{"id":8086,"date":"2021-06-08T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.4wdsupacentre.com.au\/news\/?p=8086"},"modified":"2021-06-01T16:34:11","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T06:34:11","slug":"understanding-how-solar-fits-into-your-camping-12v-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/understanding-how-solar-fits-into-your-camping-12v-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding How Solar Fits Into Your Camping 12v System"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Camping sure has come a long way over the last decade. Even as recently as 2010, things like a camping solar panel<\/a><\/strong> were high priced items, luxury bits of gear that only a very fortunate few amongst us could afford. Here at Adventure Kings we are extremely proud of the fact that we make camping better and more affordable for everyone, and that we\u2019ve been able to help drive down the prices of quality camping solar blankets<\/a><\/strong> to a level that anyone can afford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those just starting out on their camping adventure, or for those who are coming back to camping after a hiatus, who maybe haven\u2019t been camping since they were a kid, it can all be a bit confusing. And understandably so \u2013 there are so many different camping electrical power options on the market, and if you\u2019re feeling a bit overwhelmed and aren\u2019t sure whether you need a solar panel for camping<\/a><\/strong> or not, then fear not \u2013 because you\u2019re not alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, let\u2019s start with the basics. Camping these days definitely does NOT mean roughing it \u2013 in fact it\u2019s very easy and affordable to setup a really comfy camp site that allows you to bring all the conveniences of home camping with you. And it\u2019s your camping electrical system that lets you do things like run bright camping lights, charge your phone, run a camping fridge and more. Here\u2019s where a solar panel for camping<\/strong> <\/a>comes into it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To properly understand the importance of a camping solar panel<\/a><\/strong>, we\u2019ll use an analogy that we often describe. Think of your battery that you\u2019re using to power everything you want to run while you\u2019re camping as your bank account. But if it\u2019s an AGM deep cycle battery you\u2019re running, then we need to add a little something extra into the mix \u2013 a withdrawal limit of 50% of your total bank balance. You shouldn\u2019t drain more than 50% of the electrical power out of your battery, otherwise you risk not being able to charge it back up again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So everything you connect to the battery is essentially like withdrawing money out of your bank account. Soon enough you\u2019ll have an empty bank balance, or at least you\u2019ll hit your withdrawal limit. Your camping solar panel<\/a><\/strong> then has the ability to deposit money back into your bank account \u2013 your battery \u2013 so that you can then spend it by running more electrical accessories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CAN MY CAMPING SOLAR PANEL RUN MY FRIDGE? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is one of the most common camping electrical questions we get asked. The truth is a camping solar panel<\/a><\/strong> cannot \u2018run\u2019 a camping fridge \u2013 that\u2019s not its job. It\u2019s job is to produce<\/em> power, but you still need a battery to store<\/em> that power. So the question isn\u2019t \u2018can this particular solar panel<\/a><\/strong> run my fridge\u2019 but moreso \u2018how big a solar panel do I need to recharge my battery after my fridge drains it?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OKAY THEN SMARTY-PANTS, SO HOW BIG A SOLAR PANEL DO I NEED?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, the answer to this then all depends on how much time you\u2019ve got up your sleeve. I\u2019ll say this \u2013 there\u2019s no such thing as TOO MUCH battery or camping solar panels<\/a><\/strong>. If anyone ever asks me I answer with \u2018as much as you\u2019ve got space to carry and can afford\u2019. The bigger the camping solar blanket<\/a><\/strong>, the quicker you can recharge your battery every day. Think about it like this \u2013 after a typical night\u2019s camping, most people will draw somewhere around 30amps out of their battery. That\u2019s running a fridge for 24 hours, running camp lights at night, a couple of phones being charged up, etc. A 120W solar blanket<\/a> <\/strong>may only produce a maximum of 6.75Amps per full hour of sunlight, meaning it would take somewhere around a good solid 5 hours of full sunlight to recharge your battery fully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand a big 250W folding solar panel for camping<\/strong> <\/a>with an MPPT solar regulator could produce a thumping 20A per full hour of sunlight, theoretically pumping your battery back up to completely full in about 90min.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, those timeframes come with a big caveat \u2013 and that\u2019s the issue of \u2018full sunlight\u2019. Problem is you can never truly guarantee the sun will be out when you need it to, which is why the idea of \u2018the biggest solar panel for camping<\/a><\/strong>\u2019 that you can afford and can carry, is such a good idea!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means you can make the most of the sun while it is out, and even if you aren\u2019t super stringent about angling your camping solar panel<\/a> <\/strong>or solar blanket kit<\/a><\/strong> directly at the sun, you\u2019ve got plenty of excess power to spare so you can still get your battery charged quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being able to run all the electrical accessories you want each day and then know that you can recharge your battery back up to full the next day thanks to your camping solar panels<\/a><\/strong> takes your camping experience to a whole new level. You\u2019ll wonder how you ever went camping without your trust solar panel<\/strong><\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the southern hemisphere, the sun tracks across the northern part of the sky during the day, and especially so during summer when the days are longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re planning on leaving your camping solar panel<\/a><\/strong> out for long periods while you\u2019re off somewhere else, then point it north to get as much sun as possible throughout course of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adventure Kings solar panels<\/a><\/strong> are made from highly-efficient monocrystalline solar cells, which are excellent at producing power even in cloudy conditions. Make the most of the sun by pointing your Adventure Kings solar panel north, and keep your 12v system humming!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Camping sure has come a long way over the last decade. Even as recently as 2010, things like a camping solar panel were high priced items, luxury bits of gear that only a very fortunate few amongst us could afford. Here at Adventure Kings we are extremely proud of the fact that we make camping…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123456,"featured_media":8087,"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\/8086"}],"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=8086"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8088,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8086\/revisions\/8088"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}