General Discussions

[ElwoodBlues1]

Just curious, because i have a foldable 200W solar panel which i use to top up my 2nd (and 3rd) batteries while i am camping. 1 is lithium.
My 2nd battery is hooked up to the car and charges while i drive and cuts off if it gets too low. It lives permananetly in my canopy.
The 3rd battery is encased in a cheap battery box that i pull out of the canopy and sit next to my camping fridge for days on end. Powers lights and my phone.
I've also got a Milwaukee charger that comes with a 12v cig socket that can charge up my tool batteries....which i use for lights, chainsaws, radio, whatever.

With that setup, even if overcast or raining, i can pretty much be self sustaining for....as long as i need to be. Recently i set up the solar panel underneath our gazebo (in the shade, while it was raining) and it was still getting enough sun to charge my battery.

I also have a 1500W invertor i can use to get 240v plugs if required.

So...if i can live outdoors with that setup, surely it could help me charge a car. Not sure what type of current draw they take, or how much power storage is typically on board, but to me it seems like a half decent alternative to hooking up to the grid.
Obviously, you could get bigger outdoor solar panels pretty easily to beef up the system as well. They are relatively cheap.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPTs_KOvtX0