These days camping definitely doesn’t have to mean roughing it! Gone are the days of soggy food, warm drinks and always constantly worrying about whether you have enough ice. Many campers are now decking their cars, 4WDs and boats out with incredible 12v power systems that allow them to run 12v accessories like portable fridges and LED lights.

If you’re running a car fridge like the Adventure Kings 12v portable fridge, you’ve most likely got a dual battery system installed in your car or 4WD. It might be something like the Adventure Kings Dual Battery System Smart Isolator, or you might even have a DC/DC charger like the CTEK D250SA. When you’re driving, this will keep your auxiliary deep cycle battery charged, but what about when you’re around camp?

That’s where solar panels come into the picture. We’re all well aware just how popular solar is these days, both at home and also around camp. But did you realise portable solar panels can actually pay for themselves in as little as one or two camping trips? It’s true!

The auxiliary deep cycle batteries we put into our vehicles like the Adventure Kings AGM deep-cycle batteries, are a worthwhile investment. They power all our 12v accessories and camping gear, but did you know that you need to look after your auxiliary deep-cycle battery and make sure it doesn’t run flat? When an auxiliary battery runs flat, it doesn’t just stop your 12v 4×4 and camping accessories from running. If it goes flat enough, you can even risk permanently damaging the battery to the point that it will struggle to be recharged. More on that in a moment.

Portable solar panels have changed the way we go camping. Hands up if you’ve ever been to a campsite you just didn’t want to leave? Us too. Solar panels allow us to camp for longer at those favourite camp sites, by ensuring that our auxiliary deep-cycle batteries don’t drop too low that they risk being damaged.

How low is too low? If your auxiliary battery starts to read anything under 11.8V, that means it’s less than half full. By 11.4V, it’s barely got 20% of its capacity left. Many 12v accessories like the Adventure Kings portable 12v fridge range have a low-voltage cut-out that will turn the 12v gear off to save your battery, but this isn’t always the case.

If you connect your 12v solar panel to your auxiliary deep-cycle battery while you’re at camp, you can continue to put anything up to 14v of power back into the battery – all while you’re sitting there relaxing and enjoying the sun! Ironically, hot days when the sun is shining its brightest will also drain your batteries quickest, because your fridge will be working harder to deal with the ambient temperatures, and everyone will constantly be opening it to grab out a nice cold drink. That’s when you definitely need solar panels for camping.

Deep-cycle auxiliary batteries start at around $200. That’s how much you’d have to pay to replace your deep-cycle battery if you accidentally kill it by running it too low while powering all your 12v gear. That means there’s a definite financial benefit to investing in a solar panel from the Adventure Kings portable 12v solar range, especially because they’re such excellent value and have features and quality normally associated with solar panels three or four times their price.

And the best part? They’re so easy to use. Whether you have one of the Adventure Kings 120W Portable Solar Blankets, or the Adventure Kings 160W or 250W Solar Panel Kits with MPPT solar regulator, it takes almost no time at all to set up your solar panels for camping and ensure that your 4×4 battery is getting a good solid charge the entire time you’re at camp.

And in the meantime, if you do happen to run your auxiliary deep-cycle battery down so low that it won’t recharge properly, all is not lost. Don’t throw the battery out yet! 4WD Supacentre has Australia’s best prices on the range of CTEK 240V battery chargers, which feature an intelligent ‘recondition’ mode that has the ability to bring old, dying batteries back to life in many cases. We’ve personally seen these chargers rescue batteries that we thought were destined for the scrap pile. 4WD Supacentre has a price-match guarantee on any CTEK products that we stock, so if you find a cheaper price anywhere, we’ll match it! Terms & conditions apply, see https://www.4wdsupacentre.com.au/terms#ctek.