Battery charging in the boonies

[Muttmaster]

My ebike is coming and prepping on his yo charge batteries while camping for extended days. Got a Honda eu2200i, but not sure is safe for the expensive lithium.
I have a 350 watts pure sine wave inverter that I can use off my truck camper battery, but not sure how long it would take to charge up and how much it would deplete my camper batteries.

I have 260 watts of solar on top of my camper and also a 100 watts suitcase panel and like to know if I can charge directly from panel to battery, or I must use the provided charger.

[calfee20]

My ebike is coming and prepping on his yo charge batteries while camping for extended days. Got a Honda eu2200i, but not sure is safe for the expensive lithium.
I have a 350 watts pure sine wave inverter that I can use off my truck camper battery, but not sure how long it would take to charge up and how much it would deplete my camper batteries.

I have 260 watts of solar on top of my camper and also a 100 watts suitcase panel and like to know if I can charge directly from panel to battery, or I must use the provided charger.

That generator is safer than the grid.

[AZguy]

My ebike is coming and prepping on his yo charge batteries while camping for extended days. Got a Honda eu2200i, but not sure is safe for the expensive lithium.
I have a 350 watts pure sine wave inverter that I can use off my truck camper battery, but not sure how long it would take to charge up and how much it would deplete my camper batteries.

I have 260 watts of solar on top of my camper and also a 100 watts suitcase panel and like to know if I can charge directly from panel to battery, or I must use the provided charger.

You can't charge directly from panels to battery without an appropriate solar battery charging system

The generator will be fine

350w inverter will be fine for smaller chargers - you didn't say anything about the charger or the battery so can't answer

The panels with an inverter and the standard charger might or might not be suitable (likely not) but you didn't provide anywhere near enough information


Generally speaking more and specific information from you is likely to get more and better responses

[73Eldo]

I would agree that anything that is a Genuine Honda should be fine to run a charger. A Honda clone... not so much. And it would be the charger that should take the hit from nasty incoming power. Even bad charger designs should not really put out 'bad' power unless the design and incoming power is so bad that they way it fails send incoming power straight to the battery.

I'm no expert on this stuff but the better solar charge controllers I have seen you can set the battery voltage and type on so that would likely be the most efficient way to charge from solar. Doing the step down from panel voltage to 12v to 120 to 48 has a fair amount of loss and an even better chance of angry interactions since pretty much everything now days uses tricks to change voltages.

The charge controllers I have seen that have a lot of setting options are not cheap but if you want to play the game you need the proper equipment.

[Gr8fun]

The ming he mppt7210 a is a cheap (53$) user set parameter solar controller. Will boost your 12v solar oanel or 12v battery to the e bike battery of your choice. Digital display is accurate and extensive.
mine has been working fine for a couple of years.
it works satisfactorily. Slow on adjusting for passing clouds etc. If you are into extremee performance waterproof ruggedness, you can spend a lot more for a purpose built genasun. Which i also use.
Far more efficient than charging with controller battery invertor charger complex.
A 100 watt panel with this boost controller will almost always give you with "good" sun 1 amp charge with 52 volt battery. For faster charge multiply panels.
if you have 2 batteries charge one while you are out thrashing the first. Get a 48 dc to 120 ac invertor and use for dry camping.

[AZguy]

That ming mppt7210 is some cool piece of kit - too bad they're only sourced from china, otherwise would be on my shopping list

[CPG]

All you need is a little 1 KW generator, I prefer Yamaha over the Honda as it's 1 lb lighter and a tad bit quieter. Keep it simple, especially as you already seem to have a quality generator.
I had a custom charger (voltage convertor) built for my plane, to charge my 52 volt battery off the 12 volt system, but that's because I wanted to charge while flying and sure didn't want to haul a generator.

[Gr8fun]

Mppt 7210a for $60 on amazon free delivery by march 17.
source from china and 40. Wait a month or two..
Not a more versatile charger out there..
Solar panel (or 12v battery) and 7210a. controls rate of charge. % of charge. 1time. Battery voltage. Cc cv charge. Fast charge to set amperage. Use daily maintenance free.
in bad weather i might plug in twice a year.
a solar bicycle trailer or mounting panels to bike extends your range. Costs less than another battery.

[AZguy]

The amazon one I found said delivery March 30 - April 20... I guess I'll need to look harder

I've got so many batteries, hard to see why not get some solar going

[Gr8fun]

I have been playing with this solar for e bike for some time. Will be happy to share my experiences to maybe prevent replications of my mistakes.

