digital nomad power setup ideas?

[steveh2112]

i'm planning to camp out in Yosemite valley for a month, working out of my van. i figure my laptop and monitor takes about 200W and i work about 8hrs/day so 1600Whr/day

i was thinking 200W or maybe 400W solar on the roof. i'll be going in April so it should be sunny most days i think.
also planning to get one of those lithium ion power packs, which hopefully i can plug in if i go someplace with an outlet like pub, restaurant or i think there is a library there (open afternoons only, with free internet) which would be perfect.

my hope is not to have to get a gas powered generator because i want to be stealthy as possible, not sure the NPS approves of you setting up a van office in the park, but what you all think?

thx

 

[highdesertranger]

will they even let you stay there that long? highdesertranger

 

[steveh2112]

on the other hand, a much cheaper and probably more reliable system is to buy a cheap gas generator like this
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07M8P1RFW
then use it to charge that power station thing

for a little geny like that, do you think i could run it inside the van and pipe the exhaust out?

 

[steveh2112]

will they even let you stay there that long?  highdesertranger

before May 1st you can stay in the valley 1 month, after May 1st 1 week max. so my plan, arrive around Apr 8th, find a spot in camp 4 (not easy i know, done it many times) then i have to sleep in the tent but can use the van in the day

 

[Trebor English]

i'm planning to camp out in Yosemite valley for a month, working out of my van. i figure my laptop and monitor takes about 200W and i work about 8hrs/day so 1600Whr/day

Rather than "figuring", get a "Kill A Watt" and measure.  Measure the watts charging only, computing with a full battery, and both, charging and computing.  Also measure the laptop and the monitor separately.  That way you know how many watts it costs to use the monitor rather than just the laptop.  Once you know the numbers you can actually calculate how much battery and solar you are likely to need at that latitude rather than "200W or maybe 400W solar" with an unknown probability of failure.

"also planning to get one of those lithium ion power packs, which hopefully i can plug in if i go someplace with an outlet"

Before planning to take a battery pack somewhere for charging look up how much time that particular model requires to charge.  The last one I looked up required 25 hours.

 

[highest_vision]

for a little geny like that, do you think i could run it inside the van and pipe the exhaust out?

You don't want a running engine in the passenger compartment, especially one that has its fuel tank on it. You would want an external mount or sealed compartment ventilated externally. It isn't just manifold gasses to worry about.

If it's the noise you are worried about, why not build a box for it, to be used outside? you would still need to vent the exhaust and provide a fresh air intake, but maybe have happier neighbors, too!

 

[steveh2112]

Before planning to take a battery pack somewhere for charging look up how much time that particular model requires to charge.  The last one I looked up required 25 hours.

yes, i see most of them say 8hrs to full which is not much use, i like a beer but not sitting in a bar 8hrs/day

thing is i'm a game developer and my gaming laptop charger runs hot all the time so i'm pretty confident i need 200W all day. of course the laptop has its own battery but that barely lasts an hour in work mode and its a new laptop.

i'm leaning toward a small generator that ideally i can run for say 30 mins every couple of hours but that's no use if i can't charge the battery in 30 mins. i need to find something with super fast charging i guess, still looking.

i'm thinking a plain old fashioned lead acid starter battery can handle a lot of current quick, may not be happy about it but i only need a month.
then i can get a 12v laptop charger so no need for inverter

 

[steveh2112]

You don't want a running engine in the passenger compartment, especially one that has its fuel tank on it. You would want an external mount or sealed compartment ventilated externally. It isn't just manifold gasses to worry about.

If it's the noise you are worried about, why not build a box for it, to be used outside? you would still need to vent the exhaust and provide a fresh air intake, but maybe have happier neighbors, too!

yes, great idea, in fact that thing is so small, maybe fit in the engine compartment

 

[steveh2112]

ok, another idea, this one is the cheapest of the lot, no geny, just run the van on idle for 1/2hr or so to get some charge in as needed.

get a new battery when i buy a van if it doesn't have one. no one can complain about me idling the van. also get a bit of heat in cab too which will be nice in Yosemite in April.

so i'm thing 400W solar on the roof charging the van battery, when it gets low just idle the engine.
forget additional batteries and genys, easy and cheap.

 

[Trebor English]

If you get 400 watts of roof solar, that can keep the 200 watt laptop going and put some in a battery while the sun shines on you.  With that you can turn off the generator while you are parked in good sun. 

