Solar-Powered Camping Essentials

Heading out on a camping adventure is one of life’s great pleasures. While we like to rough it now and then and get away from it all, technology has advanced to the point where there are many solar-powered gadgets that are essential – whether for your comfort or your safety.

Here are the ones we recommend the highest. 

Companion Deluxe Portable Solar Shower

One of the low points of camping outdoors is having to take cold showers, especially in the wintertime. This simple device gives you easy access to hot water for your showers; all you have to do it fill the bag with water, lay it in the sun while you go about your activities and the solar panels will heat the water up with eight litres of glorious hot shower water when you return.

Earl Tablet

Sure, there are power banks available to charge your devices on the road. But camping is usually a time when you want to switch off your devices and the great outdoors can be very hazardous to sensitive equipment like smartphones and tablets.

The Earl Tablet is an essential safety item, to have on hand in 2021, though. This has been specially designed for camping with an Android 4.1 housed in a rugged case and packed with many features for the outdoors including a specialised screen for daylight visibility, pre-loaded topographic base maps so you never get lost, 50-channel GPS/GLO­NASS/WAAS chipset tracks to ensure you are always connected and the ability to use its built-in magnetometer, ac­celerometer and gyroscope if there is a rare chance you can’t get a satellite signal.

Lumos Solar Backpack

The beauty is in the simplicity. A solar-powered camping backpack that looks fantastic (not like a bag with solar panels on it) that is rugged for all of your hiking and adventuring and able to charge your devices or anything that can be charged via USB at the same time.

Solar Car Battery Charger

This has the potential to save you a lot of pain if your vehicle battery were to flat in the middle of nowhere. Just plug this device onto your battery or into the lighter plug in your cabin when you leave the vehicle and place the attached 1.5-watt solar panel on the exterior of the vehicle and it will ensure the sun is keeping it at full charge, even if you are heading off on foot or boat for several days. This device only costs $22.95 as well, a small price to pay for complete peace of mind.

Goal Zero Yeti 150 Kit

Now we’re talking. This is the essential all-in-one charger that everyone needs on their camping trip. Charge or power devices through USB, 12V and universal AC outputs so you can provide energy to all of your devices and gadgets. It will take 17 hours of sunlight to restore the device to full power, but you can daisy chain additional solar panels to dramatically reduce this time – an option we recommend to ensure you have reliable power for your devices all day and night.