I want to build a portable solar system to take camping. I want to run a 1500w tea kettle, charge a phone, and power a string of LED lights for a few hours at night.

My thought was to build a cart, put 2x12v batteries in it, mount a charge controller and inverter, and top it with a solar panel.

I have a basic understanding of electricity, but have never built a solar power system before.  Looking for advice from those experienced with solar.  What ratings for solar panel output, charge controller, and inverter would you buy for this setup?

That tea kettle is going to massively increase the size, cost and weight of the build. Can you find an alternative non electric method to make your tea? If you can the size could be quite manageable.

I have a thermette that I use to boil water, and a percolater that I use to make coffee on the fire.  I was just hoping to bring our one luxury to the woods.

Where we will camp there is no cell signal, it's pretty remote. Phones are usually off anyway.  The main goal will be to run that kettle. Charging phones and running led lights would just be extra gravy.

I might try to run a small pump to help move water, if I can find one that fits the system too.

Buy this for your boiling water:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ENDRORM?tag=vglnk-c102-20



Buy one of these for your phone and lights:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JIWQPMW?tag=vglnk-c102-20;14957300490040384600010070302008005&linkCode=df0&creative=395129&creativeASIN=B01JIWQPMW


Trying to boil water with battery power is never a good idea.


This would power your kettle for about 20-30 min:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007Q23YC6?tag=vglnk-c102-20

I'm a big tea/coffee drinker and its' the water, not the kettle, that makes a difference.

Get something like the MSR Pocket Rocket above, or my Sterno Inferno with Trangia alcohol stove, which will boil 16oz. of water in 4-5 minutes using yellow HEET.

Much easier than lugging huge 12v batteries around and a 1500w tea kettle.  

I've got a 12vdc 60w portable solar setup and it's not always easy to charge things back up and that kettle is going to hit even 100Ah batteries hard.  12.5A at 120v (inverter) then figure in inefficiency losses in both the inverter and the charge controller and you better be out in the desert with a lot of sun-hours, especially if you're firing up the kettle multiple times a day.

Chris

Don't try to bring luxury to the outdoors!  Move from tent to cabin camping if you need luxury minimal equipment required and they can be comfortable.

Just my .02
Bill

Thanks for the ideas.  I currently use a JetBoil for my field expedient coffee.  When we camp it usually gets our first cup going while the percolator is brewing.  The battery pack is an option for emergency charging for the phones, but we would have to drive to get a signal anyway and could use the car charger (unless it was the apocalypse and EVERYTHING was going wrong).

The GoalZero pack is an interesting option.  I was hoping to scrap one together cheaper than that, if that's even possible.  I am also a little unsure about their proprietary battery.  I think it might be cheaper to chain a couple car batteries together and put them in the cart, and easier to replace down the road.  I had also wondered about the efficiency of the panels, and had considered only using the cart to lug them around, then lay several out as an array for optimum charging.  Have you used that pack?  What kind of performance are you getting out of it?

Tagged.

The 1500w draw is going to be an ass kicker. Honestly, if that's what you want to run, you would be better off with a Honda 2000 generator. That option will also be cheaper and more reliable for a mobile setup. The Honda gens are not noisy, especially if you have it set off and run a cord.

Propane setup for everything is the ideal way to heat both.

just... put the tea in the percolator...

or go to the antique store and buy an old cast  iron camp kettle... or a new one.

Yeah, yeah...I know.  That's what we do, but the luxury of a tea kettle that gets hot quick and stays hot...

While I was looking at the Goal Zero setups that were linked above, I found another system for half the price:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UPRL502?tag=vglnk-c102-20

For the cost of either solar kit, I could easily get a Honda eu2000i.  We use them on the fire department and I know they are light, quiet, and powerful.  I was hoping to avoid this, because I want to avoid hauling fuel, having any gen noise, and emissions at the camp site.  

This might just be a dream, but I was hoping people would be able to help with matching panels, inverters, and controllers to give me an idea of cost vs capabilities.  One thing I did read is that the deep cycle batteries last longer than the standard flooded lead acid car battery.  I hadn't considered this when initially conceiving the idea.  

Based on the specs of the Goal Zero and the BePrepared solar kits, I need 200ah to 400ah minimum for deep cycle storage, a couple 100+w solar panels, a 2500w inverter with pure sine wave output that has a couple 110v outlets and a couple USB outlets, and a charge controller that monitors battery charge (and preferably gives an alarm when the power is low, which was a complaint on the expensive sets).

This is something I put together 5 years back.  It's not totally on point, but it gives you some less than elegant solutions if you're somebody on a budget.

I'm in Miami and I only need something to keep 12vdc fans running, batteries and li-ion cells charged up (lights/lanterns) and a Tecsun PL-390 SW/AM/FM radio going during a hurricane power outage and not for some 30 year survival plan.



http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_18/658756_Behold_her_awesomeness___I_give_you_Juanita____solar_charging_kit_.html

Not pictured is a 375w Triplett 12vdc>120vac inverter that I paid $50 for, just in case I needed it for something.

