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techntrek 
Admin Group - pHp 
Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9062 |
 Topic: Any other solar power people out there?Posted: 10 May 2012 at 8:01pm |
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Actually there are water-from-air devices, mostly small water coolers, although this article talks about larger ones. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_water_generator
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bhamster
Senior Member 
Joined: 19 May 2011 Location: Washington Online Status: Offline Posts: 165 |
Posted: 10 May 2012 at 6:26pm |
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We've been using a 30-watt "briefcase" panel from GoalZero:
along with the battery minder solar charger: I use a single group 24 lifeline AGM battery that has a very low self-discharge rate and it allows us to camp without electrical hookups indefinitely. We did a 2 week trip to Yellowstone last year and it worked perfectly. I have a 20ft extension cord so that I can put the panel in the sunniest part of the campsite and the charger actually fits inside the battery case. The battery was brought back to a full charge every day and had enough surplus energy to charge two cell phones and some random NiMH batteries. When the trailer is parked I use a less-obvious (and less expensive) 10 watt panel that I put on top of the propane tank. It keeps the trailer topped off when not in use. I should mention that our usage pattern is very minimal. At night we use lights (LED only), water pump, and heater blower (if it's cold). During the day we'll run the fan, charge devices, or run accessories since we have the surplus energy from the panel. So it doesn't work for everyone, but it's great for us. Now only if we could harvest drinking water from the air and vaporize our waste... then we could really go off the grid.
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secretbard
Senior Member
Joined: 12 Apr 2011 Location: Budd Lake, NJ Online Status: Offline Posts: 195 |
Posted: 08 May 2012 at 8:19pm |
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Thanks guys. This is a very informative thread.
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2010 Rpod 172 :)
2004 Chevy Trailblazer |
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Alex&Marie
Groupie 
Joined: 25 Feb 2012 Location: Virginia Online Status: Offline Posts: 63 |
Posted: 08 May 2012 at 12:52pm |
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nice write up and thanks for the pictures. I have been thinking of doing something along those lines as well.
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Alex and Marie
2012 R-pod 177 2006 Toyota Tundra 
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techntrek
Admin Group - pHp
Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9062 |
Posted: 05 May 2012 at 9:03pm |
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parbogas - 12.7 is the normal resting voltage of a fully charged battery, not currently being charged or drained. A battery in "float" on a charger should be in the mid-13's like you see from the converter. Sounds to me like your battery isn't being charged at all.
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geklund
Newbie 
Joined: 27 May 2011 Location: Sequim, WA Online Status: Offline Posts: 12 |
Posted: 05 May 2012 at 5:29pm |
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I use the 28 watt rollable solar panel from PowerFilm Solar. It is flexible, weatherproof and lightweight. I install it on whichever side of the rPod is facing the sun using suction cup hangers. Here it is installed on the curved front of our 182G:  I have installed a 12v receptacle attached to the batteries on the front tongue, where I plug the solar panel into the rPod system.   Between the solar panel and the 12v outlet is a regulator which keeps the current flowing in the correct direction:  I have also installed a Volt Minder in the garage 12v outlet to monitor the voltage of my batteries. In this photo it shows 13.39 volts from the solar panel in almost full sun:  The whole setup works like a champ when I am not connected to shore power. The beauty of the PowerFilm panel is I can just lay it on the ground if it is too windy to stick to the rPod or if the rPod is in total shade. Also, it works great if I just want to use it by itself to charge my tablet or cell phone. |
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182G 2011 Hood River Edition
F-150 5.4L |
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parbogas
Newbie
Joined: 22 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 6 |
Posted: 04 May 2012 at 2:37pm |
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Have solar panels from Costco. Have noticed that the internals of the R-pod charging system gives me about 13.7 volts on a full charge. My panels give me about 12.7 (about a 2/3 charge). Does this seem normal?
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BlueAudi
Newbie
Joined: 25 Jan 2012 Location: WA/TX Online Status: Offline Posts: 15 |
Posted: 03 May 2012 at 12:49pm |
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Ok, I walked into Camping World yesterday as a slightly overwhelmed girl and after some more confusion and overwhelming info, I walked out more informed and headed in the right direction. I think
 I went in to buy a battery disconnect but after grilling the guy in the parts department, I left the disconnect there. Fully explaining our situation and all the facts (way too many to go into on this forum) he said that what I needed and wanted was the solar film. We have no way to connect to shore power between camping trips so we are going to manually disconnect the batteries while in storage between trips and use the trickle charger to maintain a charge on the batteries. We know it won't allow them to keep a full charge we are simply trying to prevent them from going dead between trips. We are averaging a trip a month right now, so it should do the trick. It is still cool up here in NW Washington and we have our fingers crossed. I'll let you know what benefit we see from the powerfilm charger, if any. Thanks again for all of the insight and suggestions! You folks are a great bunch of people! |
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2012 RP-177, 'Poddy Mouth'
'07 FJ Cruiser |
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TIDALWAVE
Senior Member
Joined: 21 Nov 2009 Location: MINNESOTA Online Status: Offline Posts: 315 |
Posted: 02 May 2012 at 11:01am |
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I store my Pod batteries in a cool (not cold) area during the off-season. I use a good solid-state battery charger that has 'float-mode'. It is only 2 amps, 12VDC. I 'charge' the batteries about every 3-4 weeks. Checking the charge...the two batteries are never below 90% full charge when I connect them. As soon as it warms up, I connect the batteries into the Pod. I then plug the Pod into a 120VAC outlet. The Pod's charger does an excellent job in keeping the batteries fully charged without loosing any water.
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TIDALWAVE
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techntrek
Admin Group - pHp
Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9062 |
Posted: 02 May 2012 at 10:43am |
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If 13 watts is the rated output of the solar panel, it won't be enough to keep them topped off even if you disconnect the battery from the pod as Keith-N-Dar recommended. Most trickle chargers are rated for 1 to 1 1/2 amps, for a single battery. 13 watts, after wire and other losses will end up being closer to 1/2 amp into the batteries. With two batteries that is only 1/4 amp per battery - not enough to overcome the natural discharge rate, even in the winter when that process happens more slowly. You need something closer to 50 watts.
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Any other solar power people out there?
