Portable Solar Power System
is versatile, rugged and powerful

The design of a portable solar power system presents a delicate engineering balance between the away from home power needs namely:

Versatility,

Portability,

Ruggedness and

Power Delivery Capability.

Versatility

It is expected from portable solar power generators to provide power to a variety of portable devices. Nowadays, people take with them while away from home notebooks or netbooks, smart phones, navigators, radio sets, portable TV sets, cameras, small heaters, small cookers and a plethora of other modern age devices. In many real life situation people need a car battery charger and tools such as an electric drill. Electronic and electrical devices run on DC voltage (12V, 9V, 6V or other) or on standard AC voltage. Many devices are connected to USB ports. Well designed portable power supply is required to provide DC voltages, AC voltage and at least one USB connection to USB dongles, disk on key and alike.

Portability

As the name imply, a portable power system need to be portable. It need to be packaged in one container, to have handles, to have a manageable size, to be lightweight and to fit in the luggage compartment of the car, minivan or SUV.

Ruggedness

Ruggedness of the container, the components and the wiring between the components is of utmost importance. The portable solar power generation system will go through many cycles of taking it off the vehicle and putting it back. It will need to survive harsh environmental conditions, dust, rain, hail, hot and cold temperatures. Ruggedness has an immediate effect on the longevity of the system.

Power Delivery Capability

The power source of the portable solar power system is a small size solar electric panel. The portable solar panel in most cases provides nominal 12V DC (maximum voltage 17.4V), and its power delivery capability can range from 20 Watts to 180 Watts. The other components might be a battery charge controller, a battery, DC to AC inverter and a car battery charger. Not every system has all the components, it depends on the application of the portable power system. The size of the components fit the power delivery capability of the solar panel. The solar panel is either foldable on hinges or a thin film flexible fold-able panel.