Solar energy | solar power:

Sunshine is available in unlimited quantities. But what about electricity? - "Free and wild" camping. For many, including us, a dream. Water and electricity are the essential factors for independence. This we have, on our last tour, quickly had to understand.

No power means that neither cooler, nor heater, nor cell phone, nor computer, nor, nor... works. - In a pinch, you can survive a few days without this "luxury". But who wants that? - So that the dream of freedom and adventure becomes reality, own current and current storage is thus the first step toward independence. Autarky then additionally includes the topic Water. But here we are talking about electricity for the time being.

Our first step towards generating our own electricity was a 120 watt solar bag. - Already when waking up was often our first thought to set them up. No sooner said than done, because without energy supply our battery was quickly at the limit. - In the meantime we are a few steps further. This is how the whole thing looks today:

Our solar project:

In the meantime, we are really enjoying our solar project. Especially since, compared to campers with their flat roof modules, we have the advantage of being able to align both our solar bag and our roof module in such a way that they continue to be effective, despite the flat sun. For us, at the end of the evening, it means we can spend an extra day on the beach. Water and electricity, these have become elementary issues for us. They mean freedom and independence.

Rules of thumb:

Here are a few more rules of thumb for solar yield. - Please note, I am not a professional. I apologize for any errors and welcome any comments.

The wattage of a solar module gives the average daily yield in Wh in summer (meaning May to October).

So a 100Wp solar panel generates 400Wh on an average summer day (more on nice days, less on bad days).

Our 120W solar bag at the time should thus realize, on a summer day, an average of 480Wh.

Allegedly, in the winter, in the worst case, only a quarter of the yield from the summer can be expected. So far, we cannot confirm this, because our yields have been above average so far. And this despite low sun and partly cloudy skies. But who complains about additional yields. - But we keep an eye on it and will report further. Our biggest yield so far was on St. Nicholas with 530Wh. Should we now complain to Santa Claus 😉.

The yield of solar modules is influenced by a variety of factors.

The solar yield is significantly influenced by:

•     Irradiation (strength, angle)
•     Pollution (modules, atmosphere)
•     Temperature (modules, environment)
•     Alignment

If, for example, a tree casts some shade, the effect is immediately apparent on the app. The right charge controller also seems to be an elementary topic here.

How much other system components influence the yield (charging control, wiring, cabling, etc.), I can not yet assess exactly.

But several of our neighbors also swear by the Victron SmartSolar 75/15 MPPT charge controller included in our package. So we seem to have been lucky, or not unlucky, in that we chose the right partner.

It is important to us to fully charge the battery regularly so that the longest possible service life can be achieved.

What has surprised me the most so far are the still quite positive yields of one of our neighbors. His solar bag has been in use for a long time and looks more than worn out. The protective film is off in large areas. The modules are scratched from daily use in the sand. Nevertheless, the values are only slightly worse than with our new module. That gives us courage for the future.

PS: Here you can find our SpaceCampers Equipment details, our SpaceCamper Expansion, the SpaceCamper Detail equipment "Last Call, as well as SpaceCamper Insider tips.

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The freedom of camping and how to remove its limitation - with a solar bag

Man strives for bliss and this he achieves only with freedom. And we have that through our motorhome. Vanlife allows us to go wherever we want. But there are two limitations to vanlife: water and electricity. In principle, you also have this dependence in a conventional apartment, but there these things are regulated from outside, if you pay your money regularly. In a van, you have to be a bit more responsible. We have already lifted the limits that were set for us by the water through our water tank. Now we have maximized our freedom by buying a new solar bag. Here you can read more about the benefits and numbers of this bag and how it changed our vanlife.

"The sun doesn't send us a bill" - Self-check solar bag

Camping equals independence - right? Indeed, but only if you also make yourself independent. No independence without your own electricity. Torgit and I took this step with our solar bag. How exactly do you use a solar bag? Quite simply, it is concealed with an outside power connection. Unlike solar panels permanently attached to the roof, the solar panel can always rotate with the sun. An integrated elevation helps. So you are not forced to move your van. Thanks to our pop-up roof, the solar module can be aligned well even when the sun is flat. For us, this means that we can stay one day longer on the spot (for example at the seaside) thanks to the solar bag. There are many possibilities for the installation location of your solar panel. In some cases, a tree might be a good alternative. Since the solar module is foldable, it is easy to stow away compactly when you move on. When folded, the module measures 560 x 440 x 100mm and weighs 5kg.

And what do the numbers say about our solar bag?

The external power connection, in our case a 15A on-board power supply, is mounted hidden. To store our electricity we use two lithium ion camping batteries from RELION Rb100D. The battery has a capacity of 100Ah and is therefore our own small power plant. Our super flat solar system consists of two panels with 200Wp each. Previously we had a solar pocket of 120Wp - so a real increase and optimization of our solar output. From the solar cells of our Offgridtec© FSP 2 Ultra from Sunpower the power goes directly to the battery via the included Victron SmartSolar 75/15 MPPT charge controller. You can easily check the charge of the battery via Bluetooth on your cell phone. As additional features, there is a charge booster of 50A for intelligent and gentle charging, as well as a battery monitor with deep discharge protection. Another helper is the battery computer for a 2/3 battery. This measures voltage, consumption and state of charge of a battery.

Very concrete - The yield of the solar pocket and external influences

The wattage output of a solar panel gives the average daily yield in summer (May-October). A 100 watt peak solar panel produces about 400 watt-hours (Wh) per day. Our former 120Wp solar panel yielded about 480Wh on a summer day - however, we had our record of 530Wh on St. Nicholas. Besides the power of the module, however, other factors influence the solar yield of solar modules. One of these factors is the irradiation angle and strength; however, these can be compensated quite well with the orientation of our installation roof and the solar pocket. In addition, the ambient as well as the module temperature, but also possible module and atmospheric pollution play a role. To keep the lifetime of our battery as long as possible, we fully charge our battery as often as possible. However, the experience with this solar pocket of some of our camper neighbors seems to be quite positive. It seems that the solar yield decreases only minimally even after years of use. So we are very confident about a common future with the solar bag.