Solar power is awesome – it’s free, silent power from the sun that keeps your Deep Cycle Battery charged up and your Camping Fridge icy cold. when you’re choosing your Portable Solar Kit for camping what you’ll want to look for is not only a high quality solar panel, but also that it’s the right panel for what you need. there’s no reason to get a big fold out panel if you’re the sort of camper who’s driving from dawn till dusk – and similarly if you’re the kind of camper who stays at the one campsite all the time, it might be a good idea to avoid permanent solar as it means you’ll have to camp in the sun, rather than pick the best, shaded site!

One of the first things to look for is the type of panel – most consumer level panels will either be monocrystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicon or amorphous silicon. Monocrystalline is the most efficient by area while it is slightly more expensive than polycrystalline panels it’s much more affordable than amorphous types. Adventure Kings Solar Panels only use grade a monocrystalline silicon solar cells – the highest grade of mono crystalline which means it has even more improved efficiency specs compared to polycrystalline or amorphous while even having higher efficiency that lower grade mono crystalline cells. This is because there are less imperfections in the cells themselves. As well as the cells, it’s important to look at the number of bus bars on the panels. Bus Bars are the silver lines of wire that join each of the solar cells together and carry the power through the panel. Older technology panels might have 2 or 3 bus bars but modern panels are getting more and more which lead to less voltage drop and higher efficiency. Adventure Kings Solar Panels have a minimum of 4 bus bars, with some models offering 5 or 6 and some offering up to 12! One exception to the rule though are those solar panels that use shingle cell technology, where the cells are positioned similar to a tiled roof, with each cell overlapping the next by a tiny amount. The Adventure Kings 250W Folding Solar Blanket has these high tech cells and you won’t see any bus bars because they’re hidden underneath the cells, allowing more sun to hit the silicon and get even more power! If you’re wondering how camping solar panels work… when sunlight hits the silicon in a solar cell, electrons are knocked loose and travel along the silver lines (bus bars) and then into the red and black wires. the more cells and bigger the panel, the more electrons get knocked off = more power. The power, made up of the flow of electrons, goes through the regulator where it’s adjusted to suit the camping battery charge requirements and recharge it. By keeping it connected it ensures your deep cycle battery is always topped up full so that your battery power is ready to be used

Because you need a regulator to ensure your solar set up works, you’d ideally want to choose a portable solar setup that comes with everything you need to charge your battery, including a regulator. Adventure Kings Solar Kits come with wiring, a pair of alligator clips and a regulator and they use Anderson style quick-connect plugs to make set up super fast and easy. MPPT stands for Maximum Power Point Tracking  and it basically means you get more power from the same panel compared to using a PWM or even older switch type regulator. MPPT is a modern technology that works in a similar fashion to a DC-DC charger. It gets more power out of the same panel compared to other regulators, because it’s able to take advantage of the higher voltage of a solar panel input and boost the current of the output – by doing that they are able to charge your battery faster and more efficiently. Of course a DC-DC charger with a built-in MPPT regulator is even better, because it not only charges from your solar, but from your alternator while you’re driving, for an all-in-one system.

Another consideration is how easy it is to setup your camping solar kit – you don’t want to be fumbling around  with difficult or confusing wiring and Adventure Kings Solar Kits are on your side there – they’re so easy to set up, not only because they come with everything you need but also because they all connect together with Anderson style quick-connect plugs. All you need to do is fold out or set up your solar and face it towards the sun (straight towards the sun gives you the most power), then step 2 plug your regulator into your battery box (use included alligator clips to connect direct to battery terminals). Step 3 connect the included 4m lead (unless it’s already connected, like some Adventure Kings Portable Panels) and then step 4 leave your solar set up and charging in the sun. Your regulator will adjust the required charge keeping your deep cycle battery topped up without overcharging. 

Finally you want to consider how to size your portable solar panel – our figure out how many watts you need. When it comes to solar, bigger power is generally better – it means you can charge your deep cycle batteries up faster and make the most of the sun while it’s out. If you’re running a fridge and other 12v gear, having a bigger solar panel like the Adventure Kings 250W Folding Solar Panel will be able to supply enough power to charge your deep cycle battery and run appliances like your camping fridge. On the other hand a smaller panel may only just cover the power used, or not supply enough causing your battery to still discharge slowly. This might suit you if you’re only planning to go away for a weekend and need to just keep the battery going, before you charge it back up at home, and in that case something like a 120W folding blanket makes life easy! For more information or help, make sure you check out part two on which style of solar is right for you!