Community Forums

MCCOHENS · 07-06-2021, 08:53 AM

Just saw this and it seems very interesting. Integrated battery, inverter and charger with solar panel input on the biggest one. Has anyone tried this or a similar product. I like it because it is portable and can be moved from one camper to another. We may be upsizing this year so while off the grid power is appealing while boondocking I want something to take along into the new camper.

Diesel-Lover · 07-06-2021, 10:52 AM

Its a neat unit the 1200, portability is good as are the builtin charger/inverter functionality It won't drive most AC units, cook tops or other heavy power needing appliances, (instant startup wattage plus time duration) for light picnic type set up its great. If you are going to boon dock you will most likely need a beefier process in storage capacity and solar panels etc etc.

If you could extend the battery bank with external Li battery, that would increase its versatility. Good luck on your endeavors.

Component prices for solar setups are generally getting more economical with time and increase in popularity. I was once thinking a single solar wall unit or something similar would be an awesome thing to put on the RV! 7Kw of power for 5 K ish, they were about 7.5K a few years ago. Similar products are even more competitively priced.

rrsutherland · 07-31-2021, 08:27 AM

Hmmm..... Just briefly checked out Wagan site ad and saw they offer alternative charging methods for their 1200 cube but I didn't see any elaboration of this in that ad. Most interesting to me was the wind charging option. Living in Wyoming we certainly have no shortage of that resource! Probably more windy days than sunny ones

Anyone know of small portable wind turbine battery charging options out there?

Diesel-Lover · 07-31-2021, 11:16 AM

For low wattage windmills up to 550W you can find em on many boat parts web sites as well as your local big box hardware and construction supply store sites. Those are nice, but the plastic blades, they did not last for my application. Electric Production was good, noise was low as it was mounted nice and high on the masthead! Kept us in power while gunkholing, the maritime version of boon docking! Oh yes keeps the birds at bay as well! If you still have the crankup antenna mast, heck you could implement one on it!

rrsutherland · 08-01-2021, 10:33 AM

Many thanks Diesel-Lover for sharing your insight! Looked at some boat systems and while interesting I think the wind range at which they work well might be a bit narrow for the price tag and the practicality of the set up. Views of the lakes I like camp and fish at here in Wyoming are not usually encumbered by a bunch of trees cluttering up the landscape

so I reckon I'll pursue portable solar panels (sweeping snow off my roof when ice fishing doesn't seem appealing). Thanks again and have a great summer!

Phil G. · 08-01-2021, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrsutherland

Many thanks Diesel-Lover for sharing your insight! Looked at some boat systems and while interesting I think the wind range at which they work well might be a bit narrow for the price tag and the practicality of the set up. Views of the lakes I like camp and fish at here in Wyoming are not usually encumbered by a bunch of trees cluttering up the landscape

so I reckon I'll pursue portable solar panels (sweeping snow off my roof when ice fishing doesn't seem appealing). Thanks again and have a great summer!

Yep ... portable panels are the way to go, especially foldable portable panels like these for the ultimate in compactness. Check out the 220W 14lb. model from these:
https://www.powerfilmsolar.com/produ...-solar-panels/

rrsutherland · 08-01-2021, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil G.

Yep ... portable panels are the way to go, especially foldable portable panels like these for the ultimate in compactness. Check out the 220W 14lb. model from these:
https://www.powerfilmsolar.com/produ...-solar-panels/

Very uneducated when it comes to electrical stuff (gonna have to get on the stick when it come to that) but in the description it says best use for 24 volt battery charging. My system is 12v.