Tesla Power Wall...For A Tent?? Solar Energy (With Storage) For Camping

My article on the African solar energy company MPower got me thinking about how useful a similar setup would be for camping. I've already got the constituent parts. Solar panels, power banks, appliances that run off USB. What's to stop me?

As you can see I've got a fan running off the 4 cell power bank, rocking Panasonic NCR18650B cells. It will run all day off this. But it doesn't need to, as the power bank is constantly being recharged during the day...

...by solar panels! It's my modular array. Just three panels for now, though I'll add a fourth soon. That should bring the combined amperage up to the maximum the power bank will accept anyway. Pardon how droopy the ends of the tent look, it's sitting on lumpy terrain.

As you can see, the holes in the corners mean I could secure this solar array to my tent with carabiners, or even small locks. This would help to prevent theft if I were to use this setup at a festival or crowded campground.

The lantern (which can also charge/run off USB) ties nicely to the highest point on the ceiling, which has a pair of ties specifically designed to suspend a light source. I'm thinking I can do better than this however. The lantern dangles a bit low and I can already tell I'll hit my head on it alot sitting up during the night.

Storage pockets at either end happen to be exactly the right size for my power banks. There's 5 pockets at each end for a total of 10. I've got 4 in there right now. Three of my 4 cell power banks and one of my 6 cell units. I'd love to eventually fill all the pockets with power banks, but then I need room for my phone and other shit.

Anyways having several power banks guarantees I won't be left without power if there's a couple of cloudy days in a row. I'd estimate I use these up at a rate of one per day while camping, just charging my phone and running small USB appliances off it. You'd be surprised how much stuff can run off USB these days.

Anyway that's all for now. I do plan to actually go get some camping done this Summer, so you may yet see an article wherein I put all of this neat gadgetry to a real world test (though I have in the past, tbh.)

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^{Stay Cozy!}