Solar and the Sunshine State

I assumed in Florida that I could leave the solar panel on the teardrop roof and charging would magically occur. I mean, it IS the sunshine state, right? Well, I was wrong. In five days we drained the battery down to extremely low levels.

What works best is to move the panel every few hours for optimal sun exposure. I moved it three times a day, and by noon it ended up on the roof tilted towards the sun where it stayed the rest of the day.

I imagine if all solar panel systems were built movable and adjustable that overall efficiency could be improved upon. It seems like a pretty easy concept, until you get into giant panels, and giant will never be in my plan.

Small is the mantra here, small is just better, and tiny is best.

Shore Power

Before the coming trip I installed an exterior outlet for shore power (120 volts). It’s great to have the option to plug in if there’s not a lot of sun or we’re staying for an extended period of time somewhere. Solar will always be my first choice, but there’s an added sense of relief knowing you can plug in.

It was a pretty straightforward installation. I took a power strip, cut off the plug, stripped the wires, and connected it to the exterior outlet. Plug an extension cord into the exterior outlet and Bam! Electricity.

We have two 120 volt interior clip on lights for the cabin and one 120 volt LED strip light for the galley. The power strip is also great for charging the phones and laptops.

-Leah