Solar power for camping/overlanding trips installed 6 27 2009

[Corey]

Corey,

Just wanted to say thanks - your thread is very informative. I just bought the same set up you have but went for two 60W panels


Ash

Thanks Ash, and you are welcome.
I really like these Powerfilm solar panels, as I am kind of limited with the FJ as to what I can carry.

The 60 watt panel is all I need to keep the battery charged up while operating the ARB fridge and the single light in the AirLander.

I have separate self contained solar lights I will be using this season, and I will have a review on them in my review thread after my first trip this year.

 

[expdtnoffroad]

Thanks Ash, and you are welcome.
I really like these Powerfilm solar panels, as I am kind of limited with the FJ as to what I can carry.

The 60 watt panel is all I need to keep the battery charged up while operating the ARB fridge and the single light in the AirLander.

I have separate self contained solar lights I will be using this season, and I will have a review on them in my review thread after my first trip this year.

Corey beyond the obvious need for off the grid power what is the most important feature for you in your power system. Wattage, pack-ability, quality components, price, etc.?

 

[Corey]

Corey beyond the obvious need for off the grid power what is the most important feature for you in your power system. Wattage, pack-ability, quality components, price, etc.?

Pack-ability and quality.
I do not mind spending more for a quality item that I know will not let me down when I need it the most.

I know the foldable solar panels cost a lot more, but I can fit all my wiring, guyline ropes, shower curtain hooks (stuff to secure and hang it from my awing) and the panel and box it came in into a Pelican case meant for a laptop computer.
Takes up hardly any room in the rig.

 

[expdtnoffroad]

Pack-ability and quality.
I do not mind spending more for a quality item that I know will not let me down when I need it the most.

I know the foldable solar panels cost a lot more, but I can fit all my wiring, guyline ropes, shower curtain hooks (stuff to secure and hand it from my awing) and the panel and box it came in into a Pelican case meant for a laptop computer.
Takes up hardly any room in the rig.

Corey,

Thanks for the reply. I have to compliment you on a very compact and well thought out system. I am looking forward to seeing your future product reviews.

 

[expdtnoffroad]

Have you had any issues with keeping your system charged being in the North West? You may have already answered this question but I would still be interested to hear. Is a 60 watt panel enough for the sunlight condition in your area vs. your power needs?

 

[Corey]

Corey,

Thanks for the reply. I have to compliment you on a very compact and well thought out system. I am looking forward to seeing your future product reviews.

Thanks, I reviewed the solar setup back in 2009, it is in my gear review thread in the camping section.

Have you had any issues with keeping your system charged being in the North West? You may have already answered this question but I would still be interested to hear. Is a 60 watt panel enough for the sunlight condition in your area vs. your power needs?

Summer time when I mostly camp is not a problem here, even with a lot of trees like where I like to camp at.
As long is it gets some sun during the day, it keeps the battery topped off.

I would not mind seeing setup that I could maybe replace my current charge controller that had plugins in it to run some of those 3 watt lights you carry.

I would have to get pictures of my plug ends, or maybe keep the stock controller, but get one of those 350 batteries so it could power some of those lights, and be able to hook up to my cabling so I could charge the 350 while the solar panel is disconnected from my battery.
Or run it right from my battery.
A couple of different ways to run those lanterns you have.

I have five of these, but the output is not as much as the 3 watt ones you have.
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Nokero-N100-Solar-Light-Bulb/dp/B004ARSQN2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1302368040&sr=8-1"]Amazon.com: Nokero N100 Solar Light Bulb: Home & Garden[/ame]

I will have to find out why Amazon stopped carrying them, as I got them in two days being a Prime member verses two weeks when I ordered my first three, they had to ship from Hong Kong to my home.