You can obviously pay Yeti, or the guy in your link, some money and have an elegant turnkey system, or you can cobble together something, bumping things up/down, based on your needs:  adding 100w panels, instead of my 30w rigids, getting a 100Ah solar battery (more money) in lieu of my 22Ah/12Ah jobbies, getting a MPPT digital charge controller instead of my PWM Morningstar SS-10L ($70), et al..

I think that the moral of the story for most of us is (and I'm only a hack), that you should ditch the tea kettle if you're going to be operating on battery power (and your kettle will be) and just boil water by more conventional methods: liquid, canister gas, or bio-stoves, as hot tea and hot coffee care not a whit how the water gets up to 212*F.

Good luck!

Chris

Charging a phone and running LED lights takes very little power. Both of those also have the advantage of being USB-powerable. You could get a pocket-sized battery bank, pair it with a suntactics panel and be set.

This electric tea kettle thing is a very bad idea. You're going to spend hundreds, maybe thousands on batteries, inverter, and multiple panels just to make hot water?!? Use the jetboil for that.

This thread is of interest to me too and a real coincidence since I'm currently in the process of building a portable solar setup as well. Mine's going to be a bit larger though...

I have a a 32"X20"X22" Hardigg case on the way with interior dimensions of 29.5"X17.75"X16", cost $120 from eBay.

Attached File


For batteries, I'm installing 2 Hawker 12v AGMs, they're 120ah each. I may try to fit a 3rd in the case but, I'm not sure it will fit based off of the battery dimensions. Won't know for sure until I get the case and can start sticking the couple Hawkers I've got in there to check fit. I can get good used ones so I won't be paying the $500+ new price tag. They're $75 each.

I also have a line on a 5kw inverter which will end up being a straight trade with someone for some stuff I've got.

Will have a master battery cutoff and voltage meter as well.

I think the only thing I'm looking for at this point will be 12v solar panels and a charge controller. I want them to store inside the case so everything is contained and protected within it but, I won't know for sure how much extra room I'm working with to know how many I can fit in there until I start building the interior layout. I do know they will need to be smaller than the 29.5"X17.75" internal dimensions. I'm certainly open to suggestions!

What you're considering definitely meets the definition of "crew-served"...

Have you done any weight estimates?

- - - -

I know I'm beating a dead horse here - but carrying around large batteries seems kind of pointless, when there is already an almost limitless supply of them running around in the wild.

Almost every motor vehicle in existence has at least one large 12 volt battery. And they're everywhere - You can't swing a dead democrat voter without hitting one.

Why would you want to lug around something that you could easily obtain from your surroundings instead?

The Hawkers weigh in at about 88lbs a piece. At 2 batteries, and with all the other items, I'm guessing in the neighborhood of 200lbs. A single person might have to get creative loading and unloading it but, easily 2 man deployable.

The Hawkers in this are the same ones my HMMWV uses so I can switch them out as needed with it. Plus, if you read that info piece linked, it's hard to find a match for these batteries in the civi market. Most regular auto batteries don't hold a candle to them.

Having your own batteries has other advantages too even if you don't go with high end ones like mine. You're working with batteries of a known state. The Hawkers I can get are tested with a battery analyzer before I buy them and I keep them maintained. No telling what shape a scavenged battery is in. Most modern vehicles have some sort of continuous parasitic drain from the computers and are probably going to be stone dead in short order without maintenance and could result in internal damage.

I suppose, if it ever came down to it, I'm sure I could replace the Hawkers in my system with standard flooded cells but it would definitely be a less capable system.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_18/633540_My-solar-power-system--56k-build-a-wind-farm-.html



http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_17/632626_-ARCHIVED-THREAD----Build-your-own-portable-power-station--An-ARFcom-tutorial--very-pic-heavy-.html&page=1

This isn't a TEOTWAWKI build.  The idea is to pull the cart off the trailer and have a simple, quiet convenience.  Also, as alluded to by the parasitic drain, if you don't start a car for about 14 days the battery will be dead from the parasitic load.  If your plan for the apocalypse is to scavenge batteries out of all the abandoned cars, you have about 2 weeks survivability.

That's a lot of gear to boil water.  A small propane or butane stove will boil gallons and gallons of water very quickly with a much smaller investment in dollars and pounds.

Parasitic loads vary wildly among different vehicles. In some models, they are virtually nil.

Even so, if your mad survivor skillz are such that you haven't managed to procure a battery or two (including the ones in your own vehicles) within several weeks, your long-term prospects probably aren't so great anyway...

I would use something else for heating water, 5 gallon propane tank or whatever. 

That said, been playing with some odds and ends and working on portable battery box bit by bit.

Wire?  Gonna need some decent sized wire for batteries like you are talking.  Invertor you mentioned sounds impressive, if it has a cooling fan and does not do efficiently at running small loads buy a smaller one for little stuff as well.

If you run searches you will find where people, construction and off roaders and others, dismantled their invertor to install the plug in part somewhere and hid the guts under the car seat or somewhere out of the way.  While your case is nice and spiffy I would give some thought to if the case is going to have to barf to be put into use, opened and unpacked, or if you can just open up something like  marine plug you install through the case and plug something in.

