Getting away from Gas Generators

If you’re into camping, or getting into “Vanlife” or Overlanding, one of the issues that you will face is power. Overlanding, Vanlife, and full-time RVer’s are a rapidly growing market, and they all need power. Or perhaps you’re a weekend camper that only requires a small amount of power for a couple of nights.

Times have changed from when the only electronics that we would bring camping was a wind-up radio and a battery powered flashlight. Now when we go camping, we bring a lot of electronics with us, especially people who do longer trips. Things like mobile phones, cameras, laptops, drones, radios, campsite lighting, etc. If you’re someone looking into longer trips, or living the “vanlife”, or living in a RV, camper, or motorhome for extended trips, or even full-time travellers, then you may be packing coffee makers, blenders, hairdryers, microwaves, fridges, and air conditioner units. All these units draw a tremendous amount of power.

A few years ago (a few years prior to this article anyway), I was using a very small no-name power bank in my van to cover my very limited power needs while camping here and there, and I paired it with a very inefficient folding solar panel kit. I used it on my road trip across Canada, which worked well as I only stayed in one place for one night at a time, and I could recharge it from my van’s 12v plug-in adapter while driving all day. Now though, my camping style is quite different, and so are my power requirements.

There are many companies that provide various power banks of various sizes, and a lot of consideration needs to be put into exactly how you will be using it, and for how long. You will probably have to do some calculations on exactly how much power your devices and appliances draw to figure out how much power you will need, over how long, and how will you recharge it again.

Regardless of how you seek out your adventures, your power needs will vary wildly. What works for me, may not work for you, and even my power requirements tend to vary depending on what I’m doing. One weekend I may be at a RC racing event for one day and need to charge the batteries for my RC buggy, and other times I may be camping at a racetrack for a few days in my RV, or I may be hosting an outdoor classroom at Get A Grip Driving School. In short, my power demands have increased quite a lot, and as such, I needed much larger solutions.

I’ve become a fan of the Bluetti brand; I bought my first one in 2023, which was the AC180, and I’ve used it quite a lot. In a pinch, I could even run the air conditioner in my RV for short bursts on very hot days. In fact, it served me so well that I reached out to Bluetti to discuss a partnership both personally and professionally to power my driving school’s outdoor events.

Thanks to that arrangement, I’m now fully powered by Bluetti products. I can plug my RV into the Bluetti AC240 + B210 expansion pack (which are both weather resistant so I can leave it out in the rain, and dusty environments), and I have enough power for many days off-grid. I can even run my air conditioner for short periods to cool down on really hot days. I just can’t leave the AC running for too long though without planning to charge it with either their “Charger 1”, which is wired into my Jeep, or some solar panels.

All these battery banks, regardless of who makes them, can be charged with solar panels of some sort. Sometimes though, the use of solar panels only provides enough power to slow the rate of drain from the batteries, and not enough to actually charge them back up again. This depends on the size of your battery, what your current power draw is, the size of your panels (and quality), and of course…the weather.

If it’s not sunny, and if the panels aren’t pointing at the sun, you won’t get much power from them. Having said that though, I’ve gotten great results from the 200w panels from Bluetti, but those are better discussed in another post.

I also installed the “Charger 1” in my Jeep, which is hard wired to my battery so that I can recharge my battery bank while driving. It’s important to note that it doesn’t consistently draw power while the vehicle is off, nor does it draw power while the vehicle is at idle. You need to be actually driving. This is a game changer. With a similar setup, you can buy a battery bank suitable for your needs to last a couple nights, and then recharge it during the day while driving. This makes it a perfect option for Vanlife, and Overlanders who use a lot of power in the evenings & overnight, and drive a lot between campsites. The Charger 1 charges at least 5x faster than using the standard 12v outlet found in your vehicle.

For multi-day, stationary camping, larger battery packs may be needed. This is why after a LOT of careful consideration and consultation with Bluetti, I chose the AC240 + B210 expansion pack, and the PV200 Solar Panel. Sure it’s a very heavy setup, but it suits my power needs of keeping my RV powered over many days. I also still have my AC180, and I’ve been very fortunate to test out and demo some other products which I keep topped up by charging them in my Jeep while driving.

If you only need a small amount of power for 1-2 nights at a time and only need to power a few lights, a radio and a phone, then perhaps a much smaller pack, like the Elite 100 V2 (which isn’t all that small), or even the Elite 30 V2, would be the perfect solution when paired with the Charger 1.

Regardless of your power needs, there are now many options available on the market, and Bluetti has a solution for everyone. They even have options for full-home power solutions in the event of multi-day power outages. If you’re in the market, use this discount code “GripDriving” on their website https://www.bluettipower.ca/

For additional reviews of Bluetti products, take a look the Gadget Review page (click here).