though. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07195WHHX/ref=psdc_2236628011_t1_B017OMTAV6

> two 100W panels

Dimensions: 47 X 21.3 X 1.4 In

You're not going to mount those on the top of a station wagon.

It's a waste of space and energy since he's not grinding dried beans or crushing ice every morning, just pureeing some veggies into a smoothie. Sell it on Craigslist for ~$200 (those things are like $400 new - JEEZ) and you could buy a 100W solar panel with charge controller plus a hand blender that won't kill your battery.

I see similar things on amazon too.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013E07FNM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_LyPVzb3PAW922

Amazon has some decent prices on panels if you don't want to do a lot of searching. 100 Watt 100w Monocrystalline $170 You should be able to get that and the chargers, batteries and inverter for $600-ish.

for solar: (for starters since Im mainly using fans)https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Volts-Monocrystalline-Starter/dp/B00BFCNFRM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1501920037&sr=8-4&keywords=solar+panel
I'll also use lucy lights which are solar
For water: I might use a tank with pump or a thera pump for 5 gallon jugs. It really depends on whats available up there.
Sheds: its a toss between this which included installation, http://www.conestogabuilders.com/strawberry/strawberry.htm
or the one from lowes: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Cedarshed-Farmhouse-Gable-Cedar-Storage-Shed-Common-16-ft-x-14-ft-Interior-Dimensions-11-5-ft-x-9-5-ft/999916833

the weather : the highest is around 75F and the lowest is around 35F. Rain wise about 4-5 inches every month.

>1 Amp @ 2.2 hours

That's still over twice the capacity that this thing boasts. I'm curious of the price... compared to my 11k mAhr battery for 30$, I don't see how it could possibly bring anything to the table.

If you are in that kind of emergency where it would make a difference, and you have access to the inside of a building window for 8 hours... I can't see how you couldn't find an outlet. Its like its solving a nonexistent problem.

Only real use I can figure is stuck in the middle of a forest with no cell battery but just happen to be close to a cell tower. But then, no window... so whats the point. It can be done much so better with a rolled up flexible panel.

Like one of these doodads http://www.amazon.com/PowerFilm-USB-AA-Solar-Charger/dp/B001RMBHMK

---

>The whole... 220V AC is freaking hilarious

Indeed, I facepalmed on that.

http://www.amazon.com/PowerFilm-USB-AA-Solar-Charger/dp/B001RMBHMK

They also make decent solar chargers for AA batteries.

Not in stock, but you might be able to find it elsewhere:
http://www.amazon.com/USB-AA-Solar-Panel-Charger/dp/B001RMBHMK/ref=sr_1_1

500,000 tons of coal ~ 4 billion kilowatt-hours. Say solar panel lifetime is 30 years, producing electricity 8 hours a day. That means you need 45 kilowatts of solar panels. That means you need 22.5 Watts per pound of sand. A 100 Watt solar panel is [16 lbs] (https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Volts-Monocrystalline-Solar/dp/B009Z6CW7O). That would mean ~ 25% of a solar panels weight was silicon. Seems about reasonable.

Renogy 100 Watts 12 Volts Monocrystalline Solar Panel https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009Z6CW7O/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_8WqIzbVEDP4QY

100w mountable solar panel.

Edit: This one to be exact,
http://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Volts-Monocrystalline-Solar/dp/B009Z6CW7O/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1450479873&sr=8-3&keywords=100w+solar+panel

2 x 100watt panels, with an MPPT controller.

This kit exactly, with MPPT:

http://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Monocrystalline-Solar-Starter-Wanderer/dp/B00BCRG22A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1458866712&sr=8-2&keywords=renogy+solar+panel+kit

Did more research on solar power. I live in an apartment now, but I am thinking about buiding a kit to experiment with. Possibly with this kit to start with.

Renogy 100 Watts 12 Volts Monocrystalline Solar Starter Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BFCNFRM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_A7twybFH176K5

Controller, Solar Panel,

I have a cheap Renogy charge controller and a 50W panel. If you're into DIY that might be the way to go. 50W isn't a lot of panel, but it might work if you keep the loads down.

Two Panels: https://www.amazon.com/ALLPOWERS-Bendable-SunPower-Resistant-Irregular/dp/B013E07FNM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1495643866&sr=8-4&keywords=solar+panel+flexible

Four Batteries: https://www.amazon.com/Vmaxtanks-Vmaxslr125-rechargeable-Solar-Inverters/dp/B00ACNO2AO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495643913&sr=8-1&keywords=battery+vmax

Charge Controller: https://www.amazon.com/CoZroom-Charge-Controller-Regulator-Intelligent/dp/B01ERF0LHA/ref=sr_1_6?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1495643961&sr=1-6&keywords=charge+controller

Inverter: https://www.amazon.com/Samlex-Solar-PST-2000-12-Pure-Inverter/dp/B00AYH69UE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495644314&sr=8-1&keywords=samlex+solar+pst-2000

Has anyone used or have advice about Folding Panels?

Idk, at a similar price point the mono from renogy is 47x21 while this one is 40x26 https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Volts-Monocrystalline-Solar/dp/B009Z6CW7O/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1495738194&sr=8-3&keywords=monocrystalline+solar+panel

We agree that it would work with electricity; the point is that it requires enormous amounts of it.