Rather than a cute portable battery pack you could, to store 1 kilowatt hour, get a battle born 100 amp hour battery and a serious charger to fill it from generator power.  Those batteries are good for 50 amp charging continuously so a couple of hours of 1000 watt inverter generator would be what you'd need for a day after the sun goes down.  On a dark cloudy day you could run the generator twice.

That would be a kilobuck for the battery and another kilobuck for the solar and converter / charger and all the other little stuff and another substantial nut for a kilowatt or two of inverter generator.  That's a lot of money, non-refundable, for being able to work at a remote location.  Any less won't provide the 1600 watt hours per day.

 

[highdesertranger]

"or a little geny like that, do you think i could run it inside the van and pipe the exhaust out?"

absolutely not

"just run the van on idle for 1/2hr or so to get some charge in as needed."

running a vehicle engine as a charge source is about as inefficient as it gets. also you need to run it for 5-8 hours at highway speed(not idle) to recharge a depleted battery.

highdesertranger

 

[user 423]

yes, great idea, in fact that thing is so small, maybe fit in the engine compartment

Like in here? Probably not.

 

[steveh2112]

ok, so i'm still thinking quiet, reasonably priced options is 400W solar charging the starter battery. if that's not enough i'll go camp out in the library in the afternoons where i can plug in.
400W Renogy solar on amazon right now is $640 and my friend wants to buy it from me when i'm done anyhow so basically free
i ordered a DC/DC step up converter that will go from 12 to 20V for my laptop and monitor. that's supposed to be 95% efficient so should be a lot better than inverter/110V option.

April in Yosemite has 6 days rain on average, not sure how much power i'll get from a 400W system on a cloudy day? anyone know? anyhow, i rechecked my power requirements and i think its more like 100W for laptop and 35W for monitor so i'm hoping even on a cloudy day it will be ok.

 

[pure_mahem]

You can get a quiet running 2000W inverter generator from Harbor Freight for about $450. It may not be the ideal solution but it's pretty damn cost effective considering all the options and will get it done. Of course not running a generator of any type would be ideal but if you are only running your generator for 2 to 3 hours before the sun goes down and it runs as quiet as one of these, it's a pretty good compromise.

I was looking into how to best charge my ebike batteries. I planned on doing an ebike packing tour cross country. To guarantee a charge anywhere my solution came down to hauling one of these predator generators in a cargo trailer behind the bike and use 2 chargers so I can charge both of my ebike batteries in one go. Running the generator for 2 hours once a day. That was the most efficient and inexpensive way I could figure to do it. Free energy is extremely nice but it doesn't always exist when you need it.

 

[steveh2112]

this guy knows a lot about solar and battery charging


also, i read about 20% power on cloudy days, so say 40W. so definitely need to find an alternate power source on cloudy days.

 

[steveh2112]

I was looking into how to best charge my ebike batteries. I planned on doing an ebike packing tour cross country. To guarantee a charge anywhere my solution came down to hauling one of these predator generators in a cargo trailer behind the bike and use 2 chargers so I can charge both of my ebike batteries in one go. Running the generator for 2 hours once a day. That was the most efficient and inexpensive way I could figure to do it. Free energy is extremely nice but it doesn't always exist when you need it.

isn't that just turning an ebike into a gas bike?

 

[pure_mahem]

Oh the Irony of it isn't lost on me. I would prefer to just scavenge power where I can but it's not alway practical or even available. Some places neither is Solar. As long as the Generator is in working order that's a guarantee charge. If your in a Greenway or Forest you may not have sufficient sun for days on end. If your in the middle of nowhere well there's not always a plug.

I have the ebike because I have a disability and can't even pedal up the slightest of slopes. Otherwise I probably wouldn't even use the ebike I'd just use a regular pedal bike. Then wouldnt have to worry about electric at all, lol. No matter how we charge them that is an awesome thing about ebikes it lets people get out that might not normally be able to.

This is also what amped me (nice pun there) to have 2 batteries. In my normal day to day here, I figure I have one battery to get where I'm going and one to get back. Then I can charge when I get back home. But going on a trip that's not the case when your out of battery thats where you are. I'd say you are always on the lookout for a place to charge but...

I've seen a guy that strapped a generator to the back of his bike and actually runs it to power the bike no battery at all and it weren't a quiet generator. Crazy!

 

[TMooney]

You dont need to be fueling 2000 w generator . 1000 is fine