Solar Power Comments

ALEX has left a new comment on "Survival Chronicles of Jim - Chapter 24 Dry Run": "Ever think about a small solar panel like the ones you can plug into a car that is going to be sitting to keep the battery fresh? I'm thinking about getting one along with a small sealed 12v battery like the ones inside of a portable jumpstarter. They can both be found on eBay or Amazon fairly cheap.

This way anything you can charge from your car you could charge from this setup and recharge via the sun. My plan is to have this in my B.O.J. (Bug Out Jeep) so the portable battery can be charged from the jeep until I need to continue on foot then I could put the battery in my BOB with the small solar panel on the outside of the bag to charge the battery if need be. I found a 5w panel I like for around $40 on amazon and I kinda think that should work to charge the battery in a full day of sunlight. as for the weight of the battery its not that heavy but ounces equal to pounds and pounds equal to pain. but if you want to charge batterys cell phones gps flashlights run a cb or ham radio or any other thing like that it could be a nice setup.......unless theres an EMP and all your shit gets fried....but at least you tried lol."

UrbanMan replies: Alex, I have several solar panels from a 62 watt folding panel for my BOB up to larger ones for my Bug In site that I can rapidly disassemble and pack for a planned Bug Out. On the vehicles, most of us have solar trickle chargers. I don't know how long how long or even if one of these would charge a fully discharged battery or even one with a substantial reduction of charge.

I have several re-chargers for AA and AAA rechargeable batteries that I can run off my vehicles 12v system, as well as charging for cell phones. I think that post-collapse, cell towers will be up for awhile due to many of them having solar systems themselves as well as fuel generators for power outages.

On my larger solar panels, I can charge 12v vehicle batteries. From which I can run a power inverter to convert the battery power to 110v.

I actually have three sets of mobile solar panels, each with three panels and a simple framework of 2x4 lumber so I can move the panels throughout the day to acquire the best angle at the Sun. I recently saw pictures of where a gent mounted solar panels on a dolley type cart to make moving them around much easier. Great idea, we are considering that now.

One of the members of my group has a solar generator from MySolarBackup, which is a 1800 watt power generator powered by a 90w solar panel. We have cross loaded some of our major equipment and this unit is staying at this families house, which is our backup Bug In site, just in case.

And speaking of Jeeps, have you seen the new Jeeps being offered? I really like the cab over especially with the enhanced ground clearance. I would love to have one of those!