Solar equipment for holidays

[CLaura]

Hello all

What about mobile solar equipment ? Does anyone have already taken a solar device while hiking or camping ?

[Sunking]

Well it can be done but extremely limited in capability and very expensive. To be portable means small, light weight, and fold-able to be lightweight and portable. Those types of panels are very inefficient and extremely expensive. Typical panel wattage is 3 to 5 watts which means only good to charge up a cell phone or MP3 player via USB input, and can cost as much as $10/watt or more. IMHO it is cheaper, lighter, easier, and less expensive to just carry an extra battery in your pocket or backpack.

To get up into useful power requires something like a 20 to 50 watt panel range which is big, bulky, heavy and not so portable. In addition a charge controller will be needed.

[BeRight]

My go to solar power pack - simple but not cheap

I take along energizer power pack 18000 (18Ah @5V) weights 5.6oz Ebay$130 NY seller. I charge it - plugs in directly to my C&G foldable mono panel(10"x12"x1") 42W, no MPPT needed. The energizer has a build in charger/controller for internal lithium battery pack and charging status lights. Three Outputs: 16-20vdc, usb and 9-12v. Input 19volts but appears to be a large forgiving input voltage range since my panel goes from 14+ to 17+vdc. typically. The panel is well made and pretty rugged when folded. Not sure of weight-not super light because it is mono cells.

Energizer pack is compatible with all of my families devices iPad, cell phones, iPhone, etc. I have been requested to get an energizer pack for each family member -not going to happen-birthdays/xmas maybe. 140hrs talk time should be enough between charging.

First time use I charged the energizer on house current(hours) and solar ever sense. Sometimes I'll grab my dc to ac low watt cheapy inverter from truck to run radio/stereo, etc. tent light.

I couldn't find the foldable panel for sale separately so I bought the $185 kit Amazon, that came with a cheap MMPT (but works-used for other hobby projects so not wasted-charges some of my old motorcycle 12V 21AH AGM batteries) and lots of interfacing plugs for different devices.

I am not connected with any manufacturer/company- just an old fart electronic engineer retired whose hobbies include solar, survival and motorcycles.

[PNjunction]

..What about mobile solar equipment ? Does anyone have already taken a solar device while hiking or camping ?

I have been through a number of foldable / portable panels that have let me down in one way or another. The wattages listed for the panels are usually well under perfect STC standard test conditions in the lab. If you measure the ISC and VOC on your own, you may be in for a shock at how much you are paying per watt.

Typical kits also come with 1970's style on/off shunt controllers. At the very least, swap that out for something like a Morningstar Sunguard / Sunsaver pwm.

Take notice of ad copy or activities that only show panels in use on beautiful snow-covered peaks, where low temperatures help offset the lower real-world power ratings. Some manufacturers may have good customer relations and easy product replacement, but eventually you may get frustrated and just want one that works well in the first place.

You may also see references to being able to charge batteries much larger than the panels can really support, promoting deficit-charge scenarios on the unenlightened.

For camping, I don't mind using thin-film panels even though they are less efficient, hence larger than crystalline panels. The advantage here is that for the usual camping ground-mount, if debris or shadow falls across the thin film, only that portion covered stops producing. With a crystalline panel, a tiny shadow or debris can cause the panel to reduce it's output considerably. When not using the thin-film panel, take it out of the sun for the longest life. I don't like babysitting crystalline ground mounted panels while camping, so at least the thin-film gives me a slightly better chance of more output when I'm not around if it gets partially covered by something.

Personally, I would never DEPEND on boutique-style camping panels. Like Sunking said, take along extra batteries, or bit the bullet, and build a REAL system, albeit not so easily portable.

[noone]

Hello all

What about mobile solar equipment ? Does anyone have already taken a solar device while hiking or camping ?

Hi

Camping yes, Hiking No

There is a BIG difference.

I have so much 12 volt stuff that will run from small batteries that I recently got a 240 volt to 12 volt switching power supply so I can use it all at home.

12 volt TV, Moka pot (also should do a serve of vegetables in the base), lights, fry pans, cooler, ETC ETC.

If camping light but fairly stationary (not hiking), I would take a 12 volt frypan, a 50 watt solar panel and a small battery around 7 to 20Ah....my lights would be from AA batteries from a smaller solar panel or wind up or both.

A 20Ah battery is getting fairly heavy in lead acid derivative so I am playing around with LiFePo4....though they get expensive but a small motorcycle LiFePo4 should be good for camping.

I have a 50 watt folding panel that is great for this...not TOO big and a 80 watt folding panel that is huge in comparison....just for size alone I would always take the smaller panel unless I was going to be in one place for a very long time or wanted to use more "toys".

The 50 watt panel does not put out anything like 50 watts though of course but enough for the battery to use with the fry pan.

Note re LiFePo4
For anyone trying this just remember that a battery sold as being (say) 8Ah lead EQUIVALENT may still only a 2Ah battery...its equivalence is strictly in terms of the cranking battery it replaces....you need to see what the ACTUAL Ah rating is.

[Mike90250]

This isn't "small" but it's rugged and semi-moveable. I call it the Solar Monolith. Simple instruction photos here

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2074858&id=1196643274&l=7e66e96c3c

You can place 2 batteries on the bottom, which act as ballast, and the shelf holds chargers and other goodies.

I used 60W flexible amorphous panel, but using a poly or mono panel, you can get higher efficiencies, with the
risk of breaking the glass.

