Adding a camping solar panel to your camping gear is an incredible upgrade that will let you camp better and camp for longer! These days between camping fridges, LED camp lights and wanting to charge phones, Bluetooth speakers, drones and more, the need for proper camping electrical systems is crucial. And unless you want to sit there with your car idling the entire time you’re camping, you’ll need a solar panel for camping to keep your deep cycle battery charged!

However it’s one thing to carry a solar panel or a solar blanket, it’s another thing altogether get the most out of it. There are a few little tricks and tips you should know to get the most out of your camping solar panel anytime the sun is out, and we’ve narrowed them down to the top 5. These are essential bits of info that every camper should keep tucked away in the memory banks!

1. KEEP YOUR SOLAR PANEL POINTED TOWARDS THE SUN

Let’s start with the obvious one first, because it’s actually something that we still see so many campers get wrong. Camping solar panels work best when they are pointed directly at the sun, giving the solar cells full sunlight to produce as much power as possible. Obviously the sun tracks across the sky during the day, so wherever possible remember to continue moving your solar panel or solar blanket to keep it pointed towards the sun. Our testing has shown that a solar panel that’s as little as 30 degrees misaligned away from the sun can reduce output by half – that’s pretty crazy! Obviously if you’re out for the day and away from your campsite you can’t help it much, but wherever you can, try and make a point of returning to your camping solar blanket kit every couple of hours to re-angle it towards the sun – trust us, your deep cycle batteries will thank you for it.

2. KEEP YOUR SOLAR PANEL CLEAN AND DUST-FREE

One of the best ways that you can improve the performance of your camping solar panel is to keep it clean and dust-free! In a dusty campsite with cars driving past, it’s good practice to give you solar blanket or solar panel a wipe over with some warm soapy water every couple of days. We’re not talking boiling water and we’re not talking industrial cleaners here – just a bit of water out of the billy you boiled up an hour ago, plus some mild dishdrops on a cloth are all you need. That dust can crazily enough substantially reduce the output of your solar panel considerably! This is especially so if you’re well out in the scrub or up the Top End where it’s super dry and dusty. Try it – you’ll be blown away by how much more power you get from your camping solar kit!

3. KEEP YOUR SOLAR REGULATOR AS CLOSE TO YOUR BATTERY AS POSSIBLE

Here’s a vital trick that every camper should know about their portable solar panel kit. If your solar panel for camping has a removable solar regulator, you should always keep it as close to the battery as possible. That way if you ever incur voltage drop on a hot day or if you’re using a solar extension lead, it’ll happen prior to the power entering the solar regulator, instead of afterwards. In this scenario it’s a ‘no harm no foul’ sort of thing – it’s no big deal if for instance you get 21 volts out of your panel that drops to 20 volts prior to the regulator, as the regulator will still put 14 volts into your deep cycle battery. On the other  hand, if you had voltage drop happen AFTER the regulator, you’d have in the same scenario 21 volts going into the regulator, 14 volts coming out of the regulator and only 13 volts potentially making it into your battery. It’s easy to see in this scenario why it’s so essential to keep your camping solar panel regulator positioned next to your battery!

4. KEEP YOUR CONNECTIONS IN GOOD CONDITION

Use any electrical gear over time, and during the process of connecting and disconnecting any electrical connections, you’re bound to wear them down. When that happens, the electrical connects build up resistance and start to wear out, and sooner rather than later you’ll get noticeable resistance built up across the connect to the point that electricity won’t flow properly. The best thing to do to ensure that you get proper power out of your camping solar panel is to periodically remove the quick-connect fittings and give them a sand with some light-grit sand paper. Remove any worn or burnt looking bits on the contact areas of the electrical fittings, and make sure that you test the connections to check that they make good physical contact with each other. If the connectors are looking a bit worn, do your camping solar panel a favour and treat it to some new connectors. Your deep cycle battery will love you for it!

5. KEEP YOUR BATTERY TOPPED UP – DON’T WAIT FOR IT TO GO FLAT!

The fifth and final way to keep your camping solar panel working properly is to use it as soon as the sun is shining! Keeping your deep cycle battery topped up and full is a much better idea than letting it get really flat and trying to recharge it with your solar panel. So instead of waiting to connect your solar blanket, set it out as soon as you can – even first thing in the morning! You’ll no longer stress any time the sun pops behind a cloud, because you’ll have plenty of power in reserve.