On our ‘wild’ camp sites, it can be a problem keeping phones, tablets and cameras fully charged and Andy S described his solution to this problem by using solar power – see Newsletter May 2022). Andy subsequently agreed to present a talk on the use of solar power at a Cody social meeting held at Frensham Pond SC club house on March 10th 2023.

The meeting began with a sumptuous four course meal organised by Stephen D who arranged for each participant to bring a contribution to the meal. The result was an excellent and diverse spread of food accompanied by drinks from the bar, managed by FPSC Vice Commodore Kate.

Andy described a small solar panel fitted out with a controller (bought as a set) and a separate 12AH battery, the solar cell and controller being attached to a homemade base which also held a number of different connectors. The unit was easily capable of keeping phones charged and the battery would also power an LED strip light. Steve also showed a larger panel and battery but essentially fitted out in a similar way. The importance of a suitable battery for storing power was stressed especially as it provided power for a range of applications. (Note, simple, off-the-shelf solar power chargers for phones, etc can be bought but typically, these only have a USB output terminal and have no power storage facility which would be suitable for lights, etc.)

Steve discussed the use of larger solar cells and batteries for providing an input to inverters and thus a higher voltage output (for high voltage devices) but also noted that there was a loss of power through inverter inefficiency. Nevertheless, the use of inverters for powering induction cookers attracted a good deal of interest!

The number of questions and resulting discussion indicated the high degree of interest in Andy’s approach to solar panel use and we may see much more use being made of solar power in future camps – even to the extent of charging outboard motor batteries or even to heat tents! Many thanks must be given to Andy (and Steve) for encouraging our interest and also to Stephen for organising the evening meal.

(Editor’s note: many of us have used solar power to heat water for showers directly, thus making more efficient use of solar energy. Interestingly, there are solar powered grills and camping heaters available on Amazon……)