Charging batteries in the backcountry
Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 9:32 pm
I've finally got my system down to where I'm happy with power consumption but I've never had the ability, until recently, to go several nights on a camping trip and be comfortable with my power requirements.
I originally started out with a Goal Zero Yeti 400 which provides 35amp hrs of power and includes a pure sine-wave inverter for recharging my 6-year-old ASUS laptop when needed as well as DC power to the mount and accessories.
I then bought a NUC and Pegasus Astro Ultimate Power Box v2 to mount on the scope to power and control everything.
I use TeamViewer to access the NUC wirelessly via a small TPLink wireless router that creates a hotspot in the field.
I recently replaced the battery in my laptop so I can now get a full 8 hours of use on it. It's a small 15" i3 laptop. But with the NUC onboard actually doing all the work, I only power up the laptop at the beginning of the evening to get everything running, then I power down the laptop and access the NUC via TeamViewer with my Android tablet that will run 3 or 4 nights on a full charge. I use the tablet just to monitor the NUC but can actually make changes too if necessary. It's just a bit more difficult since it's a touch screen instead of mouse-driven and also, the smaller screen area makes seeing some of the tiny info a bit more difficult.
I recently discovered that the Yeti 400 has two ports, one on each side, that allows additional batteries to be linked to double or triple the power. I always thought those ports were for linking Yeti's together but after doing some research I found out that just another regular 35amphr battery with the proper cabling can be added, therefore doubling the capacity. So with the new battery I now have 70 amp hrs of power. I don't like to let my batteries (lead-acid) discharge below 50% without a recharge so really it gives me a full 35 amp hrs.
Over the course of the last couple of nights with a total run time of 13 hours my system was discharged last night down to 60% so I decided to try out the final component in the rig. A friend was getting rid of some older solar panels and just so happened to have one designed by Goal Zero for their batteries. I picked up a Boulder 100 panel from him at a huge discount over the new cost and had never used it. Today, I decided to see how long it would take to charge my 70 amphr system up to 100% from a 60% mark. It wasn't the best day with intermittent clouds and occasional full sunshine but I'm happy to report that even with less than perfect sunshine I was able to bring my system charge up to 100% in just under 4 hours.
Here's what the rig looks like in my yard while charging.
As you can see in the final closeup of the control panel on the Yeti, with about 80% clear skies I was getting about 77watt hours of power from the panel. Not bad! I did see it go as high as 94watts during a small break in the clouds and perfect angles. Speaking of angles, if you are thinking about adding solar panels to your system, the angle most definitely makes a huge difference so you need to adjust their position every couple of hours to keep them pointed directly at the sun.
I originally started out with a Goal Zero Yeti 400 which provides 35amp hrs of power and includes a pure sine-wave inverter for recharging my 6-year-old ASUS laptop when needed as well as DC power to the mount and accessories.
I then bought a NUC and Pegasus Astro Ultimate Power Box v2 to mount on the scope to power and control everything.
I use TeamViewer to access the NUC wirelessly via a small TPLink wireless router that creates a hotspot in the field.
I recently replaced the battery in my laptop so I can now get a full 8 hours of use on it. It's a small 15" i3 laptop. But with the NUC onboard actually doing all the work, I only power up the laptop at the beginning of the evening to get everything running, then I power down the laptop and access the NUC via TeamViewer with my Android tablet that will run 3 or 4 nights on a full charge. I use the tablet just to monitor the NUC but can actually make changes too if necessary. It's just a bit more difficult since it's a touch screen instead of mouse-driven and also, the smaller screen area makes seeing some of the tiny info a bit more difficult.
I recently discovered that the Yeti 400 has two ports, one on each side, that allows additional batteries to be linked to double or triple the power. I always thought those ports were for linking Yeti's together but after doing some research I found out that just another regular 35amp
Over the course of the last couple of nights with a total run time of 13 hours my system was discharged last night down to 60% so I decided to try out the final component in the rig. A friend was getting rid of some older solar panels and just so happened to have one designed by Goal Zero for their batteries. I picked up a Boulder 100 panel from him at a huge discount over the new cost and had never used it. Today, I decided to see how long it would take to charge my 70 amp
Here's what the rig looks like in my yard while charging.
As you can see in the final closeup of the control panel on the Yeti, with about 80% clear skies I was getting about 77watt hours of power from the panel. Not bad! I did see it go as high as 94watts during a small break in the clouds and perfect angles. Speaking of angles, if you are thinking about adding solar panels to your system, the angle most definitely makes a huge difference so you need to adjust their position every couple of hours to keep them pointed directly at the sun.