Mono_2005_CS_056.JPG

Mike

solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar

[daveb]

I love the Solar Monolith. I am going to make a portable unit and you just gave me some ideas. Thank you.

[Lendar]

Well it can be done but extremely limited in capability and very expensive. To be portable means small, light weight, and fold-able to be lightweight and portable. Those types of panels are very inefficient and extremely expensive. Typical panel wattage is 3 to 5 watts which means only good to charge up a cell phone or MP3 player via USB input, and can cost as much as $10/watt or more. IMHO it is cheaper, lighter, easier, and less expensive to just carry an extra battery in your pocket or backpack.

To get up into useful power requires something like a 20 to 50 watt panel range which is big, bulky, heavy and not so portable. In addition a charge controller will be needed.

I think that these portable solar panels are no worthwhile. To buy a 30-50$ worth cell phone charger? No, thanks.

[PNjunction]

That $30-50 cellphone charger might come in handy if you are a hiker that has a smartphone, gps, or other device that has no user-replaceable battery.

Although I have not tried their foldable panels, I really like the PowerFilm FOLDING 4-AA charger since the actual design of the charger seems to take into account solar shading issues when portable. (quick charges up to 80% and then trickles the rest so temporary shading won't try to repeatedly quick charge already fully charged batteries). The charge controller for the bigger panels they offer is actually a Morningstar Sunguard pwm, and not a typical on/off non-temperature compensated shunt controller, so I might have to look into them a little more closely and report back here what I find. But man, they definitely aren't inexpensive.

[PNjunction]

Well, I ordered the PowerFilm 20watt folding panel, charge controller, and some extension cables for some small-scale camping. I can't wait to put my meters on it under some 100+ F temp conditions.

(Update 8/01) Got the 20-watt panel in today at least and only had time for some limited testing:

Ambient temp: 89F
Placed panel on concrete from 2p to 3p to cook.

VOC: 19v
ISC: 1.45a

So far so good. Build quality is very nice - I forgot what that's all about these days. According to the docs, there is a blocking diode inside the junction box. It came with a female cigarette lighter adapter, but frankly I'll never use it to power anything directly, and will be running from small 5ah to maybe 18ah agm batteries at the most to charge up my toys at night.

Still awaiting the custom morningstar sunguard CC with the custom connectors, but I see no reason why it shouldn't perform exactly the same as the same sunguard I have now with my larger panels. It folds up to something a little smaller than a US 8.5 x 11 inch piece of paper - although they warn NOT to put any of your own creases in it to make it any smaller.

(Update 8/04) - got the rest of the system in...
Sure enough, charge controller is morningstar sunguard pwm (powerfilm model RA9) with approx 8-inch polarized custom quick-disconnect connectors. Extension cords are also high quality with those beefy locking connectors. This is what I'd take if I had to depend on portable solar, although like the panels, the extension cords are not cheap either. At least they are quality, and like the encapsulated CC, the quick disconnects are also "marine quality" as the descriptions say.

One warning: You could just get the panel and the included RA2 cigarette lighter adapter and either adapt, or cut it off and build the rest of the system yourself. However, if you want to use the controller and custom cable set in hot or moist climates, you'll also want to get the controller and battery out of direct sun or protected somewhere and not sitting right next to the panel. The RA7 extension cord with the custom connectors on BOTH ends is what I should have ordered as well. I can make do, but for a plug-n-play setup with the controller, most will want the RA7 extension cable for the input to the controller, as well as your choice of extension (O-ring, clamps, or Anderson powerpoles) for the output of the controller.

If price was no object, I could easily fold up 1kw or more or quality panels into my little Honda. I don't regret the expense, because it is something I'm going to actually depend on, but it sure means that I'll be eating mac-n-cheese for quite a while....

Another warning - without the RA7 extension cable, the best I could do with the CC was to place it under the flap to get it out of the direct sun. Ideally I want the cc close to a remote battery since the CC does temperature compensation. One may also get into the bad habit of hooking the batteries up last. Most solar controllers want the battery hooked up first and this is no exception. So if your batteries are not charging for some reason, reattach with the input to the controller as the last attachment - or perhaps just fold up the panel, and unfold it again.

[CLaura]

First, thank you all for your answers : Sunking, BeRight, PNjunction, noone, Mike90250 & Lendar.

Indeed, I bring my solar oven during hiking : this model is specially made for that, it suits in the bag without difficulty and it's really thin!
Of course it reaches 140° degrees instead of 200 but I can say that's enough.

As for camping I only use a simply solar shower, it is necessary in campsites as you may know

I love the Solar Monolith. I am going to make a portable unit and you just gave me some ideas. Thank you.

Yes I saw the pictures on Facebook, very interesting model.
I guess there are some handymen here ?

[Element 79]

I've built a portable unit on big wheels that rolls around with ease that works great camping or in emergencies. It has a hinged 40 watt panel for a lid adjustable to the sun, 100ah deep cycle battery, 1500 watt inverter, 12V DC cig plug and I carry extra panels currently up to 280 watts to set up around it and plug in for more power if needed. It's 105 lbs and a booger to lift it up into the truck bed with the battery in it. I'm currently modifying and optimizing it with a pure sine wave inverter and maybe an MPPT controller thinking I can squeeze a few more watts out of the system but this is where I'm stuck and need advise from those who might have experience in the differences. I'll start my own thread if anyone wants to comment.