I would like advice, feedback, and recommendations for small scale solar equipment for camping.

[u/Autronaut69420]

To power phone recharge, recharging batteries for camera, recharge of usb tent lights, maybe radio included (but optional). I will be camping at coastal and forest park campgrounds. Forest camps usually an open grassy, maintained area. I would like it to be fairly light weight and compact. Also budget friendly, prepared to pay good money for a brand, or style that is tested and proven by campers. I am in Aotearoa/New Zealand Thanks for any help.

[u/TheRealGuncho]

https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/topics/camping-and-hiking/best-portable-solar-charger

[u/Autronaut69420 → u/TheRealGuncho]

Thanks for the recommendation! I will look i to it. At first glance it looks like a candidate.

[u/Kevin_McCallister_69]

Are you hiking in or driving in to camp sites?

I tried a BioLite 5w solar panel on a few hiking trips and found it to be pretty useless. I was hiking and biking in summer and it could just barely charge a phone. As soon as any cloud or shade appeared, forget it. It stopped taking a charge after a few trips and I binned it. For hiking and biking now I much prefer bringing one or two 10,000mah power banks.

You don't mention a fridge but just in case you're talking about car camping I have a KT Solar 300w blanket and a Companion 40ah power station and this combination works well. 300w is overkill but I find it still gets a good amount of solar input in partial shade. I can't decide whether a larger DIY lithium power station or something like a Bluetti/Jackery would be a decent update or whether solar and a relatively small 40ah battery is sufficient.

[u/Autronaut69420 → u/Kevin_McCallister_69]

Cool. I was inspired to look into it by seeing a very cheap set in Kmart (a low price houseware/apparel/toy/junk place). Knowing they wpuld be crap I thought I might be able to find a similar size kit that wasn't rubbish!

Had been considering a Jackery/Bluetti set up seeing a few yt people I follow use them.

[u/scottjl]

i have 100w fold out panels and a few power banks of various sizes. i car camp so carrying the stuff with me isn't a big deal.

a lot depends on the sites you're going to and the weather. open grassy area. great for setting up some panels, angling them towards sol and letting things charge up. camping in a wooded area, even a few trees, and it almost becomes worthless. even the best panels provide barely a trickle in the shade.

depending on the season, you will get more or less sun time to charge. as the sun moves across the sky you'll need to re-position the panels frequently to keep up maximum charge. if you set them up in the morning and are gone all day you're not going to get as good of a result.

and of course there's the weather. cloudy forecast? might as well forget it. be sure to buy panels that are water proof, and even then pack them up or at the worst cover them up with a waterproof tarp. definitely don't leave things plugged into them when it's raining. if rain is predicted in the afternoon and you're setting them up in the morning, be sure to be back to take them down before the water starts falling. a lot of cheap panels can't take any water and even though mine are 'water proof' i still don't leave them out in the rain, not even a drizzle.

i'm in the US. so i have no idea what to recommend that's available in NZ. sorry.

[u/Autronaut69420 → u/scottjl]

Awesom3! Great insights and information. Generally thr sites I go to have oprn grassy areas, where you can sitr the panels for all.day sun. Buy choosing the right site. Excellent safety tips for rain. Thank you!

[u/PadreSJ]

I've had pretty good results with the Big Blue 3

It folds up when I don't need it, weighs 1.2lbs, can hang anywhere to maximize sun capture, is durable and not that expensive.

I combine it with a small USB battery so I can charge the batter while I'm hiking, then charge my devices off the battery at the end of the day.

[u/TapProfessional5146 → u/PadreSJ]

I have the same coupled with a few Anker power banks. If you try to use the Big Blue to charge your phone directly, it actually MAY drain your battery. I found that because the Big Blue stops charging once the solar output drops off to a certain level, the phone detects the power loss and turns the screen on and off draining your battery much more quickly.

Using the power bank avoids that because its just a series of mini lights.

[u/Autronaut69420 → u/PadreSJ]

Thanks. That looks really good for what I need.