Go camping without my solar panels ? Never again ! I did not realize how dependant I really was for solar power energy, Until we went away to the Petroglyphs Provincial Park this fall.
It was getting late, and we brought our laptop for the first time. We rented Saving Mr Banks, and thought we'd take in a move before settling in for the night. The lap top battery was about to die half way through the movie.
No problem I thought, I'll just plug it into my 200 watt inverter which feeds off the teardrop trailer's battery. Well guess what ? The trailer battery was almost dead, too. This was my first summer taking multiple trips with our newest teardrop trailer, and no Solar panels on the roof. And, I never recharged the battery.
Normally, Our 2-3 hour trips to our destinations and the entire day the trailer is exposed to the sunlight has always been enough to keep our battery fully charged. We never pay for electrical, We're always off the grid. Well needless to say, we went to bed without seeing the end of our movie. As I lay there that night, slowly dozing off, I swore I would never go camping again with my teardrop trailer without my solar panel on the roof. The last trailer had 45 watts, which seemed to be more then enough for our weekend getaways. This time, It's over kill. 3 - 18 watt solar panels - 54 watts in total. That will be the last time I'm out in the middle of nowhere without a fully charged battery.
Camping on a non electrical campsite - $40 Camping with a solar powered teardrop trailer on a non electrical campsite - Priceless..