Solar
You can’t save more energy than by not using any electricity at all. Get your power from the sun!
8.0 HERE ARE SOME TIPS FROM THE SOLAR TECH EXPERTS:
- Freshen up blankets, pillows, rugs, and winter coats outside in the sunshine. • Nix the tanning bed and go natural. (Neither is good for the skin.)
- Cycle, run, or walk outdoors instead of driving across town to a gym and a treadmill or stationary cycle.
- Ditch the jet ski and invest in a sailboat or kayak.
- Vacation at a state or national park near where you live.
- Weather permitting (low humidity!), open all the windows in the house, and turn the heating or cooling off.
- Businesses can open the windows and let the great outdoors in, too.
The rest of this section covers new solar-powered tech.
8.1 WE BEGIN WITH 12-VOLT DC DEVICES WITH A USB PORT
that plugs into a compact solar-battery appliance. Many solar chargers are automotive, charging your car battery from a rugged, weatherproof solar panel.
8.2 A SOLAR PANEL THAT PERMANENTLY FIXES TO THE HOOD is available as an after-market kit for Jeep Wranglers, charging the auto battery whenever the sun’s out.
8.3 SOLAR-PANEL TONNEAU COVERS for the bed of pickup trucks send power to the battery.
8.4 COMPACT STAND-ALONE SOLAR PANELS are available for rugged outdoor use with any vehicle, out on the trail, or camping out.
8.5 IF YOU DON’T HAVE WHEELS, SMALL, COMPACT SOLAR-CHARGERS have a solar panel on top and a battery. They have enough juice to charge a smartphone, tablet, or laptop. Sit the solar-charger on a sunny windowsill while you’re at work, and it’s ready to power up all your smart devices that night.
8.6 A WIDE RANGE OF 12-VOLT PRODUCTS meets your needs: standalone solar panels of any size, matched to stand-alone batteries. Or solar-panel battery combination units with the photovoltaics and storage medium in one compact package.
8.7 YOU NEED A “CHARGE CONTROLLER” to go between the solar panel and the battery. The controller: (1) lets you connect a 20-volt (or any other voltage) solar panel to charge a 12-volt battery, (2) limits the current to the battery (so you don’t ruin the battery), and (3) keeps current from going backward from the battery to the solar panel. Note: You usually need at least a 14-volt power supply to charge a 12-volt battery.
8.8 DC-VOLTAGE TECH FOR CAMPING OUT: personal fans, reading
lights, coffee cup-size hot plates, food warmer plates, hot-water kettles for tea, electric blanket/throws, frying pans, truck-cabin ACs, space heaters, battery chargers, TVs, spotlights, lanterns, hairdryers, vacuum cleaners, power tools, stereos, DVD players, and even a refrigerator.
8.9 A SOLAR COOLER HAS PHOTOVOLTAICS ON TOP.
How can it have a full refrigeration system to keep the contents cold? They superinsulate the box so that the refrigerant cycle only needs a few watts.
8.10 ELECTRIC TROLLING–MOTOR KITS PUT A SOLAR PANEL IN YOUR FISHING BOAT to charge up a 12-volt battery. Keep your catch in the solar cooler, or dangle it over the side in a wire-mesh basket the net-zero, old-fashioned way.
8.10 BACKPACKERS ARE MORE DEMANDING THAN CAMPERS OR FISHERMEN. More than just convenience, backpackers need sturdy, lightweight, and dependable. There’s a wide selection of rugged 12-volt tech for the true trail experience:
8.11 A SOLAR–POWERED BACKPACK has solar panels built into the outermost surface. The small panels can either charge a small battery pack or chargeup individual devices (GPS, smartphone, trail light).
8.12 A SOLAR–POWERED SMARTPHONE CASE has a small panel that flips open or slides out, to charge the battery directly from a small photovoltaic cell.
8.13 EMERGENCY RADIOS have always been important to folks venturing far from civilization. There are still places with no cell towers! New emergency radios have the traditional hand crank but also a small solar panel to charge the batteries.
8.14 A WALKIE–TALKIE–SIZE EMERGENCY RADIO with no solar panel plugs into your solar backpack for a charge when it’s low on electrons.
