Portable (Folding) Solar Panels – what to look for Solar Panels are great – they allow us to put charge back into our batteries no matter where we happen to go. No doubt you’ve also realised that with panels there’s a major choice to be made – put them on the roof or have them […]

Designing a 12Volt system Where to start? Well we start by deciding what sort of 12Volt stuff we’d like to have. It doesn’t matter if it’s an off-grid cottage somewhere, or a small camper-trailer – the process starts off with that same key question – what do I want? Without answering that question first, it’s […]

 Parallel, Series, Shading and Diodes   This is a subject that repeatedly comes up in debates, we often have solar panels in parallel, and adding diodes into the chat seems to fuel the confusion as well. And aren’t blocking diodes built into all solar panels these days anyway? Or is it in the regulators? And […]

12Volt Devices There are so many new 12Volt appliances and devices that are regularly added to our range of choices that it’s hard to keep up sometimes. This list will therefore remain a moving feast, and I’ll update it as new 12Volt stuff becomes available. The current draw (in Amps) of 12Volt devices will typically […]

How Much Solar? The size of solar panels and the size of batteries are determined pretty much independently of each other, but because they work together in any 12Volt system, if we get one wrong then it will probably affect the other. Also, if you’ve already got a 12Volt system but are unsure whether to […]