I see benefits to both.  Since this is arfcom, I plan to do both.  Gonna build a battery pack.  Then build another.

Stuff like laptop and what not will get a cord for straight 12 volt charging instead of converting to 110 at the invertor and back to 12 volt for the laptop.  The less converting going on the less power loss there will be.

If your hardigg does not have wheels, I have a big pelican or two with built in wheels and handle, then look for a sort of cheap 2 wheel moving dolley.  Some of the folding ones won't take up much space and should handle the 250lbs your thing will wind up weighing in at.

I have had hardigg stuff before, still got a few I think, I give that case 40lbs or so without me looking it up.  Think you said batts were 88lbs or something each, so 176 in batts.  Your inverter and wires and other stuff will add actual lbs to this.  Ounces are what I keep in the beer bottles.

One or two good, 3500lb or so, ratchet straps will put the case on the dolley and keep it there while rolling in the yard or whatever.

And no problem if you want to muscle it.  I did that for most of my life, it taught me to use simple machines as I got older because sometimes I am tired and can't muscle as much or sometimes I get hurt and someone else has to load it.

Charger, gonna build it into the thing?  Either way, another plug through the case.  Marine stuff is waterproof so it is what I am looking at.

With the sort of power involved in this thing research fuses or circuit breakers as well.

Part of why I am using the pelicans with wheels is because it should be an easier trip for the batteries, big batteries can damage a case over time.  I am taking the "lots of little bounces rolling in the yard" vs me muscling it and carrying it and thumping it down kind of hard when I arrive somewhere.

To some extent the size of your system is what a whole lot of folks are putting into vans and small rv stuff so searches there may or may not help.

I am not an electrician and do not pretend to be one.  I have some books on automotive electronics and solar stuff and even some home stuff. 

Right now I am just getting actual parts and have opened up the cases and started seeing what will fit and what won't.

Oh, and when I said the case pukes or not I have to admit that to some extent I am honestly planning on a temp gauge readout and a volt readout and what not so I can see if there is a problem in the case.

With that big invertor it will need to be cooled if used at capacity so there is that as well. 

I have a 5U UPS in my server rack and even it won't run 1500W for more than 25 min or so. It weighs about 120 lbs. That's a lot of power. Or you could just you know use a 10oz fuel burner and boil the same water.

Solar setup is going to be a giant 300W+ panel, 4 60lb group 31 batteries, a giant 2kW inverter and all the cabling to make it work, fuck that noise for camping and boiling water, you're out of your damn mind for portability . Just bring a damn generator at that point.

I recently built a setup similar to what you have in mind, but that 1500w tea kettle would require quadrupole everything I used.

link to my build

ETA: Wanting a small(ish) portable solar power system that can run a 1500w load is like wanting a small handgun that can hit 1 MOA at 600 yards.

I sort of figure camping is the excuse.  Consider that during a power outage this thing should already be charged up.  Part of why I look at used cargo trailers now and then is that leaving something like this battery pack in it while it is parked beside the house would let me run an extension cord in the house during a power outage.

@ajroyer

If you want to charge phones and run lights, you can accomplish your goal using so many different solar based solutions for prices ranging from tens of dollars to low hundreds of dollars.

If you must run a 1500w tea kettle, you are now into solutions that run high hundreds of dollars into low thousands of dollars.

Assuming you are physically capable (as in normal bodily function, not disabled), you can easily setup a system that you can carry one handed that can handle charging your phones, flashlights, lanterns, and running LED lights.

Unless you are a body builder, you are unlikely to be able to put together a system that can run a 1500w kettle (for the several minutes it takes to heat water) that you will be able to lift without the help of other people or a hydraulic jack.

There are people here that have systems that cover the full range of both extremes - from tiny and portable to extremely high powered and stationary. You just need to decide which end of the spectrum you want your system to be on, both in terms of weight and cost as well as in terms of portability.

Appropriately sized for tea.

OP I don't think it would be tough as a kettle is only 5 minuets at 1500 watts.
http://www.goalzero.com/power-packs
I would go study the Goal Zero system and copy it as people use them with kettles all the time.

The only Goal Zero that does 1500w is the $2000 one

The $1000 one at Costco is supposed to. It's just an example.
1500 watts for 5 minutes isn't a big deal.
Running a 1500 watt space heater all night would be.

It's still 125 watt hours, and I suspect anyone that wants the convenience of an electric tea kettle while camping will likely want to use it more than once per day. Perhaps a morning cup, afternoon tea time, and a relaxing tea before going to sleep. That pushes it to 375 watt hours or more (25 watt hours per minute of run time).

And don't forget the other stuff that needs charging and don't forget that you're not running that deep cycle down to 0%, but rather 50% to be gentle on the battery.

If lugging out a huge power bank and solar panels (big enough to make a dent in what's being exhausted) is what the OP wants, in order to run his tea kettle, go for it, but I just see there being easier ways to boil water; however, I'm just a hack.

Chris

Fire > Electricity for boiling water.

I was just pointing out systems that worked as examples.
I think it's a great project and I want to build one also but it's low on my priority list.