If you boondock in the winter, then a portable solar array will make a big difference! I had an idea and it took me 8 months to get it to this stage. Everywhere I went I could see fellow boondockers putting solar panels on the ground to harvest the energy of the sun. Some had them leaning on the trailer, some on rocks and some with boards under them. They all had a few problems, they would scratch the vehicles, a pain to rotate and people were always propping them back up after something knocked them over.

It is pretty early in the testing of the prototype but the initial results are better than I thought. This panel is 360w and I have PV max at 410w and consistently get >345w for around 5 hrs during shortest days of the year. I have seen 30mph gusts and it doesn’t phase the array at all!

The biggest advantages include parking RV in the shade with the portable solar array in the sun, easier to avoid shading, start the solar harvest sooner and harvest longer in the day. This is critical for people with lead based batteries as they need to be fully charged at least once a week. We all know how hard that is to do in the winter when the solar day is around 6 hours and that is just not long enough for the bulk and absorption stage of charging with solar alone.

I was able to get few good friends to help with the design and construction of the array, this is version 2 already. There will be extensive wind testing even though it is very stout. It is able to rotate 360 degrees tilt from zero to 45 degrees. The final product will be a bit lighter and easier to pack/unpack. Let the testing begin!