Charging while camping?

[Gionnirocket]

Wouldn't it take a crazy long period of sunshine to recharge a dead battery with a solar array like that?

7 lightyear if traveling at 15mph

 

[Rexlion]

I am a happy camper. Literally and figuratively. I bought a 19' 2012 Escape trailer (molded fiberglass body) with 95W roof mounted panel and two 6V Trojans "under the hood" (front storage compartment). In March I camped with low temps in the mid-20s for a few nights, the furnace (greatest power hog) ran almost nonstop all night, yet at dawn I still had 2/3 battery charge remaining and by mid-day the full sun brought them back to 100%. Charging the ebike adds some drain, but still no problem if I have a decent amount of sun (and most of the time I don't camp in such cold weather anyway). The trailer has a couple of 12V round sockets, so I can plug in my 400W inverter and run the cord out through the door to the ebike. Easy peasy!

Here's a pic I took this week at Piney Bay COE CG in Arkansas. (I might have gotten by even with so much shade without the electric hookup, but it was included with the site so I used it.) You can see my R1U off to the right.

 

[Viking1]

We use three 190 watt panels and a 1500 watt inverter. Also a 5500 watt Onan generator on less sunny days. The last photo is our charge controller which shows the battery levels in real time.