{"id":7921,"date":"2021-04-26T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-25T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.4wdsupacentre.com.au\/news\/?p=7921"},"modified":"2021-04-20T16:07:41","modified_gmt":"2021-04-20T06:07:41","slug":"five-easy-ways-to-keep-your-camping-solar-panel-working-properly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/five-easy-ways-to-keep-your-camping-solar-panel-working-properly\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Easy Ways To Keep Your Camping Solar Panel Working Properly"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Adding a camping solar panel<\/strong> <\/a>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\u2019re camping, you\u2019ll need a solar panel for camping<\/strong><\/a> to keep your deep cycle battery<\/a><\/strong> charged!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However it\u2019s one thing to carry a solar panel<\/strong> <\/a>or a solar blanket<\/strong>,<\/a> it\u2019s 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<\/a><\/strong> anytime the sun is out, and we\u2019ve narrowed them down to the top 5. These are essential bits of info that every camper should keep tucked away in the memory banks!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. KEEP YOUR SOLAR PANEL POINTED TOWARDS THE SUN<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Let\u2019s start with the obvious one first, because it\u2019s actually something that we still see so many campers get wrong. Camping solar panels<\/a><\/strong> 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<\/a><\/strong> or solar blanket <\/a><\/strong>to keep it pointed towards the sun. Our testing has shown that a solar panel<\/strong> <\/a>that\u2019s as little as 30 degrees misaligned away from the sun can reduce output by half \u2013 that\u2019s pretty crazy! Obviously if you\u2019re out for the day and away from your campsite you can\u2019t help it much, but wherever you can, try and make a point of returning to your camping solar blanket kit<\/strong> <\/a>every couple of hours to re-angle it towards the sun \u2013 trust us, your deep cycle batteries<\/a><\/strong> will thank you for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. KEEP YOUR SOLAR PANEL CLEAN AND DUST-FREE<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      One of the best ways that you can improve the performance of your camping solar panel<\/a> <\/strong>is to keep it clean and dust-free! In a dusty campsite with cars driving past, it\u2019s good practice to give you solar blanket<\/strong> <\/a>or solar panel<\/a><\/strong> a wipe over with some warm soapy water every couple of days. We\u2019re not talking boiling water and we\u2019re not talking industrial cleaners here \u2013 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<\/a><\/strong> considerably! This is especially so if you\u2019re well out in the scrub or up the Top End where it\u2019s super dry and dusty. Try it \u2013 you\u2019ll be blown away by how much more power you get from your camping solar kit<\/strong>!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1. KEEP YOUR SOLAR REGULATOR AS CLOSE TO YOUR BATTERY AS POSSIBLE<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        Here\u2019s a vital trick that every camper should know about their portable solar panel kit<\/strong><\/a>. If your solar panel for camping<\/a><\/strong> has a removable solar regulator, you should always keep it as close to the battery<\/strong> <\/a>as possible. That way if you ever incur voltage drop on a hot day or if you\u2019re using a solar extension lead, it\u2019ll happen prior to the power entering the solar regulator, instead of afterwards. In this scenario it\u2019s a \u2018no harm no foul\u2019 sort of thing \u2013 it\u2019s 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<\/a><\/strong>. On the other\u00a0 hand, if you had voltage drop happen AFTER the regulator, you\u2019d 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\u2019s easy to see in this scenario why it\u2019s so essential to keep your camping solar panel<\/a><\/strong> regulator positioned next to your battery!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        1. KEEP YOUR CONNECTIONS IN GOOD CONDITION<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          Use any electrical gear over time, and during the process of connecting and disconnecting any electrical connections, you\u2019re 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\u2019ll get noticeable resistance built up across the connect to the point that electricity won\u2019t flow properly. The best thing to do to ensure that you get proper power out of your camping solar panel<\/strong> <\/a>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><\/strong> a favour and treat it to some new connectors. Your deep cycle battery<\/strong><\/a> will love you for it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          1. KEEP YOUR BATTERY TOPPED UP \u2013 DON\u2019T WAIT FOR IT TO GO FLAT!<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

            The fifth and final way to keep your camping solar panel<\/a><\/strong> working properly is to use it as soon as the sun is shining! Keeping your deep cycle <\/a><\/strong>battery<\/strong> <\/a>topped up and full is a much better idea than letting it get really flat and trying to recharge it with your solar panel<\/strong>.<\/a> So instead of waiting to connect your solar blanket<\/strong>, <\/a>set it out as soon as you can \u2013 even first thing in the morning! You\u2019ll no longer stress any time the sun pops behind a cloud, because you\u2019ll have plenty of power in reserve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123456,"featured_media":7922,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7921"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123456"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7921"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7923,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7921\/revisions\/7923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}