Portable Solar Panel & Batter Charger for Kayaking

grumps on 26/10/2019 - 20:59

I'm into kayak camping and am looking at doing multiple day trips which will require more than just using my current power bank for recharging my electronics.

I need a decent compact solar panel and also am looking at getting a AA battery charger as well to use in addition to my current power bank. The AA charger is essential as my GPS uses these and quick change over and charged replacements are important

some quick research shows Goal Zero products as pretty good with the following options suitable:

Goal zero nomad 7w Panel or
Goal zero nomad 14w Panel or

Goal zero Guide 10 charger

have also seen suaoki make a similar panel as well but not sure what the quality is like.

both the panels & charger will need to be waterproof as it will be mounted onto the deck of the kayak.

Does anyone have any experience with this type of setup or similar hiking setup. Looking for any recommendations on what size panel or any other alternatives.

thanks

Electrical & Electronics Solar Energy System

Comments

  • brendanm on 26/10/2019 - 21:16
    +3

    What do you need to power? 14w isn't much, after you factor in that it's not often going to produce 14w, you then have loss from solar charge converter, then loss from the charger, then loss actually charging the battery. Gps probably uses 4 or 5 watts alone? I think you'd be better off simply making up a larger lithium pack and charging it up before hand.

  • grumps on 26/10/2019 - 22:03

    phone, gps, am/FM radio & torch/Lamp. all use AA batteries minus the phone.

    Phone is for emergency use only and will be turned off most the time. GPS is the main one. I get a full days paddling out of one set of batteries so will need a charged pair ready to go for the next morning

    I borrowed a friend's small solar panel 5w? a few years ago to just charge a phone and was less than impressed so want to get something decent that performs

    • brendanm on 26/10/2019 - 22:26
      +1

      Those are going to be way more load than will be supported by a 14w panel. As I said, make a bigger battery bank.

      • mskeggs on 26/10/2019 - 23:08
        +2

        And $10 of alkaline AAs will power the light/radio/gps for weeks.
        The reality is solar is weak, distributed power, so condensing it into a high capacity battery takes either bigger panels or lots of time (or both).
        While solar would allow you to travel indefinitely, in reality, carrying the extra weight of solar and chargers would be equivalent to several weeks worth of disposable batteries, which can be had at a fraction of the cost.

    • fantombloo on 26/10/2019 - 23:41
      +1

      GPS is the main one. I get a full days paddling out of one set of batteries

      I'm not sure what's costing you so much power. The GPS only needs to be consulted a few times per day unless you're going somewhere really strange / complicated. (Where?)

      I spend 3days out with a 10000mAh power bank and usually have juice left over. This includes running a Bluetooth speaker at night for an hour or so. Take a few spare AAs and you should be done.

      • grumps on 27/10/2019 - 07:05
        +2

        only going on the Murray River so not to difficult to navigate. upstream or downstream 😁

        GPS is used for trip logging and not so much navigation. I have juat found it has a expedition/ power save mode which should save the battery.

        • Marty-69 on 27/10/2019 - 11:58

          Use your phone for trip logging and recharge it using your power bank. No need for the GPS so no need for AA batteries.

        • fantombloo on 27/10/2019 - 12:31

          Fair enough.

          My own anecdote: I used to log my trips, was actually quite anal about it, and kept them as my own trophies. Lots of photos too. I'd get cut when a battery would die and my log was incomplete so was always on alert about power. But about 6 or so years ago I lost my previous logs. It hurt at the time but I soon realised the main value the logs had were, like so many things, in my own mind. Yeah, there's some info to be gleaned from looking at the logs (like slowdowns due to wind, etc.) but if it's more about collecting logs rather than analysing them then that's something to consider. I was liberated from my log keeping obsession at that point and haven't kept one since - the actual trips and nostalgic throwbacks remain just as much fun. I still take photos but only because I do it in anticipation of maybe discovering a magical shot when I return. If I need to record a waypoint for any reason I just turn the GPS on there and take a screen shot, then pack it away again. Of course we're all different and value things differently but packing the phone away on the water is working for me.

  • [Deactivated] on 26/10/2019 - 22:25

    I'd just get a 100AH battery. Paired with a T18 motor, you should get 20+ hours of continual run time.

    The solar panels may only be a better solution to this if your trip is longer than a week and you're facing full sun most of the time.

    PS. What yak? A T18 is a little under powered for big fishing yaks.

    • grumps on 26/10/2019 - 22:46

      Its 5m sea kayak not a fishing kayak. think more expedition than cruise :-) a motor is not what I'm after as paddling is all part of the adventure. 100ah battery weight and size is not practical. Kayak camping is very similar to hiking/ultra light camping but with the luxury of being able to cary a little bit more gear.

      • [Deactivated] on 26/10/2019 - 23:13
        +1

        In that case, a 50ah would last you a week at least and it would weigh less than a portable solar panel.

        I tried a few contraptions, one being solar and another being a gyro towed behind the kayak. Their more a novelty. Li Ion batteries are definitely a better solution unless you're out there for weeks.

        • grumps on 26/10/2019 - 23:32

          the cost of a lithium battery is a bit much however i might give the bigger battery idea a go.

          I scored a good 7ah ups battery from work the other day and my current AA battery charger is a 12v so I can wire it straight up to that.

          it's still going to be a bit on the heavy side but worth a try.

  • apsilon on 27/10/2019 - 06:12
    +1

    I have the older version of the 14w panel and the Guide 10. They're OK, I think they perform much better set up at a camp than mobile but on the deck of a kayak may work if you're out in the open but any amount of tree cover along a river is going to diminish the performance a lot. I don't believe the Guide 10 would be waterproof at all BTW. It's not claimed to be and it would be very easy for water to enter.

    For 3 days I'd just take a power bank and extra AA/AAA. Going to be lighter, take up less room and you don't have to worry about it being over cast or shade effecting the panel.

  • grumps on 27/10/2019 - 07:08
    +1

    Thanks for the comments. sounds like I don't really need a solar panel and to just bring along more batteries…….now to find the next eneloop deal😁

  • [Deactivated] on 27/10/2019 - 16:27
    +1

    Yum, batter. Beer ones are my faves 😜

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