Costco Solar System for $550

[cansevin]

Anyone have an idea if Costco solar system for $550 is worth it (see link below). We need power for lights, cell phones charging, music, laptop charging, and a computer monitor.

www.costco.com/GOAL-ZERO%C2%AE-Portable-Solar-Power-Extreme-350-Emergency-Power-Kit.product.11678386.html

Any idea if I can get the tow car to charge it as well when we are driving?

[universalexports]

personally I think they misrepresent things like this, at the end of the day you only have a 30 watt panel,, it takes about 70 watts just to run a laptop, so this system may provide for 350 watts, but only for an hour or so depending how may items you are running. IF you dont use it during the day and let it charge, then use it at night.

basically you are getting a 30 watt panel, a fancy battery in a fancy box and a 350 watt inverter.

a 1,000 watt inverter only runs about $79.00

I would go with something like harbor freights 45 watt solar setup, ($189.00) a couple of deep cycle batteries (more watt hour storage) or 4 six volt golf cart batteries. and a 1,000 or 500 watt inverter. the total price might end up being a hundred or so more, but you get 15 more watts of solar panels, and more energy storage. and later you can just add another 45 watt panel, tie them to together then you have 90 watts of solar panels.

with 90 watts of solar energy you could run a radio or laptop or something during the day and still be charging the batteries for night time use a bit.

[cansevin]

Thank you Univer.... much appreciated. Couple quick questions:

1.) Do those panels have to be permanently mounted? Or can they be stored and then only brought out when we are camping?
2.) Can the car still charge a battery when we are driving? So both the car and the solar panels would charge the battery. Thanks!

[universalexports]

yes you make it to store when traveling then sit up when you are ready to camp, and it would be simple to set up the battery to charge while you are driving, you could attach it on the tongue of the camper and run a large wire from the, alternator or battery back to it, and a ground wire to the frame.

the only issue would be to be sure to have the battery outside when charging in case something weird happens and the battery leaks or off gasses. wouldn't want it in the camper or tow vehicle while charging. or really inside at all, unless you have a newer AGM sealed battery.

[ModernMe]

What about the peel and stick solar rv panels? I've been trying to read up on those. Just can't figure out exactly what they will power.

www.emarineinc.com/pdf/PowerfilmRVKits.pdf

I think the 60 watts is the highest I have found. Thoughts?

[universalexports]

I'll bet that isn't cheap, you could run 2 or 3 of them for more power. and you would need a large battery or battery bank to store that energy.

[Gone Kayaking]

permanently mounting solar panels means setting up your camper where it will do the most charging which means forget about parking in the shade. I'd rather have a portable set up that allows me to move the panels to follow the sun.

As for charging...if you set up on a 7 way adapter you can charge your batteries while towing and then have a trickle charger set up for your solar. Really all the solar panels are doing is topping off or trickle charging your batteries.

I have 2 agm batteries a 1000 w inverter and a charger/converter set up in mine. While we don't run an A/C, fridge or microwave while we camp (even if we were connected) we've had plenty of juice to last 3-5 days worth of summer boondocking. All of our lights are on 12v, as is the fan, and we plug the phone and ipad in to 12v plug type connector to charge. Laptop (which I use rarely while camping except for watching movies) plugs into the inverter.

If I get solar it will just be for added trickle charge while boondocked.