Here's one estimate, which suggests it takes 5,550 to 13,900 watt-hours to produce one kilogram (about two pounds) of steel from iron. Glass is in the same ballpark at 5,000 to 9,700 watt-hours.

Glass and steel comprise the bulk of the weight of a typical solar cell (the rest being the fancy exotic stuff that's probably even most costly to refine and process). A typical 100 watt cell seems to run about 15 pounds or so, call it seven kilos.

7500 watt-hours X 7 kilos = ~50,000 watt-hours.

If you're investing 50,000 watt-hours to produce a single 100 watt-hour cell, you can see the problem. Just for the production of the glass and steel - never mind building the actual guts of the thing - you're running each cell for 500 hours of daylight.

If you just want to produce the frames, you're running 60 cells for every one you produce, and producing one per day.

I don't know how big your trailer is, but this 100W solar panel is about 1.2m x 0.54m.

100W x ~4.5 (guessing) hours of equivalent ideal sunlight in Romania, per day, equals 450wh. 450wh/48V = ~9.7Ah. That's assuming no losses from the power converter and charger, which would likely bring you closer to 6.5Ah after a full day of charging.

We really need solar panels with higher conversion rates.

Why not forget the indoors restriction of using a USB charger and simply go solar? AA solar chargers are not very expensive...currently amazon does not have the example I'm going to post but a little googling could probably find similar other products.

http://www.amazon.com/USB-AA-Solar-Panel-Charger/dp/B001RMBHMK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=A1VOUFSIGRIGBC&s=generic&qid=1261596408&sr=1-1

If you get a 12 volt fan it will use about 1 amp, so 8amp hours for all night = 20% of carbatt capacity. Some car batteries will only do that every night for a week before they start to suffer, some will do it for a few months.

This sort of thing looks intresting:

https://www.amazon.com/Station-Portable-Inverter-Generator-42000mAh/dp/B074MN6YG3/

"150 Watthours" lithium Ion battery pack (rather good), "100" Watt solar input , built in 100 watt inverter (that's lowish power but still useful) and usb and 12 volt outputs. cost $160

the specification of the solar input may be questionable, limited to 25 actual watts and nominal 13~14 v level (MC4 connector). That may or may not be compatible with nominal 100 watt, 12v or 18v panel setups.

Then you'd just need a $20 12v fan, and bargain lightweight solar panel deal...

"50W" bendable panel kit for $100 ?

There is a "100W" version for $170 - possibly overkill.

1 kilogram, frameless :

https://www.amazon.com/ALLPOWERS-Bendable-Flexible-Lightweight-Irregular/dp/B013DZWDI0/

I've got two ideas:

• 100 Watt solar panel kit, to keep your batteries charged, less than $200 http://www.amazon.com/Solar-Panel-Starter-100W-Monocrystalline/dp/B00BFCNFRM/
  
• It's possible to use your car's engine to charge batteries. Just run your engine for an hour with jumper cables attached to your battery (bad idea? probably!)

no, the panel is flat on the ground. these are my panels. The temp is 72 deg.

The controller

The battery is a used Tesla Model S battery

I bought a kit similar to this and hooked it up to the largest (115ah) deep cycle battery I could buy.

I run all my interior lights, an electric water pump, a 1000w inverter off it with no problems so far. Again i'd gauge your power usage. A friend of mine has almost the identical setup and always seems to be draining his battery, he charges his laptop and drone batteries off the system though.

What are you going to do with it? Unless you buy an inverter and a battery then all you really have is 4 shitty panels and a cheap ass charge controller. This is just a come-on price that suckers you into buying more things that you need to make it work. And at the end of the purchases, you could've built something better if you started with quality parts. Why not buy similarly priced stuff in better quality? Buy a good panel and charge controller. That way if you ever want to add to the system, you can.

Hi quality solar panel 100 Watt/12v

Hi quality charge controller.

Only 50 bucks more and you the beginnings of a modest system.

I use this while camping. Charges phones, tablets, and AAA/AA batteries. Works well even in the crappy NW overcast weather I usually run into while camping.

Goal Zero 41022 Guide 10 Plus Solar Recharging Kit by Goal Zero http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DD6B9IK/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_CSHptb0EC9AV9

However if you are dead set on this, one option would be to get something like this "solar generator"

https://amazon.com/Goal-Zero-Portable-Generator-Alternative/dp/B00D5RVMAM/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1536599596&sr=8-14&keywords=solar+generator

This should have enough battery capacity to take you 24 hours before it needs a recharge ( it could go about 2 days, but that would reduce battery life significantly). If you add a 100W solar panel you should be able to keep it charged up.

https://amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Volts-Monocrystalline-Solar/dp/B009Z6CW7O/ref=sr_1_4?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1536598933&sr=1-4&keywords=100w+solar+panel&dpID=41WkYaZbmqL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

​

The "generator" above has a built in charge controller so you just need to plug in the solar panel and put the panel in full sun ( any partial shade dramatically lowers the charging). It also charges from a wall plug or a 12V outlet, so if the sun isn't out you can charge it from the car engine.

I have this one and like it. Still only 500mah output but also charges AA's.The AA's then charge the device. It is small and light. When there is no light or your rechargeables are dead, you can put disposable batteries.
http://www.amazon.com/PowerFilm-USB-AA-Solar-Charger/dp/B001RMBHMK/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1374261741&sr=1-1&keywords=solar+aa+charger