Originally posted by jamonrob I have a 2018 179 Hood River. What do you think of this current deal at Costco? https://www.costco.com/.product.100389117.html?&EMID=B2C_2020_0116_Automotive Coleman 100W Solar Panel With 8.5 AMP Charge Controller $119.99 Thanks

Originally posted by will910 Where did you mount your charge controller

Knowing what you will use and how to replace the use is very important, as Pod has implied/stated.

Our personal experience is a combination of charging methods.  We use our pod for long term travels-multi week , long distance journeys.  We just returned from a 11,000 mile, 12 week trip. Most of those days camping were in areas that had no power. We try to boondock if possible.

We have a Renogy 100 watt suitcase panel. We use the panel with a 25' extension cord( 12 gauge) in order to have the panel in the sun and the pod in the shade.  Our controller is mounted inside the pod and is watched closely. We try to set the panel for maximum sun angle and direction when we leave camp in the morning.  this method works for us on a daily basis to recharge if we can get as little as 3 hours of good sun.  Less sun obviously means less power put back into the batteries.

One thing that people don't talk much about is that the batteries don't have to fully charged to 100% all the time.  You can still use everything without harming a true deep cell battery.  It is made to be used-partially discharged and then recharged constantly and for many recharge/use cycles.  We are not fully 100% charged unless we  are always plugged in to an external power source. Let's talk about boondocking . Assume that you start with 100% charge. The first day and night you use the battery down to 85%. Next day your solar panel raises it back to 95%. then the next day/night cycle you use it down to  80%.  then a good day and you are back up to 100%.  and on and on. Use it up, replenish at least part of the power, but not necessarily all of it. Next day, use more, then replenish all of it.  On and on, giving and taking. Filling, using, refilling. Not 100% perhaps, but till totally usable and safe.

 Our longest stay without power was 13 days on the Oregon coast.  Our batteries never went below 75% SOC.  We had a mix of great sun, fog, clouds, partial sun  and rain. We are very careful with our power usage and can easily get 5 days or more from our 2 six volt golf cart batteries without recharging   Winter time use will increase the usage dramatically if using the heat/fan.  We use mostly 1 pound gas cylinder heaters. We run the fridge on propane always.  We do not use the water heater at all-- all of our hot water is heated on the propane stove.  We have 2 small solar lanterns that we use as much as we can. We don't use the AC or the microwave.  we have 2 12v fans  to make a breeze.  We also use a propane portable oven for baking bread or meals. We try to recharge our phones and ipads in the vehicle when driving as much as possible, but can recharge them in the pod's 12volt system. . So, as you see, we really are frugal with power. 

 I am a big advocate of solar power IF your camping style will handle it.  We are probably pretty extreme compared to most podders. We love boondocking and are willing to alter our power usage to accommodate the style.  However, I will add that we also have on several occasions used our jumper cables on our batteries when we had to.  We were very careful about attaching them correctly and in the proper order as noted in our ford owner's manual.  We also limited the time charging to 30 minutes. It brought our batteries from 50% up to 75% in 30 minutes.

when we did stay in a campground with facilities we made sure that everything we had was fully charged when we left.

Hope this helps give another perspective of power usage and recharging.
Travel safe,
Vann