Solar powered cart?

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

Has anybody attempted a solar powered cart?  Obviously, no use indoors, but I think a modest cart should be well within the power output of a reasonably-sized travel panel, with the possible exception of the charge station.  I'd back it up with batteries, but the goal would be to be completely independent when shooting outdoors, and to have a break-away charging station that can be left outdoors when shooting inside.

Just wondering what other people have done in this area, if anything.

[Fred Salles]

Hi. No experience for a full cart but on a documentary for over the shoulder in a very remote area in Ethiopia a while ago. We thought we could charge our batteries camera and sound with solar panels. So we did some research before packing. Unfortunately the reality on the field was quite different. The power was probably insufficient for a fast enough charge and we could not leave the system out for a full day (mostly because of logistic but also fear of gear being stolen). So we ended up using a petrol generator to charge at night…

Although solar panels and chargers are more efficient nowadays, for a cart on a feature i do not think it would be practical to power directly from a solar system nor charge. 
The only practical thing I believe possible is to have a semi fixed solar panel powered battery chargers station, somewhere it could be set a full day (production tent or catering etc). 
New big rechargeable battery power generators that we see on set nowadays are leading toward this solution. 

[Constantin]

I only do this indirectly by solar charging my batteries at home. As many of us do, I suspect. I have enough batteries to never needing to recharge on set, but still I often thought about outfitting my van with solar panels, but the van is too small, the panels still too inefficient, and I live in an area with only a moderate number of sunny days

[Bouke]

6 hours ago, The Documentary Sound Guy said:

Just wondering what other people have done in this area, if anything.

Kubrick, Barry Lyndon

[The Immoral Mr Teas]

3 hours ago, Bouke said:

Kubrick, Barry Lyndon

 

What? Four candles?

 

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

3 hours ago, Constantin said:

I have enough batteries to never needing to recharge on set

This is the goal.  I guess I hadn't done the math about the size of the panels needed for everything else.  Thanks!

[codyman]

Your best bet would probably be a big battery (like those Goal Zero ones etc).  Have one at home hooked up to the optional solar panels to charge while you use another one on set.  The fact that you are in Canada though, probably not going to be too sunny in the winter months for ya.

[sonicfruit]

ONE DAY!!

 

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

15 minutes ago, codyman said:

Your best bet would probably be a big battery (like those Goal Zero ones etc).  Have one at home hooked up to the optional solar panels to charge while you use another one on set.

BC is all hydro power anyway, so I'm not convinced solar at home would be a gain for the environment.  But this is probably what I'll do, minus the solar panel.

[Wandering Ear]

I doubt I will ever actually run my sound cart off of this, but I could!  I recently added 400 Watts of solar to my van camp / remote work setup.  I wanted it portable enough that I am not always tied to the van, so I built it around my sound cart LifePo4 batteries.  Shown here with a 75Ah.  AC, Solar Charger, and Inverter all live in a briefcase for travel, and the panel folds up into a manageable pack.

 

 

I could run my cart on 1/4 to 1/2 that, but it would still be a pretty fragile and unwieldy setup.  I think if I ever had the need I would set this up as a charging station and just swap batteries into the cart to keep it mobile.

A 100 Watt panel is small enough to mount on a cart.  Roughly 3' x 2'.  If I lived in the desert I might consider it, but it still feels fragile.

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

In my power estimate, I came up with about 40W for the cart I am building, but 160W for my charging station.  So I think I could run the cart itself (with an appropriate battery in between to smooth out the power spikes), but I wouldn't be able to cover all my transmitters / IFBs / etc.

Also, you're in my neck of the woods ... what is the actual power output like in our climate?  Is it usable at all if it's overcast?

[Wandering Ear]

Ask me again after the winter

the setup is still new to me so I haven’t stressed it much on cloudy days yet. I intentionally went for more capacity than i anticipated needing, both for future needs, and because i live in the NW and wanted it to keep up despite the weather.