Backpacking 12v system and park bench 12v solar panels?

[Jysttic]

I am a ham radio operator and I am looking for help find solar panels for two highly mobile setups. Ham radios operate on 12V. I already have a portable RF silent solar charge controller that handles all my batteries.

1. Backpacking. I carry one of two 12v bioenno LiFe batteries depending on the power draw of the radio I'm using. One is a 6ah, the other is a 15ah. I'm hoping to find a rollable or compact foldable that could be easily hung from a pack during the day, while hiking, to charge the batteries. Is there something like that that exists for the 12v ah i'm looking for? Preferably under $150 (I found the $1000 solar film ones, waaaaay out of my price range.)

2. Another radio kit I'm trying to setup is more of a park bench/car camping setup. I have a larger radio in an apache 5800 case (harbor freight pelican) with a 12v 70ah sealed lead acid battery array. I'm hoping to also find a foldable/rollable solar panel for this setup as well. Something I can either strap to the top of the case for transport and then setup next to me . If I really just need to bite the bullet and get a solar suitcase setup then let me know (which is probably the case.) What setup for the battery would you recommend, or would it be cheaper/more convenient to put a piano hinge and two latches on two solar panels?

Thanks everyone!

 

[Substrate]

1) Unless your rig is a qrp tuna-tin, getting any sort of decent solar charge while wearing a panel on your back is totally ridiculous. More of a fashion-statement than anything having to do with solar charging. Promoted by marketers that have no clue what they are doing - or actually they do, but they are targeting an ignorant market.

2) Get anything you want. Folding / rolling / rigid suitcase. Trying to keep a 70ah agm alive will be tough, so I'd shoot for 300 watts of panel power. And good solar-insolation. And not drawing a radio load during the day.

Personally I think it would be cheaper to go LFP - perhaps much better deals than Bioenno - for this task, where worrying about sulfation and Peukert is not part of the deal. Unless you are qrp where this is all moot.

 

[Jysttic]

1) Unless your rig is a qrp tuna-tin, getting any sort of decent solar charge while wearing a panel on your back is totally ridiculous. More of a fashion-statement than anything having to do with solar charging. Promoted by marketers that have no clue what they are doing - or actually they do, but they are targeting an ignorant market.

2) Get anything you want. Folding / rolling / rigid suitcase. Trying to keep a 70ah agm alive will be tough, so I'd shoot for 300 watts of panel power. And good solar-insolation. And not drawing a radio load during the day.

Personally I think it would be cheaper to go LFP - perhaps much better deals than Bioenno - for this task, where worrying about sulfation and Peukert is not part of the deal. Unless you are qrp where this is all moot.

The backpacking rig is QRP, hence the 6ah or15ah battery. I have the mcHF (although I'm eyeing the 705). Sometimes I throw in a tiny 45w amp if I feel like lugging the 15ah battery or if the bands are bad. I get about 14 hours out of the 6ah with just the mcHF and 12 hours out of the 15ah when I add in the 45w amp.

I know what I want, I'm just not sure it exists and so i wanted to see what people have used/are using. Solar isolation isn't a problem, i'm using the Epic PWRgate and it has been phenomenal. The 70ah is way overkill for my regular parkbench use considering I only run a 100w 7100 but it is also my go box radio (evacuated twice in the last two fires) and I wanted extra longevity since I didn't know when the next plug in would be (and the lead acids were free so why not.)

I'm not looking for a magic solution, nor to have to run these completely on solar, just something to extend the battery through a backpacking trip and a nice balance between weight, convenience, and charge for the parkbench setup.

 

[Substrate]

Ok, cool. My first thought is if you are going to use the agm, is to make sure you aren't humping around something that is already weak or under-performing. Do you have a good external charger for it before starting out on the trip?

I kind of got into the importance of that here in another thread using a Tecmate-Optimate 6 charger / analyzer for a newcomer..

New to forum, London, UK based

Hi all, Just to say, this is a great site and I love it. Long time follower of solar trends and watch Youtubers such as Will Prowse, Off-grid garage, etc. I'm a green horn solar enthusiast, thus browse through this forum from time to time learning bits and bobs and decided to finally join...

diysolarforum.com

For panels, how about something like a lightweight 150watt folding panel that has the connections to add your own SCC or use their own. Maybe a 100 watt version and a Genasun GV-10-Pb lead-acid controller?

Here's just an example - I have no experience with this manufacturer..

https://www.amazon.com/DOKIO-Foldable-Monocrystalline-Controller-HIGH-Efficiency/dp/B07VL3XF96/ref=sr_1_3

Something like this might be suitable.. as long as you CUT OFF those stupid SAE connectors and put on Anderson powerpoles!

Warning - I've seen some others try and chage their batteries and use solar controllers at the same time on the same dc-bus. And hear the controller! Well, yeah, controllers aren't designed to be attached to sensitive HF radios in parallel with batteries and wiring acting as antennas or tickling the rf-grounds (or lack thereof). Best to charge separately and swap batts when needed.

OR, buy a Morningstar PWM controller, and cut the jumper to turn off PWM, and act like a $7 hysteresis controller like the old days.