Cross country without electricity

[Lgboro]

Just back from a 5 week trek cross country and stayed only in parking lots, truck stops. and other places without electricity. My 80 watt solar set up worked flawlessly for the duration of the trip and never did my battery drop below 70%. By design my tear has pcm regulated computer fans and led lights through out. Most nights I ran my fans all night. lights as needed and either my television or radio. The nights in noisier sites (truck stops) my radio was left on all night and still my battery stayed > 70%. I only have a 55 ah battery so I was well pleased with my system. Initially I expected to have to replace the 55amp battery for a larger capacity one but I don't think that will be necessary. Sure does add a lot of flexibility to a tear to not have to be tethered to and electric cord if I choose not to or during the inevitable power outages (hurricanes and ice storms) in eastern NC.

[48Rob]

Congratulations!

Sounds like a place a lot of people want to be...

Rob

[S. Heisley]

LG, Is this the solar panel that you used?...:



Is it home-made or where did you get it? How hard was/is it to set up? Also, I'd certainly like to see some pics of your teardrop.

I have a 55 Amp AGM battery and have been thinking...

[Lgboro]

Oh no, I bought an 80 watt --- that one was salvaged from an old solar mower that WeedEater built and tested at a handful of hardware stores in the 90's. I don't think they made but a few. I have my solar permanently mounted on my tear. I think it was UL Solar if my memory is correct.

I would guess the salvage one is in the neighborhood of 30 watt and I wanted a little more juice.

[S. Heisley]

Okay, Thanks, LG. That makes sense.

[S. Heisley]

Okay, Thanks, LG. That makes sense.

[Lgboro]

I didn't see your question the first time. My tear is a homemade 4x9 covered in aluminum. My main computer took a spike and is in computer heaven and I'm on a netbook. Not the easiest to do much on but surf the net and email. The solar system is really easy to set up and I just attached angle on the roof and mounted the panel to it. I know a few here have used 3M tape to attach their solar. My controller is a smart controller as is the one in my WATCO so they work well together (or are supposed to if I ever use my AC). I did put a meter on my battery so I can monitor my usage and be able to cut back should I need to so I am not without fans when needed.

[Shadow Catcher]

One of my concerns was being in shade and days of bad weather, hence the 150AH battery. But then again we have a LOT more goodies.

[Lgboro]

I had a fairly shady site at the Grand Canyon for a couple of days and it clouded up for a few hours and sprinkled, but I estimate I used less than 20 ah so my battery recharged in in 2 or 3 hours. At around $100 I would probably just use the 55 ah down to 15 or 20% instead of buying a $300 plus high capacity battery. I think 3 would outlast the better battery. Besides in my flounder boat we run the same batteries and run the lights until they won't burn and are totally discharged and they still last close to 4 years.

[webbaldo]

Firstly thanks for your post

I was originally not going to have a battery (thought id just use hookup all time) but ive ditched a microwave idea and the weight of a 55amp battery is about the same as the microwave so im gonna go solar! (all my devices are 12v anyway)

Here in the UK, during the summer there is still enough sunlight about for a decent charge

One thought, alot of modern laptops draw serious current these days from chargers (20amp, 90watt! for some lenovos), where as ipads, and other tablets have a good battery and recharges wouldnt kill a 12v system surely?

The small google tablet is £150 here in UK so US will probsbaly be less! The ipad charger draws 2amps on 12v so for roughly a 2h full charge only 4amp hours? or 24watts per hour?

[Richard A.]

No offense intended ... but just to pick nits .... you certainly DID have "electricity" for your cross country trip ... just not from the AC mains or from the tow vehicle.

A few years ago people would say .. "You can have it on video or on DVD" Of course DVD is "video" .. what they meant was VHS or DVD. Electricity from solar is just as much electricity as electricity from your cars alternator.

[Shadow Catcher]

Our experience with the seven days with out shore power in our month long trip was that we never got below 70% depth of discharge. This because of a mistake that I made in purchasing the 185W panel which was meant for a grid tie system and can put out 50+Volts in full sun, this meant I had to buy an MPPT solar controller that could handle the volts. As a result as long as there is some light it is producing some some usable current. Big Basin redwoods and Diamond O state parks were both often in deep shade and yet we made it to 100% state of charge each day and that included a video and XM radio a couple of nights. Next year we will be camped at Lake Superior Provincial Park with no shore power for a week and a half and I have confidence we will have no problems.

[Shadow Catcher]

Our experience with the seven days with out shore power in our month long trip was that we never got below 70% depth of discharge. This because of a mistake that I made in purchasing the 185W panel which was meant for a grid tie system and can put out 50+Volts in full sun, this meant I had to buy an MPPT solar controller that could handle the volts. As a result as long as there is some light it is producing some some usable current. Big Basin redwoods and Diamond O state parks were both often in deep shade and yet we made it to 100% state of charge each day and that included a video and XM radio a couple of nights. Next year we will be camped at Lake Superior Provincial Park with no shore power for a week and a half and I have confidence we will have no problems.

[jstrubberg]

If you're moving every day or every other day, you could accomplish more charging in 15 minutes from your two vehicle while on the road than your solar panel is providing all day in full sunlight.

Solar is a last ditch thing. If you are in place for a week at a time in a dry camp, solar is great. Otherwise, there are much better ways to make electricity.

[droid_ca]

sounds like a great trip and very well thought out with the umbilical connection the the tow vehicle and the solar set up just one question what is a pcm regulated computer fan?