Solar panels for kayaking expedition

I need a panel capable of charging video camera batteries, mobile, and laptop for a three month solo kayaking expedition. What sort, how many, what price?? Thanks.

Sounds like a fun expedition! It would be worth you working out fairly carefully how much power you need. If you use the solar panel calculator on my site ( http://midsummerenergy.co.uk/solar_panel_information/solar_panel_calculator.html) you can enter the power each item consumes, and how many hours you need it for each day. A laptop for example might be something like 100W, but only for 1 hour a day on average.

That will give you a good idea of how big a solar panel you need. I would guess though that you might be looking at something like a 20W panel. The Spectra range are pretty good ( http://midsummerenergy.co.uk/buy_solar_panels/spectra_marine_solar_panels.html), although I would perhaps go for 2 x 10W (£92 each) rather than a 20W as they would pack away smaller. They are light and reliable though, so would make a good choice. If you find your needs aren't that great, you might be able to go down to 2 x 5W panels instead.

I can also get in some Unisolar folding panels which pack very small and are designed for expedition use. They are considerably more expensive though! See http://www.uni-solar.com/ , then follow links to 'Standard products' and then 'Portable modules'.

Whichever you go for, you would also need a battery and regulator. The Sunguard regulator (£26) is small, waterproof, and ideal for panels up to 50W. A small sealed lead acid battery will be the heaviest part of your kit.

Hope that helps.

Two seperate charging systems

Hello, I have a 50 watt panel and a 130 watt panel, is it possible to wire them both to the same batteries (560 ah)possibly through 2 seperate charge controllers which I have.The 50 watt system is an older system and batteries are suspect where as the 560 ah system is new and could easily take the 2 panels if they can be used together.

cheers, Steve

Yes, it's usually absolutely fine to wire two seperate solar panels to the same battery bank. You could either use two seperate solar regulators, or you could even wire both panels to one solar regulator - as long as it is rated for sufficient current. In your case, that would be 180 watts(130 + 50), divided by the battery voltage (12) - 15 Amps.