An essential part of Overlanding is traveling self sufficient. Bringing the right tools to fix a broken vehicle. Proper recovery gear to get yourself unstuck. Food, water filtration, first aid, etc. Taking that mentality a step further is increasing ones ability to live off the grid for an extended period of time. After outfitting my Toyota Tundra with an array of lights, Dometic refrigerator, Warn winch, and a slew of other items that draw power from the vehicle battery, I knew I needed protection from draining the battery. That’s where Hard Korr comes in with their 200W solar panel.
Electrical concerns
First, I opted to upgrade to a dual battery set-up which isolates the starter battery from most of these electrical accessories. But to further protect from draining the back-up battery while remaining stationary, solar seemed to be the best option. Solar technology has proliferated over the last decade and is much more efficient at capturing the suns radiation and converting it to energy. Energy that can be stored in a battery. When we move from camp to camp every day, I’m not as worried about draining a battery because the engine alternator recharges both batteries while underway. A solar panel is for those few times that we’ll be stationary for several days. Like when we visit Overland Expo.
About Hard Korr:
Hard Korr Lighting was founded in Australia in 2008 and has a single mission to provide consumers with high quality LED lights and solar panels at a reasonable cost. Now available in the US, Hard Korr is rapidly expanding worldwide. After meeting up with Martin O’Grady from Hard Korr USA last fall at Overland Expo East, we decided that The Gear Bunker needed to put one of their solar panels to the test. Before long, I was offered a discount on their 200 watt panel which turned out to be a nice piece of kit for out recent Overland adventure to Colorado and Utah.
Martin O’Grady details the various Hard Korr Solar Mats:
Specifications:
- Cell type: A-grade monocrystalline silicon
- Cell efficiency: 20.5%
- Backing: Solid copper
- Cell coating: Crocskin® cell armour
- Wattage: 200w
- Working max. voltage: 18V
- Working max. current: 11.11A
- Open Circuit: 21.24V
- Short Circuit: 12.22A
- Size (folded): 710mm x 530mm x 30mmSize (unfolded) 2130mm x 700mm
- Operating temperature: -30°C to 70°C
- Weight: 9.0kg
- Certifications: CE, RoHS, C-Tick
- MSRP: $949.00
Pack Contents:
- 200w heavy duty portable solar panel
- 15A 5-stage digital controller
- 5m lead with Anderson-style plugs
- 1.5m Anderson-style plug to battery clamp cable
- 4x Tie down pegs
- Protective carry bag
Colorado didn’t really present any situations where we needed to break out the solar mat as we were on the move daily. However, while camping around the Moab area, the 200 watt solar mat was employed several times. High demands on the vehicles “house” battery were replenished by the efficiency of the Certified A-grade monocrystalline cells with solid copper backing. Moab in August is a blazing hot time of year. With temps over 100F, there was no shortage of solar radiation. Even with broken clouds, we were seeing 13.5 volts from the mat.
Set-up
Set-up is quick and easy. The mat has a built in handle which helps lug the 20lb mat out of its cary case. The case has a handy pouch that stores all of the cabling, pegs and digital controller. Simply unfold the 4 panel sections and deploy the rigid built-in kick stands on the back. Allowing the matt to sit at the optimum angle to soak up the sun. Plug in the digital 5 stage controller, select the type of battery to be charged and connect the alligator clips to the batteries terminals. I chose to use ring terminals so I have a cable next to the battery ready to quickly plug into the controller. Using the solar mat helped keep the batteries topped off and we never had any issues while on our last trip.
Final Thoughts:
If you’re planning to get into Overland travel and camping, or just want to become more self sufficient, a solar panel is an easy piece of kit to add to the loadout. Available in 100W, 150W and 200W, Hard Korr has whatever sized rig you own covered. They also offer a smaller solar mat for charging personal electronics and a 15W trickle charger. Additionally, Hard Korr has been a leader in LED light technology for both off-road and camp lighting. Take a look at the Hard Korr website and see what they have to offer.
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