Camping Off-Grid

Are you one of those people that like camping off-grid? If so, what do you do for power? Do you have electronic devices that need charging? Do you have a fridge? Do you have lights that need electricity, how about an electric cooktop?

In order to live off-grid or camp off-grid for an extended period of time, you must have a power source of some type unless you have nothing that requires electricity.

Converted Van Camping Off-Grid

I travel in my van a lot and 99% of my camping is done on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) Land or free campsites. That means I don’t pay, but there are no facilities either. In my travels I’ve met a lot of like-minded people that travel and camp as I do, but they all have some sort of power for their comforts.

Camping Off-Grid

Personally, I have an RV or boat type house battery which is an AGM, deep cycle battery that is stored inside my van. My house battery supplies all my power needs when I’m off-grid. When driving, my van’s alternator will keep my house battery charged. When camped for a period of time and my house battery needs recharging, I have portable solar panels that I place in the sun and hook to my house battery.

Portable Solar Panel

The solar panels will keep my house battery charged while camped. I have what is called, Portable Suitcase Solar panels. The name comes from the fact that these solar panels fold up and fit in a large case with a handle resembling a large suitcase. They are not too heavy and can be moved around to follow the sun and when not in use, fold them, place them in their case and store them away. They don’t require a lot of space when storing. My house battery then powers my refrigerator, my laptop, cell phone, lights at night, etc.

I also carry a portable generator just as a backup.

Generator

I might add that I’ve used it only once when camping. The reason for that was, I bought it new and wanted to make sure it worked ok. I haven’t used it since that one time. I find that when my house battery runs low, it’s easy to set up my solar panels and they provide all the (free) energy I’ve ever needed.

Like most folks that camp or live off-grid, we don’t want the noise of a generator running for hours. Plus, if you don’t have solar, you will have to carry enough gasoline to operate your generator for a long time. Not only could that be dangerous, but expensive, not to mention the noise factor. I’m not trying to discourage you from having a generator. My generator is a great thing to have. It only weighs about 50 pounds so is easy enough to handle and it’s rated as one of the quietest portable generators on the market. The decibel level is about the same as a normal conversation, so it’s nice to have as a backup. I’m sure I’ll eventually be camped at a location where the sun may not come out for a few days and I may have to use my generator for a few hours, but that’s why I say I’ll only use it for backup as I wouldn’t want the food in my fridge to spoil.

I’ve heard of some that use wind power. I’m not that familiar with that, so I’ll reserve judgment on that source until I know more about it. I just don’t see how that would work for off-grid camping.

Source: Most of the photos in this blog are provided courtesy of unsplash.com.

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