While off-grid, a 50 watt solar panel is connected to my "house" battery.  

Boondocking and Solar Power

I prefer dry camping (boon docking).  I like the solitude of Forest Service, BLM and other open spaces. A few weeks ago I towed my rig from it's winter home in Southern Utah to some beautiful land in Southwest Colorado.  At this location I have amazing views of the West Side of the La Plata Mountains, horses to hang out with, and a wood shop and art studio.  I use my camper dining table for making art, but while at this location I can also build in my shop and paint with oils too.

Running power tools 

I have no power at many locations, while camping I keep my batteries fully charged with a 50 watt solar panel.  It's very sunny here in the Southwest, so solar is the way to go.

While woodworking in the shop, I use my cordless power tools and charge up my batteries using a small inverter plugged into my jeep lighter, or I bring fully charged batteries.  I have a cordless skill saw, and cordless drills. But I need more.

As I looked at the process of converting my shop to solar, and to keep it simple, I searched for  a usage chart online to get some idea of the size of the Power inverter I would need for most of my tools.  Initially, I plan to power up my batteries for cordless work, light up the studio with a few CF bulbs, run my small iPod stereo speakers and power tools.

I learned that smaller tools like sanders, drills, and jig saws don't draw a lot of continuous power, they surge when they start.  Other tools like my chop saw and table saw draw more power and surge on start too, and will have to wait for a bigger inverter.

For less than $100. I ordered the Power Bright Inverter from Amazon prime.  I thought I'd get started with the 1100/2200 inverter and upgrade to the Powerbright 2300 next year.  I will need the bigger inverter for the big saws and welding.

The setup includes:

1. 50 watt panel and 35 watt panel, parallel connection if needed.  I will start with the 50.
2. 12volt deep cycle marine battery (just like our RV battery)
3. 30 amp charge controller
4. 1100/2200 Power inverter - Powerbright PW1100 (Modified Sine Wave)

What will I use this power for?

Lights (compact fluorescent)

Music (iPhone stereo speakers)

Chop Saw

Table Saw

Bisquit joiner

Palm sander

Orbital sander

Angle Grinder

Jig Saw

more

1. The inverter will be connected to 12v DC battery (deep cycle)
2. The inverter will supply 110v to tools, light, etc
3. The solar panel will keep the battery charged
4. The charge controller will shut down the power coming from the panels to avoid overload.

There are many helpful sites online and youtube videos to show how simply I can power my shop.

Links:
Watt usage chart for household and shop appliances

About Boondocking

Solar Toolman