How To Use A Portable Solar Panel When Traveling

When traveling, you want to pack and travel smartly. From loading up your trunk with all the essentials to ensuring the power supply is in plentiful demand. Portable solar panels have become more popular in recent years, particularly as they’ve improved in their engineering and technological advances.

If you’ve never tried a portable solar panel when traveling, then you’re missing out on saving yourself a fortune on electric bills. Whether you’re taking your next trip to a nearby campsite or abroad somewhere, a portable power source is well worth investing in.

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What is a portable solar panel?

Portable solar panels are small-sized solar panels that convert sunlight into electricity or heat. They’ve been used for many years to help power homes across the world and despite being a traditionally expensive type of renewable power, they’re becoming more affordable as they get more popular.

With portable solar panels, they’re easier to transport and easy enough to install. Featuring an assembly of photovoltaic cells, they’re helpful even on those days when the sun isn’t visible. Solar power is a great way of generating electricity or heat when traveling. 

What are the benefits of a portable solar panel?

What advantages come with a portable solar panel? Why use them when out traveling? There are many benefits that come with solar panel energy, especially when they’re packaged up in a small and compact way. Here are some of the great benefits that portable solar panels have to offer.

They’re waterproof

With a portable solar panel, you have the benefit of using a power source that’s waterproof. That can be hard to find when it comes to other power sources that often can’t get wet or stay out during adverse weather conditions.

As many solar panels have to sit outside to collect the sunlight, they had to be designed to withstand all weather conditions without breaking or falling apart. So wherever you find yourself in the world, you don’t need to worry about losing your solar panel energy due to a bout of bad weather.

Highly efficient for generating power

Generating power is something that you’ll need when on your travels as you may find yourself in certain remote locations where a power source isn’t available. Being able to rely on portable power resources is crucial in these times, in order to help you in any situation where you may need it.

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With solar panel energy, you tend to see a highly efficient effort when it comes to generating that power.

Saves money when charging devices or powering utilities

Charging devices and powering your utilities when traveling can be costly, especially if you’re paying to use the electricity or gas on-site. However, you could minimize the costs you’re spending on a site or in a certain area, by using solar panel power.

With solar panel power, you don’t need to worry about running out of juice because as long as you’ve got access to a window or some sunlight, the portable charging device should soak up the power required.

Reduces carbon emissions and your own carbon footprint

One of the major benefits that using a portable solar panel has when traveling is that you are able to greatly reduce your carbon emissions. Carbon emissions contribute to the health of the environment around us and the more we can lower them, the better.

With that being said, it’s worthwhile looking at ways to reduce your carbon footprint, which can be aided with the use of portable solar power panels.

You can move them easily from one place to another

With portable solar panels, it’s easy enough to move them from one place to another. You don’t need to worry about fitting them into your travel luggage or vehicle because they’re not that big in width or length. 

Depending on the type of solar panels you buy and where you buy them from, the size and weight can vary. However, when it comes to traveling, ease of use, as well as portability are important. You don’t want solar panel power that isn’t portable after all, that just defeats the purpose!

How to use a portable solar panel when traveling

When you’re traveling abroad or within the country, knowing how to use a portable solar panel effectively is important. Here are some top tips for transporting your solar panels this year:

Put any solar panels within the checked luggage

To help ensure a smooth process when flying, make sure your solar panels are added to the checked luggage. The solar panels are usually foldable but there may be some that aren’t foldable and so will require a slightly bigger suitcase to put it in. However, depending on some portable sizes, they may fit perfectly in your checked luggage without any problems.

Make sure to separate the batteries

In order to fly without being pulled over by security, you’ll want to separate the batteries. Separating the batteries is important because if you try and put them in checked luggage, you could be pulled aside and your luggage may be ceased at either end of the airports you’re flying to and from.

Take a dry cloth to keep the panels clean of dirt or debris

There can often be a bit of dirt and debris build-up that forms on the panels. In this case, it’s useful to keep these panels nice and clean with a dry cloth. This should ensure the panels are soaking up all of the energy it needs without any of it being compromised by dirt.

How much money does a portable solar save?

While they may be a hefty investment, to begin with, solar panels are proving to be highly effective and cost-efficient in the long term. For portable solar panels, you can save yourself a lot of money, especially when it comes to staying in places where you’re paying for the use of the utilities. 

With solar panels, it’s free energy, so anything in comparison is going to cost you money.