Fall foliage drives give you the perfect opportunity to explore the U.S. and its beauty, but be aware of the unique challenges of traveling during the fall months. One of the largest challenges is the lack of campground hookups. With shorter days and cooler nights and charging hours limited, it becomes tricky to power the equipment you need.
For power needs on a road trip, you have a selection of RVs, campers, vans, and cars. Regardless of your selection, the optimal power setup allows your equipment to continue to be powered after each stop. The goal is not to find the largest battery. The goal is to choose a power station that matches your daily energy needs and gives you practical ways to recharge from AC power, your vehicle, or solar panels.
Autumn Power Challenges
During the fall, the amount of power you use and the ease of replacing it changes.
The shorter days mean the use of your power source starts earlier and ends later. As the sun sits lower in the sky during fall, panel angle and placement can have a bigger effect on how much sunlight reaches the panel. Cloudy days and camping areas surrounded by trees will block a good amount of light from reaching your solar panels.
Nighttime brings challenges as well. If you are parked in the afternoon and do not leave until morning, your power source may have to last many hours of the night with no access to power.
Which Devices Use Power?
You should always think about what devices you will actually use. In the case of the average fall road trip, here are some examples of what you might use:
- Smart Phones
- GPS Devices
- Cameras and Extra Batteries
- Drones and Extra Batteries
- Laptops and Tablets
- LED Lights
- Portable Refrigerators and Coolers
- Wi-Fi Devices
- Bluetooth Speakers
- And Other Small Travel Electronics
How long will you need each device, and what is the wattage of each? This will help you estimate your power needs.
Watt-hours = Watts × Hours
For instance, a laptop averaging 60W for two hours would use about 120Wh before accounting for charging and conversion losses.
You also have to gauge the importance of what you need versus what you want. If energy is limited, you charge your phone and your navigation and communication systems before anything else.
How much power did you need?
The length and type of the trip will determine the optimal power station that meets your needs.
Day Trip
A day trip requires the least battery power. During a day trip, with the exception of larger devices, electronics can likely be charged while you are driving or from a compact power station.
As mentioned before, during this trip, it is more beneficial to have a power station with higher portability.
Overnight Trip
It is always good to have some extra capacity for a overnight trip, as once you are done driving, you may need to charge up your phone, camera, and/or perhaps you have your portable fridge set up that also needs power.
A good goal is to finish the night with power remaining rather than totally drain your battery.
Multi-Day Off-Grid Voyage
Planning for reliability needs to take into account extended stays away from consistent power sources. Consider your average daily consumption and the total number of days without charge. Leave some reserves.
Packing for a trip is a balancing act. You never know when you are going to end up at your destination without power to make use of your dorm fridge.
Road Trip Charging
The most reliable power setups for RVs and camper vans use multi-charging methods.
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I. AC Charging
Leave home to depart on your trip with a fully powered station. Along the way, whenever you can stop at an appropriate outlet (whether it be your home or the campground, hotel, etc.), go ahead and use it to charge your station.
AC charging is best utilized to start your trip with the maximum amount of stored power.
II. Charging with your car
Charge your station while you move.
Whether you plan to have a station that can charge from a car or not, this method can be useful for long driving days, poor solar conditions, etc.
III. Portable solar charging
Solar charging is a good way to increase your prolonged “off-grid” time, but extreme conditions should eliminate all hopes and expectations of an unrealistic amount of time.
Fall brings shorter daylight hours than summer, while lower sun angles, cloud cover, and tree shade can reduce the amount of solar energy available during the day.
Panel placement
Try to place your panels in direct sunlight. To optimize charging, it is best to position your panels in the most direct sunlight.
Keep portable panels in open, direct sunlight whenever possible. Your vehicle or campsite can stay in the shade, but placing the panels under trees or beside objects that cast moving shadows can noticeably reduce output. Adjust the panel angle as conditions change during the day.
A panel's rated wattage is a useful reference, but it is not a guarantee of real-world output. Weather, shading, panel orientation, temperature, and the intensity of the sun can affect a panel’s output.
Is the GEYOTO N300 Enough for a Light Road Trip Setup?
A 300-watt power station can be used to charge your personal electronics on a lighter more mobile setup.
The GEYOTO N300 has a 256 watt-hour battery and 300 watts of rated AC output. It supports AC, solar, and vehicle charging, along with combined AC + solar charging. It can be used to power smaller setups such as lighting or charging a camera, phone, and laptop.
At 256 watt-hours, it has a nice amount of backup power on a daily trip or even an overnight trip, while not sacrificing a ton of space in your vehicle.
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When Do You Need the Extra Capacity of the GEYOTO N1000?
The addition of a 1kWh class power station offers a lot of energy to meet the power needs of a larger setup.
The N1000 has a 1,024 watt-hour battery pack and can provide 1,800 watts of continuous AC output power. It can be recharged from AC power, solar panels, or a vehicle, with up to 800 watts of solar input.
The N1000 is better suited to larger multi-device setups and longer trips for several people, especially when you have a plan to recharge from AC, vehicle power, or solar along the way.
For trip planning, the N1000 can provide about 14 full charges for a 60Wh laptop battery, 20 charges for a 40Wh drone battery, or about 13.7 hours for a 60W mini fridge when each is considered as an individual reference load. Actual results vary with device efficiency, operating conditions, and other loads running at the same time.
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Final Thought
Not having the biggest battery for your road trip fall setup does not mean you have the worst battery. Match your battery capacity to your daily needs and you are good. For lighter trips built around phones, cameras, laptops, and other small electronics, the N300 keeps the setup compact. If your trip includes higher combined loads, refrigeration, more devices, or longer periods between charging opportunities, the N1000 gives you substantially more capacity and AC output.