 

[expdtnoffroad]

The 350 is a very cool unit. Coupled with the UI (Universal Inverter) it makes for a very diverse little power pack. I am interested to see how the Nokero solar lights work for you. If you wanted to come up with a solution for the 3 watt Light-a-Life or Estrella I'm sure that I would be able to help you out on the plug jacks. I love the fact that the Light-a-Life's are chainable and come with an integrated carabiner. At 270 lumens the Light-a-life is very bright for a single unit. The Estrella is more of a focused beam and down right blinding. We could easily come up with an output on the charge controller for the 3 watt lights alone.

 

[Corey]

So your charge controller would simply replace the Brunton one I have now?

So the lanterns would be pulling directly from my battery, unless I wanted to go for that 350 battery, and the lamps daisy chain to the 350.

Any idea on about how many amps five or six of those lanterns would pull?
270 lumens is quite bright.
My Surefire G2X Pro puts out 200 lumens, and I can light up the side of a building with it, my coworkers and supervisor were quite impressed with it.

Yes, can not wait to see how the little Nokeros do.

 

[expdtnoffroad]

So your charge controller would simply replace the Brunton one I have now?

So the lanterns would be pulling directly from my battery, unless I wanted to go for that 350 battery, and the lamps daisy chain to the 350.

Any idea on about how many amps five or six of those lanterns would pull?
270 lumens is quite bright.
My Surefire G2X Pro puts out 200 lumens, and I can light up the side of a building with it, my coworkers and supervisor were quite impressed with it.

Corey you are correct. The charge controller would replace the Brunton controller. You could set the Light-a-Life lanterns up to pull directly off the battery, cigarette outlet, or the charge controller (Solarland Controller). You can chain up to 12 Light-a-Life lanterns together.

The Light-a-Life's are really bright at 270 lumens but the light is a very even ambient light. The Light-a-Life's pull 3 watts each. They actually come with a cigarette adapter so you can use them as a stand alone unit.

 

[Corey]

Thanks.
I may end up just keeping my charge controller, and what I would like to do is pick up the 350 and inverter later.
I would charge it at home on 110v, then when using it in camp to charge up the two cameras I use and maybe a few of those Light-a-Lifes, I could hook the 350 to my Powerfilm solar panel after I unplug it from my charge controller.

I will have to get you better pictures of the end plug from the Powerfilm to see if it can be mated to the 350 to charge it back up while in the field.

Looking at this picture I can see the 12v outlet and a USB one, (need USB for charging the GoPro HD helmet cam) but I do not see a 110 volt outlet.
I would need 110v to charge up the Sony batteries for my main digital camera.

Is there a way to get 110v too?
Or I can look around to see if Sony has a 12v charger for my camera.

 

[expdtnoffroad]

It wouldn't be a problem to get you the proper plug jacks to use with your current panel. The 110 /220 is on the other side of the inverter. The nice thing is that you can run the AC and DC simultaneously.

 

[Corey]

Thanks, that is nice that it has the 110v outlets on it too then.

I will get better pics later, but this pic from my first post shows the black cable from the panel going into a red cable adapter and then to the black receptacle that goes into my grille and then to the charge controller.

If you have an adapter that could mate right to the panels end plug to the 350 that would be great.
A good closeup picture will help I am sure.

I could see a lot of uses for the 350/inverter kit in camp.

 

[Corey]

OK, I got you some close-ups, hopefully you can find out from them if the cable from my Powerfilm panel can mate to the 350/inverter.

The 15' cable that plugs into the solar panel here is part number RA-7.
The plug end in the picture is the output end that would need to mate up to a plug from you to join to the 350/inverter.
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Powerfilm-Ra-7-15-Extension-Cord/dp/B001RM9KCO"]Amazon.com: Powerfilm Ra-7 15' Extension Cord: Sports & Outdoors[/ame]

I then plug that cable now into an adapter cable that is a few feet long that then plugs into the receptacle that in in my grill, and that receptacle goes to the charge controller.

 

[expdtnoffroad]

We can just build a little adapter for the panel to use it with the 350. I'll post up with more info in a bit.

 

[Corey]

Looking forward to it.