Ace!
Gone Traveling
I have the following:
Zamp 5 Stage, 15A Deluxe Controller (indoor/outdoor use)
Grape Solar GS-Star 100W Panel
The 15A controller allows for up to 255W of solar panels. I figure I'll add another 100W panel if necessary (200W total). The controller will be mounted to the rigid panel and used as a "portable" system, although it could be hard mounted at any time.
Adding another panel and a set of MC4 connectors is the only thing necessary to go from 100W to 200W+. I have NOT used my solar yet, just have it available.
I have two AGM batteries. I recently spent three nights at sub-freezing temperatures (each night was low 20s). My battery showed 100% charged at all times, EXCEPT in the early morning (one of three mornings) while the furnace was running. At that time it showed 3/4 charged. When the furnace fan kicked off it showed 100% charged again. My take on that was that one night of lights and furnace use probably got the battery to around the 85-90% mark. I had the thermostat set at 45-degrees (the lowest setting). It was too warm sleeping (I have decent sleeping bags).
I have a 2-way (no propane) fridge, so it ran on 12V the entire trip. I don't use much in the way of power really, the fridge and furnace and keep the lighting to a minimum (usually I've been doing stuff during the day and am ready to retire early).
Each day I drove to a new camping location, at which time the batteries were fully charged again.
So, for boondocking in the same location (not driving at all during that day), two batteries with 100W solar (~5A) will likely keep the batteries fully charged most of the time (assuming decent sunlight, probably in non-winter conditions). I think 200W of solar is a much better idea though, especially for someone that wants to read or play cards or hang out with the outdoor lights on, more stuff in the evenings.
Edit: part of the purpose of my post is to give an example of what people are using that are camping cold, but also to show that two batteries will lose a significant amount of charge overnight in those conditions. 100W of solar won't do much in overcast weather, so your one battery will be twice as discharged as the two batteries (you could also say the one battery will charge twice as fast though with the solar panel). Significant discharge is what kills batteries (better to have two so that they are 70% discharged multiple times than one battery that discharged to below 50% once).
Zamp 5 Stage, 15A Deluxe Controller (indoor/outdoor use)
Grape Solar GS-Star 100W Panel
The 15A controller allows for up to 255W of solar panels. I figure I'll add another 100W panel if necessary (200W total). The controller will be mounted to the rigid panel and used as a "portable" system, although it could be hard mounted at any time.
Adding another panel and a set of MC4 connectors is the only thing necessary to go from 100W to 200W+. I have NOT used my solar yet, just have it available.
I have two AGM batteries. I recently spent three nights at sub-freezing temperatures (each night was low 20s). My battery showed 100% charged at all times, EXCEPT in the early morning (one of three mornings) while the furnace was running. At that time it showed 3/4 charged. When the furnace fan kicked off it showed 100% charged again. My take on that was that one night of lights and furnace use probably got the battery to around the 85-90% mark. I had the thermostat set at 45-degrees (the lowest setting). It was too warm sleeping (I have decent sleeping bags).
I have a 2-way (no propane) fridge, so it ran on 12V the entire trip. I don't use much in the way of power really, the fridge and furnace and keep the lighting to a minimum (usually I've been doing stuff during the day and am ready to retire early).
Each day I drove to a new camping location, at which time the batteries were fully charged again.
So, for boondocking in the same location (not driving at all during that day), two batteries with 100W solar (~5A) will likely keep the batteries fully charged most of the time (assuming decent sunlight, probably in non-winter conditions). I think 200W of solar is a much better idea though, especially for someone that wants to read or play cards or hang out with the outdoor lights on, more stuff in the evenings.
Edit: part of the purpose of my post is to give an example of what people are using that are camping cold, but also to show that two batteries will lose a significant amount of charge overnight in those conditions. 100W of solar won't do much in overcast weather, so your one battery will be twice as discharged as the two batteries (you could also say the one battery will charge twice as fast though with the solar panel). Significant discharge is what kills batteries (better to have two so that they are 70% discharged multiple times than one battery that discharged to below 50% once).