[AZguy]

I've got no interest in a solar powered bike per se, but I am starting to think about solar powered charging, particularly for when spending time in the backcountry. I recently got a very large Li-ion battery and this piques my interest even more and I think I'd like to setup a portable solar system, likely scalable with 200-1KW (rated, not necessarily the output) of portable panels. Not even sure where to begin with the panels to be honest but I do have friends that have solar systems on their RV's so I'll likely be picking their brains a bit...

[CPG]

I charge my bikes 100% of the time from some combination of grid tied solar, wind, or hydro, as I have all three plus the grid. On a trip I use a 400 watt inverter, and with a Prius you can be charging with the engine off, and have no fear of running the car battery down as it will monitor it and start the engine if required, all automatically. I have never actually used my 1 KW Yamaha for charging my bikes, as the car is actually a more fuel efficient way to do it. I go out for a few hours not days, so recharging in the boonies is not an issue, solar is one way for sure, just a lot of crap to haul around and it may be cloudy.

[AZguy]

I have about half a dozen electric bike batteries and just got a hold of a monster 14s8p unit and it's got me thinking of it as a portable energy source beyond just the bikes - it's an overkill for most of my bike use... and since I have so many other batteries, might as well keep them in the mix... charging from 110V (whether my gas generator or the wall) is a no-brainer... I have a 300W 12V inverter which is good enough for most vehicle use although it would be nice to bump that up to 400W for the big battery...

That little controller got me thinking more but I've always thought solar panels packed in the back of the 4x4 pickup or even the car trunk might be good for off-grid...

I'm starting to think what I ought to do is build my own battery controller... something that can handle anything from 12V lead-acid to 72V Li-ion (best to be able to do two simultaneously I think) that integrates charging from wind/solar, DC 12V-? or AC 110/240 and then I'd have it all.... something that will put out 12VDC too...

Then I get realistic and ask myself what I need... likely only an inverter for the big battery for now... If I only had endless time/money

[Gr8fun]

The problem with rv solar panels on the roof is that most people prefer to park in the shade. Duh. Not good for solar.
this is good case for portable solar. Suitcase. Possible Multiple 50 watt panels stored in hard case.

[AZguy]

Not the least bit interested in mounting panels to my roof - just thinking of portable panels that I can toss in the back of the truck

This is what my RV friends do although finding any appreciable shade in the desert is a very odd commodity and there's an argument for the panels providing shade for the RV

[Gr8fun]

The panels get very hot. I have measure 160 degrees. Your temperatures will be higher.. Panel efficiency drops dramatically with heat. Providing adequate space for air circulation is necessary for output. Cool mornings clear skies are best.

[AZguy]

I get it with panels - I may not have a lot of hands on but I understand AZ is far from the ideal environment... We got tons of sun but.... more than is good and not only is the heat really high, months of 40-50C ambient, let alone the surfaces in the sun get far hotter... 160F (~70C) ain't nothin..... heck, the interior of my car gets that... and the UV load is crazy too... most anything left in the outdoors will perish within a season or two

I made a thread here sort of poking fun at folks that thought their BBSHD's got hot... mine gets too hot to touch before I even turn it on just from sitting out in the sun...

Folks think this is a good place for rooftop solar but we'll see... I suspect most will be hurting within ten years and that's the expected ROI - heck, most business propositions won't consider an ROI of more than 18-24mo... but don't get me going on that ;-}

A lot of what makes me think that portable is the best thing for many applications out here

OTOH rode all day in 25C until just got home this evening when it was lusciously cool at 18C... but the hot stuff isn't far away...

[calfee20]

I have been thinking of getting a portable for my RV. That charge controller is quite interesting. One more reason for the portable.

[CPG]

I sold and installed solar systems for a lot of years, decades, until it got too regulated. Most of my work was for off grid systems, and then I did grid tied when it was still easy and simple. Being in a very rural area, and having a crane service (my day job) I specialized in large pole mounted arrays that I could fab at home, and deliver and set on site in a couple hours. Point being, on the roof is the last place I would put solar, too damn hot plus a PITA to install. Out of over 50 systems, only 2 were roof mounted. I guess if you have no other choice..... As to their lifespan, I have some panels over 30 years old, still putting out the majority of their rated power, consider them a life time investment.