8.15 A SOLAR TOOTHBRUSH with a solar panel in the handle develops enough amps to keep up with your dental hygiene. I prefer a regular toothbrush, myself, when out on the trail.
8.16 “SOLAR ROCK” TECH keeps you warm when all else fails: the original “passive solar heater,” a large, flat rock that you leave out in the sun during the day and haul into the tent at night for some radiant warmth.
8.17 A “SPARK LIGHTER” is an electronic gadget that helps you get a fire started. Or you can opt for (1) a spinning, wood Boy-Scout-badge stake in a bowand-arrow type rig, (2) a magnifying glass, or (3) matches.
8.18 THE “REDNECK SHOWER” is an old standby on the roof: a black garden hose on the roof full of water, for a nice hot shower in the afternoon.
8.19 THE “CAMPING SHOWER” IS A FLAT, BLACK BLADDER–BAG
that you fill with water and leave in the direct sunlight. Once the water’s hot, hang the bag in a tree and do your thing under the spout. However, five gallons of water weighs fifty pounds! “How’s about I put the bladder on a rock, you stand on it, while I shower under the ledge yonder.”
8.20 SOLAR OVENS have been around for years: A box with reflective, aluminum-foil inside walls that captures sunlight, with a transparent plastic cover to hold in the heat. The literature shows a thermostat inside, so that must mean they work really well.
8.21 A SOLAR SILL evaporates groundwater and then condenses it, removing impurities. Full disclosure: When I first saw this item, I thought it read “solar still,” very handy for modern bootleggers who have no electrical service.
8.22 A SOLAR FLASHLIGHT is a must in your backpack. It has solar panels built into the handle and batteries good for six hours of light. However, as long as you already have a smartphone (for photos, a GPS app, and local topographic and trail maps), why not use the light app for illumination?
8.23 A SOLAR WATCH has the photovoltaics built into the watch face. No more changing out batteries every year! You don’t even need sunlight to charge up, but any light source.
8.24 A SOLAR CALCULATOR may not be something you need out on the trail unless you’re going to bungee-cord and need to calculate the elasticity versus velocity, weight, and wind speed.
8.25 A SOLAR PUBLIC–TRASH COMPACTION MACHINE?
People throw the trash into this high-tech bin just like any other, but it does more than collect refuse; the machine compacts it, too. It’s shaped just like a USPS mailbox, but with solar panels on top.
8.26 A SOLAR WIRELESS KEYBOARD complements all your other electronics.
8.27 A SOLAR GOLF CART KIT puts solar panels on the roof to charge the electric-motor battery.
8.28 SOLAR–POWERED LAWN LIGHTS look just like regular outdoor fix-tures, but with a small photovoltaic panel in the top. They’re on the expensive side, but you don’t have to run a long underground electrical conduit from the house. One issue: when it’s cloudy for weeks on end, those solar lawn lights stop working.
Maybe they need a battery back up?
8.29 SOLAR–POWERED STREETLIGHTS AND TRAFFIC SIGNALS.
Future Tech!
8.30 SOLAR–PANEL CARS.
A few auto manufacturers have solar panels built into the roof to charge the battery. This is very helpful for electric vehicles. If you’re parked at home over the weekend and plugged into the house grid, it can give you some free power. Maybe even help you lower peak demand charges on your utility bill.
8.31 SOLAR–PANEL FLEET VEHICLES.
All those solar cars, whole parking lots full of them, plugged into outlets in the guard rails to charge up a central battery pack.
8.32 SOLAR–PANEL EIGHTEEN–WHEEL TRUCKS with solar panels on the roof? EV trucks with photovoltaic truck roofs to match.
8.33 SOLAR TRAVEL RVS WITH PANELS ON TOP to charge all the high-efficiency 12-volt appliances inside: stove, fridge, trash compactor, TV, stereo + USB ports for smartphones and tablets. When parked for a few days, a room-extension-tent with more panels built into the roof adds more photovoltaics.
8.34 SOLAR MOBILE HOMES that are off-grid. Next stop, the moon!
8.35 NET–ZERO HOUSES with a separate 12-volt wiring grid, with USB ports in every wall outlet? You have solar power enough for lights, laptops, the TV, stereo, and even modest cooking chores.