Camping is one of the best activities to reap the benefits of Mother Nature, breathe some fresh air and socialize with your closest ones. But once you start getting ready for a camping trip, there’re many essentials to consider to make your experience a good one: from camping headlights to light up your paths and make you feel safer to comfy sleeping bags and pillows to provide you with a good night’s sleep.

Camping essentials being mentioned, many modern campers nowadays can’t imagine going on a trip without camping solar panels to provide them with just the right amount of energy. So, whether camping solar power sounds like an awesome idea, or you have no clue what these panels are, here’s what you need to know.

Why Do You Need an Outdoor Solar Panel?

There’s more than just one reason why a camping trip won’t be complete without solar camping power. First things first, panels are one of the best options for providing yourself with electricity even when you’re in the wilderness, without having to carry bulky and noisy generators along.

And unlike generators, solar panels don’t require any types of special fuels that can cost you a fortune, but they typically operate on simple lithium batteries. The only thing you’ll need to do to provide yourself with electricity is to place the panel where the sun blasts mostly and stay carefree for the rest of the day. Some models are even waterproof, which means you also won’t have to worry about sudden splashes of water or rain approaching.

Last, but not least, solar panels don’t impose any operating costs or maintenance like generators do. Since they’re designed to draw energy from sun rays, they don’t need expensive fuels, nor regular filter and spark plug replacement. On top of that, solar panels are designed to be lightweight, and they only need to be wiped from dirt and dust before you store them in a convenient place once you’re done with your camping trip.

Get to Know the Different Types

If you decided to reap the benefits and get a camping solar power panel, have in mind that you’ll come across a couple of different types, each packed with its own benefits and features. Hence, we can split camping solar panels into three general categories:

Monocrystalline Solar Panels

Monocrystalline solar panels consist of a huge number of small silicon crystals. These crystals are designed to absorb the photon from the sun, which causes the electrons to separate from the silicon atoms and move the energy towards the storage battery.

These panels are always black in colour, and this is due to their silicon featuring exceptional levels of purity. Once the sun starts interacting with the silicon layers, it creates a black hue. On top of that, their surface is usually covered in hardened glass to provide additional protection to some external elements that might occur.

Polycrystalline Solar Panels

Polycrystalline solar panels are very similar to monocrystalline ones, as they both work by using the same technology. The only difference between these two types is that polycrystalline ones aren’t made of single silicon crystals, but they use fragments- many silicon crystals in separate cells.

These fragments are supposed to move the electrons, but they’re doing it with less freedom than monocrystalline panels, which makes them less energy efficient. This process results in a glimmering blue surface which is way cheaper than the black monocrystalline one.

Amorphous Solar Panels

Amorphous solar panels for camping use an entirely different technology that doesn’t include any silicon crystals or fragments. Instead, their surface is sprayed with fine layers of silicon which is always protected with a layer of glass on top.

This technology might be the cheapest one you’ll stumble upon on the market, but have in mind that on account of that, you’re getting the least energy-efficient type which is way heavier and bulkier than crystalline ones.

Choose According to Your Energy Needs

When picking a camping solar panel for your upcoming wilderness adventures, it’s recommended to pick with your energy needs on your mind. This includes making a list of all the appliances you’re about to use, for how long will you be using and being able to charge them.

Starting from the appliances, each one consumes different amounts of energy. For instance, if you’re looking for a solar panel to charge your phone and light up your tent with a LED light, you probably won’t need a big solar panel that produces huge amounts of energy. But on the other hand, if you’re about to carry a small portable fridge and set up a camping kitchen, have in mind that such appliances can draw more energy and you’ll need a larger panel. Hence, it’s best to check each of the appliances’ power ratings so you know how much energy will drain each of them.

Except for the amount, it’s also important to calculate for how long will you be using the specific appliances throughout the day. For instance, if your laptop needs 20 watts of energy to charge for an hour, you’ll need 60 watts of energy to charge it for 3 hours per day. Make sure you calculate this for each of the appliances and devices to see the total amount of energy you’ll need in 24 hours.

Finally, have in mind that solar panels don’t produce the same amount of energy every day, as this highly depends on the time they’re exposed to the sun. Hence, if you’re camping during the warm season when the sun is blasting for 6 hours a day, you’ll need a 10-watt panel to charge your laptop for 3 hours (60 watts / 6 hours a day). But on the other hand, if you’re camping in the cold season when you can get 1 hour of sun, charging your laptop for 3 hours will require a solar panel of 70 watts due to the lack of sun.

Now that you found out about the most important aspects, it’s time to wrap up your sleeves and throw yourself to exploring solar panels for camping and pick the right one for your wilderness adventures.