FOOTLOOSE

SOLAR AND GENERATOR WARS

- RON MOON

IT’S often a somewhat strained conversation as campers and fellow four-wheel drivers get together and, over a beer or two, begin discussing the merits and disadvantages of solar panels compared to generators.

“I hate bloody noisy generators,” is often heard, while those on the other side of the fence reckon, “Solar panels are a bloody pain to use.”

On many trips I carry and use both. My camper has a 180W solid solar panel on the roof, and I always carry a folding solar panel as well. Backing those panels up, I have a couple of full sine-wave inverters: an 1800W in the Patrol and another smaller one in the camper. Then, on the trips where we’ll be staying camped in the one spot for a while, or need a lot of 240V AC power, I throw in my Honda generator.