Off adventuring!

[nowty]

Is it worth you getting a 100Ah or even a 200Ah 12V LifePO4 battery shipped out to you and just keep at the back of a kitchen cupboard.

Something like,
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154981678710

It could be left for many months at a time if your not there and you could hook up a larger PV panel with a suitable voltage regulator to it if you wanted to charge it from the sun. It would run to many cups of tea.

[marshman]

you have roughly 55W available (5V x 11A).

Assume cup is 300ml, start temp is 10 deg C (cold water out of the tap temp in UK), end temperature of 100 deg C

You need approx. 113000 Joules of energy to get that 300ml of water up to boiling (yes I know you want it hot not boiling but stay with me! )

55W = 55 J/sec so your 55W "heater" will need to run for just over 2000 seconds or 34 minutes - assuming 100% efficiency, probably take quite a bit longer as you have to factor in heat loss from the cup and the liquid surface, but you get the idea.

Next problem is finding a 5V heater - plenty of 12V "travel" ones about - or there used to be, so maybe you need a boost converter as well.

Probably better off making a small solar furnace - a few mirrors etc. focussed onto the cup and I would think an almost instant brew

[nowty]

Or a solar kettle like my mate invented.
https://www.selectsolargadgets.co.uk/pr ... lar-kettle

[Mr Gus]

How fresh does the water stay over an extended time, with "off tastes" from topping up & re-boiling (in an effort to stay greenish) with the solar toob?

[nowty]

How fresh does the water stay over an extended time, with "off tastes" from topping up & re-boiling (in an effort to stay greenish) with the solar toob?

Its a glass tube so a bottle brush should do the trick.

[Joeboy]

Thanks lads, great to read the info & ideas. We brought a mains single element hotplate out with us this time to allow a bit more flexibility if the gas bottle goes flat (we have two). Also to cook out on balcony when we fancy it. I like that solar heater .

It would be great to run in a larger set up and run straight off batteries. I might do something yet, never know! My mind obsesses on these 'what ifs'. How can I make it all work when the grid drops out ot at least keep it tolerable? Can I longterm it, is there enough power harvested on a mobile basis?

SWMBO now thinks the 5V battery packs are brilliant and I have to under instruction hunt down a 5V usb bedside fan in Marmaris. I guess it's a day out soon hunting those lights and now fans.

[Mr Gus]

My 18650 battery fan is the dog's well licked bits for "mobile force" on a hot day.. a semi decent 18650 from my own stock (likely a samsung one)

There are the micro mister units but they have such a small agitator & water sump that one gets left at home, if slightly larger (bedside & 5v I would think it very useful for cooling, compared to a high humidity uk summer night against a dehumidifier that is.

Very reliable motor, "witmoving" brand used frequently since 2017 in my hand (as a starter for 10) well specced chassis compared to many.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06 ... =UTF8&th=1

Not bedside, just portable (not a stand mount either) ..I used the silicone band designed to sit on a nail hook to move air in other situations, ..not what you are after but the silicone band has proven very useful with it's strengthened hanger notch.

[Joeboy]

Just hooked up a netgear range extender to cover the troublesome upper back deck area for wi-fi. Typing this from there as the sun drops and we have a Whitley Neil pineapple G&T.
Surprisingly nice, a bit like a pineapple cube/lilt combo.

[Joeboy]

Getting towards the end of this solar day. Still seeing a good strong PV generation.

[Joeboy]

Final count of the day is 125 from a start of 85. In power terms that's 60,000mAh/100x40= 24,000mAh harvested today. That'll do! Didn't maximise in any way, missed the first 3 hours generation for a start, sleeping.

Nonetheless,
Lights, music, soundbar, WiFi hotspot, back up charging and soon to be some semblance of air control all from two portable folding panels. This rocks!

Boom, boom, shake the room!