power option for camping extended remote stays

Check out the many threads on Solar. To me, that is the only way to go.

Motherhen

Type in "solar panel" and "generator" in the search bar and all your questions will be answered.
Maybe.........
There is a huge amount of discussion on this subject and most people have either or both.

Keith

You only have 2 real options,a small generator or solar panels.
You need to work out much power you will need for your fridge and lighting
It also depends on how big your batteries are.
.
if you are really thrifty on your power usage,you will not need need much with 2 good size batteries.

I use a few metres of thick cable and anderson plug to recharge my singe deep cycle battery and can get 4 days without starting the engine running a wacko 50

Antdeb,

Have a look for our experiencehere in our blog. A quick look at some of our other blogs will show that our ideas about electricity have been well tested in remote areas.

Have a great trip

Cheers,

Val.

If you are intending to stay at Steep Point make sure you have booked in at least a year in advance otherwise it is a long trip in only to be told to get out again.

If you want to go to places like that you could hook up a wind generator as it will blow 20knts 2 days out of 3.

In my extended travel I have found a combination of solar and generator is how it has to be.

Solar on its own is just not enough some days. You can go a week or more under cloud and get no charge at all. Of course this means carrying petrol and oil.

On the other hand camping with generators running all the time is just not relaxing. Find a nice quiet camps site and it will be peaceful with solar.

David

antdeb,
While I am the first to admit that solar and/or generators and big battery banks is the best way to go, there is a cheaper option .

It is to run everything on gas; gas stove, 240v-12v-gas fridge and a gas lantern or two and/or a couple of LED battery torches.

OK it's not the bestest option but it is practical and cheaper to set up..
The fridge can run on 12v whenever the car is travelling (Do NOT ever run it on gas while travelling), and the gas lanterns provide plenty of light (and a bit of heat too).

I used that set up with my original 1960's work caravan until it was written off through old age in the late 80's.

The replacement caravan relied on a noisy genset for all power except cooking but as I was always camped in isolated and remote areas it didn't upset anyone with the noise.

Just another slant on your problem, hope it helps.

Disco.

Hi AntDeb

So much depends on the style of camping and areas you go to.

We do a lot of 4wding generally in rougher areas sometimes with trail bikes and have never felt the need for even the camper trailer.

Its easy to get into the trailer/big fridge senario and consequently it needs more support and also dragging the trailer limits your 4wd access options.

Rather we use tents of appropriate size for the occasion, and work at reducing our power requirements.

We find we need very little , usually a small light or two , small fridge which stays in the car and use gas cannister based cooking.

The above can only work over the long term if you have food solutions that don't require freezing etc.


In the above senario - we don't need anything other than the cars battery and run the car to charge things up etc, we can idle the car up to increase the charging rate.
On days when not driving a couple of 20 min periods a day is enough of a re-charge for us.

Most of those we travel with do have a second battery, in the car or in a portable pack.

Its much more efficent to charge these second batteries from the car with a step up voltage charger and I would reccomend this where ever your second battery is located.

Has anyone done a test of what a car alternator in amph will put out in say 1 hour at idle?
IMO when we are comparing solar to generator we should also factor in running the car for 1 hour each day.
This way we are not classed as unsociable by running a generator and when it is to overcast for solar.

Honky

To all those dependant on powered devices for camping ... and using solar and minimal use of small generators for battery charging ......

I thank you.

antdeb,
There's only ONE way it can be done continuously in *REMOTE AREAS*

-> SOLAR POWER

No requirement to: go and refill gas bottles
No requirement to: go get extra genni fuel
No requirement to: even start the vehicle

I am fortunate, in that I've been using Solar power since mid 1996 and for many times a year I've camped on desolate beaches for months at a time, so I can say I do have the personal experience to understand the situation from personal experience, also was ('PAST' tense) selling/installing the stuff too :)

Maîneÿ . . .

Antdeb ,
As you are not a member you won't be able to access the member's fileswap area where there are spreadsheets that will help wotrk out your requirements -
If you go to my website as shown below there is a free download Solar Calculator which will help in working out what equipment you need .. It is only a guide not the absolute answer but a good starting point .

Cheers

Steve

Using cars altenator isnt that easy either I dont think.
Even if is a say 80 Amp altenator it wont charge your second battery at this rate especially when second battery is "parralleled" to main starter battery
You actually transfer heaps of power from main bat to aux bat then eventually charge both as one unit. THIS TAKES TIME, much more than 30min to an hour.
Altenator senses battery draw and adjusts output to suit so if you connect 1 full battery and one empty one altenator charges at rate to suit the average of two or more likely the quickly delpleting main one.

Only way to get the altentor to charge at full rate is to connect it to each battery separately and then you can get full capacity into batteries.

As expected theres "Independant" battery controllers which sort all this out but they are expensive, so you are in the same $$ place as solar and generator.
Good part about these battery charge controllers is you can really use full power of your altenator and put back in 50-80 amp/hours in 1 hours running, and can do it any time even @ night
Solar is great just needs to be done well and limitations accepted.

There are some "strange" responses here...
Solar panels are as tough as ........
Tilting, moving and mucking about will get a max of 20% more charge compared to leaving them flat. Less than that up north.
We camp months at a time. We have no generator.
In an "emergency" our RedArc VSR will charge our house batteries at 70A from the 85A alternator. FACT.

You just need to do it right.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Motorhome

The longer in the tooth I get the less I want to rely on a fridge. Bought my first fridge in 1985 and still have it in working condition. I run a more modern one in the wagon these days though.

I cryovac all my meat and keep the fridge running at minimum cycle and switch it off at night. Carry as much as I can that does not need refrigeration. If camped at a place for a few days I have run the alternator for an hour and a half per day in three or four sessions to keep things cool. Having got by all these years without solar panels I am not inclined to buy one now. But you never know......:-)