Posts about the on-board power system and the components connected to it:
If you have a solar panel on the roof of your teardrop camper plus a portable panel you move around, why not use them both to simultaneously charge the batteries? Turns out there’s a few reasons why it’s not so straightforward, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Here’s how I made it work. …
Continue reading Dual but Differing Solar Panels: Yes You Can
After writing the Be Seen blog post back in February, I found myself revisiting the notion of adding a higher level brake light to my Teardrop camper but once again stuck with the limitation of 4-pin wiring which is standard on small trailers. Thanks to a chance find at the local automotive store I was …
So, imagine you are camped out with your Teardrop trailer for several days in the middle of nowhere then find your tow vehicle battery has drained and can’t start the engine. Assuming you have an on-board power system, what are some options to get you moving? I started wondering about this scenario last autumn when, …
Wouldn't it be lovely to get into a warm, cozy Teardrop sleeper cabin on a cool evening? Or even during the day, if weather turns raw and unpleasant. Well, if your electrical system includes an inverter there are space heaters--tiny just like the trailer--that can warm your Teardrop without breaking your battery's watt-hour bank! Maybe …
I am excited to offer this “guest” blog post by a Teardropper I crossed paths with at a campground in 2022. We have the same “Silver Bullet” model in the narrow (4’ width) version, but we've each outfitted ours differently... you can imagine it was easy to strike up a conversation, and I’m glad we …
I mentioned in Teardrop Trailer Buying Advice that I would have rather had a higher wattage solar panel on the roof of my Teardrop camper than what was supplied with it. But last autumn I made an addition to the power system that was simple, relatively inexpensive, and quite effective. Before getting to describing the …
Without an inverter in your solar-powered Teardrop trailer, you can only operate things which use 12 volts DC from your battery. An inverter steps up the voltage to 120 and changes it from DC to AC so that you have “house current” in your trailer and can plug in some similar types of things you …
A solar-powered Teardrop trailer means self-sufficiency. The solar panels generate energy from the sun, which can be stored in batteries for use when the sun is dim or gone for the day. A charge controller regulates the flow of power from panels to batteries in order to safely and efficiently charge them. As with the …
Continue reading Electrical System Essentials: Solar Panel & Charge Controller
There are two types of electricity available in my solar-powered Teardrop trailer: 12VDC (direct from battery) and 120VAC aka "house current" (via an inverter, which draws from the battery). The 12V service tends to get used for low power consumption loads while the 120V powers things like the rice cooker, mini-kettle or even a personal …
Continue reading Power Distribution Inside a Teardrop Trailer
This is a broad topic, and having both a solar-powered Teardrop trailer and an off-grid solar-powered house there’s a lot I can say about it. This began as a large article which then got whittled down to what is most essential for a Teardropper to know when choosing batteries and to be aware of in …
Teardrop Trailer Travels 