Solar rigged for camping

Monday I dug out our 105 watt camping solar panel. Originally it was mounted on the van. Last year I screwed it to a wooden luggage rack that I built to fit on the Versa’s Thule bars. As luck would have it, the rack is almost the exact width of the luggage rack on the Blazer. It tied on nicely.

It feeds through a charge controller to a deep discharge battery. The battery has a double cigarette lighter type power connector attached with battery cables. There is also a 400 watt inverter for our small AC loads.

Thanks to having our own power, we can stay at the less expensive campsites. I need power for my c-pap device. Without it I don’t get a very good night’s sleep.

The c-pap is a necessity, but I’m really fond of my little 12 volt compressor cooler. For me one of the worse things about camping was using ice chests. Ice is expensive and it can be a hassle to find it sometimes. Food gets ruined by the cooler getting too warm, or getting soggy from melted ice. While the compressor refrigerator is small, none of the space is take up with ice.

Our solar electric system handles other odds and ends too: a Kindle reader, a phone, radio, and a fan to keep us cool. It also inflates our huge double thickness queen sized air mattress.

The small solar electric system has worked out well. Right now someone could put together a similar system for about $250. If you camp a lot it will pay for itself. For example, at the campground we are staying at now, the difference between campsites with electric and without is about $25. Thanks to having our own power, we often stay at really inexpensive or even free campgrounds.

I’m really happy to see it fits on the Blazer so well.

-Sixbears