Let there be light...

Thats what God said, so I'm following his lead.

So I introduced you to my Bug out / base camp trailer, but as I made my base camp site "wish list", one of the things that stood high on the list was electrical power.  Now I'm not going find 110v in the middle of nowhere coming out of a rock.  A gas generator is noisy, smelly, and attracts a lot of unwanted attention. Even if I could overcome those obstacles, I can only carry so much gas and i'm only leaving ifwere talking about an extended evac.  I already had several Goal Zero battery kits and lanterns and lights, as well as plenty of flashlights. But the question was how to take it to the next level and provide campsite power.

I decided a larger solar power system was the proper way to go because it would be both sustainable and quiet.  I basically needed to scale down a home solar system and make it mobile.  First remembering a solar power system has 3 components. Generation through the panels, storage through the battery, conversion to AC through an inverter.

Of course things always go wrong at the wrong time, and part of prepping is being ready for the unexpected.  With that in mind I came up with a way to prevent short circuits from blowing my whole system.  I installed these in line breakers in the system between the battery and the distribution system. instead of regular fuses that blow and need to be replaced, these pop just like panel breakers and can be reset. I will not have to search for fuses in a crisis.


I figured 110v was way beyond what I needed in an emergency so no power inverter was needed, and I would loose too much in the conversion from batteries anyway. I decided I would just stick with DC power.  Since I was mounting the power system in the trailer and not going to be hoofing it all over creation weight was not too much of a concern, but it would need to be efficient and rugged. After a little research, I decided a marine deep cycle battery was the solution.  It would be rugged enough to take the punishment of the road and powerful enough to handle my equipment. I mounted a battery box in the front of the trailer to secure it in with room to add a second in the future.

I then created a power distribution system that uses cigarette lighter outlets on 25 foot cables to supply power to each of 3 tents in my base camp. I purchased and packed away car chargers for all my equipment, from laptop to communication equipment, to chargers for all my 12 volt batteries, and while not a necessity there are even small refrigerators that operate off DC if i want that option.   Even all the Goal Zero lights come with car adaptors so I can string individual lights in each tent. 

To generate power I'm using all briefcase solar panels.  They are rugged and tougher then their traditional counterparts. I went with an Instaspark Mars100 - 100 watt and two Goal Zero Escape 30 watt panels.  I plan to add a second Mars100 when finances allow.  I've tested them in the yard, and with a little adjustment to keep the best focus on the sun I was able to generate sufficient power to replenish what I would use over night.





Now, all of this can and does function around the house as part of my bug in plan, but having designed it to function in the field, gives me the flexibility to make camp and life a little more normal in a time of stress.   I still want a gas generator for typical power outages and boondock camping, so I will probably pick one up this spring, but my SHTF evac power system is done.