Monday, August 23, 2010

Camping in West Virginia or Field-testing solar power

My family and I, with several close friends, love camping in West Virginia at Big Bend Campground in the Monongahela National Forest, more specifically in the area called Smoke Hole Canyon.
We've been camping here a couple of times every year for several years now, and it just keeps getting better.
The campground lies within the horse-shoe bend of the South Branch of the Potomac River, deep down in a canyon. The river, encountering the rough roots of the Alleghenies, carved out the canyon in it's meanderings, and created a lush, secluded natural environment that has been kept well maintained by the Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area since 1965.
The river in this area is ideal for the whole family, including places for young children to splash in the shallows, and better swimmers to dive off rocks or rope swings. The River carries you in an almost complete circle, so tubing affords you many fun-filled hours on the river without too much portaging of tubes or walking back to your starting place!
Before our last trip out, my husband was given a solar powered generator to field test.

The Sun Runner Portable Backup Solar Generator


We found this to be a bulky, rather HEAVY item to include in our usual repertoire of camping gear, but we were game to try!









By positioning the solar panel in the morning, we were able to charge the generator fully in a very short time.
We discovered that it would carry enough charge to run a small cabin on for a weekend without much effort. It can handle full loads, even running power tools or your TV set, should you be the type to bring such things with you on camping trips. It came equipped with two large LED spot lights, AC and DC charging outlets, and readouts to tell you where you stand power-wise.
It was a bit of overkill for our usual simple standards for camping, which I tend to prefer to be more on the primitive end of things. But, as stated above, for a weekend, or even a week, without electric, this thing can and will meet all your needs: recharge cell phones, iPods, computers or rechargeable batteries. Run your tools, stove, television, radio, computer and gear. Allows for hours of electric light, bright enough to flood your area or just read a book.
It runs silently, bringing no attention to itself.
I've even considered hooking this model into my home's electrical system, just to augment it...or even just to run and heat the back porch during the winter.
I understand that Sun Runner is working on a smaller, lighter, more powerful prototype of this model that I've tried and covered here...I can't wait for it's release, for as I venture out further from home, or take more extended camping trips, I can tell that it will be an invaluable tool!

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