Off grid battery charging

Bikes4two

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I'm looking to take my camper to non electric hook-up sites and am wondering how I might charge my ebike batteries, so fellow forumites, what might you suggest for this please?

The camper does have a 12v 100Ah lead acid leisure battery but no solar panels.

I know of inverters that convert 12v.dc to 230v.ac but my experience of such devices many years ago was that they 'eat' battery life but modern devices may be more efficient.

Amny thanks, Bf2
 

saneagle

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Oct 10, 2010
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I'm looking to take my camper to non electric hook-up sites and am wondering how I might charge my ebike batteries, so fellow forumites, what might you suggest for this please?

The camper does have a 12v 100Ah lead acid leisure battery but no solar panels.

I know of inverters that convert 12v.dc to 230v.ac but my experience of such devices many years ago was that they 'eat' battery life but modern devices may be more efficient.

Amny thanks, Bf2
What batteries are they? Normal Chinese ones can be charged from the 12v with a step up buck converter/ charge controller that you can buy very cheap from Aliexpress. If the battery uses comms, you need a much more expensive solution.
 
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Bikes4two

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What batteries are they?
Oops, sorry, I should have mentioned that - standard 21700 and 18650 cells in self build 10s packs so standard BMS - no fancy comms or the like.

If I did produce 42v for charging, how do you achieve the typical CC/CV charge profile?
 

saneagle

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Oops, sorry, I should have mentioned that - standard 21700 and 18650 cells in self build 10s packs so standard BMS - no fancy comms or the like.

If I did produce 42v for charging, how do you achieve the typical CC/CV charge profile?
Use a buck converter to step up the voltage from 12v to say 50v, then feed that into the charge controller, which steps it back down to 42v or whatever you set it to.

Buck converter:
DC-DC Constant Current Boost Converter 400W Step-Up Converter Voltage Regulator 8.5-50V To 10-60V for Electric Product - AliExpress
CC CV controller:
DC 6V-70V to 0-60V 15A 20A 900W 1200W CNC Adjustable DC Voltage Regulator CV CC Step Down Power Supply Module XY6015L XY6020L - AliExpress
and if your still nervous, you can always add a protection board:
XH-M604 Battery Charger Control Module DC 6-60V Storage Lithium Battery Charging Control Protection Board Switch - AliExpress

I'm sure that there are modules that combine the two functions, but I can't find them at the moment.
 
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cyclebuddy

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The camper does have a 12v 100Ah lead acid leisure battery but no solar panels.
It's something I've done frequently; you can easily buy generic 12vDC to 42v chargers specifically for e-bike charging, or use the standard 230vAC to 42vDC e-bike charger with a small £40 300w pure-sine inverter from the camper 12vDC supply. It's not the inefficiency of conversion that you need to worry about (which in reality isn't too bad), it's the very limited capacity of your 12v/100Ah battery; if you work it out, you'll be able to charge say an 11Ah 36/42v battery maybe 1.5 times without crippling that by excessive DOD.

Even with a lot of van-roof solar, a much larger leisure battery capacity, and a very sunny day - assuming you want to park your van in the full-glare of the sun rather than the shade on a hot summer day - it's difficult to achieve off grid. I use 600w solar and 2 x 12v 280Ah (lithium not lead); one I know uses 900w solar and 900Ah on a very large camper to power the van and 2 e-bikes. Just one 12v x 100Ah will get you nowhere, especially if you're reliant on that to power the van too.

The best solution by far is to use on-site cafes, pubs etc where if you ask nicely they're mostly quite amenable to letting you recharge an e-bike battery or two.
 
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Only-Me

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Hi I hope you don’t mind if I jump in here as my question is simular, I am looking to charge 20ah Ebike batteries off grid using portable solar kit the fold out ones but they seem very expensive atm so any suggestions would be appreciated.
My pal has an adapter that can use ev charge stations but I want to do some wild camping and charge so don’t mind waiting longer than the usual 4 hours .
 

matthewslack

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The CC-CV behaviour is automatic, but entirely dependent on the accuracy and reliability of the device providing the 42V.The device can only supply its maximum current, which is the CC, and it is calibrated/set to 42V, which is the CV. If it fails, or if it is a more than 42V supply, your BMS is the only other safeguard against a battery disaster.


Your 100Ah 12V if run from full to flat is only 1200Wh, and allowing for 80% charger efficiency only gives 960Wh to the battery, and allowing for lead-acid hating being taken below 50% state of charge, really only 480Wh. Just not big enough for charging once you are parked up.

Two off-grid-van solutions: charge only whilst driving, AND get a minimum 4A charger otherwise you will always be driving, and solar. As @cyclebuddy says, cafes etc are the not quite off grid easier option.

Depending on the weather, each 100W of good solar will give between 100Wh and 700Wh per day, and through a boost charge controller like Elejoy MU400SP (about £30) 90% or so efficiency to the battery. More efficient that way than via your lead acid battery then charger.

My average solar harvest in UK conditions in the middle 4 months of the year (June 21 +/- 2 months) is around 300Wh per 100W, and I tow three 110Wp panels and ride every day.

If you consider solar, don't buy cheap 'semi-flexible' panels. They are prone to invisibly cracked cells which reduce output to almost nothing. SunPower cells only, and SunPower panels using their own cells are as good as you can easily get.

Often larger vans use normal rooftop panels which cost almost nothing these days, but are a lot heavier and not good for aerodynamics.

Permanently outdoors roof mounted panels are always working, so far better than something that is transported inside and only set up when parked.
 

matthewslack

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Hi I hope you don’t mind if I jump in here as my question is simular, I am looking to charge 20ah Ebike batteries off grid using portable solar kit the fold out ones but they seem very expensive atm so any suggestions would be appreciated.
My pal has an adapter that can use ev charge stations but I want to do some wild camping and charge so don’t mind waiting longer than the usual 4 hours .
You need a fair amount of solar to keep charge times down. I tow a trailer and charge whilst riding.

If you plan to ride then camp for several days to charge, you can manage with a small system, but if you want to ride most days, you will need minimum of about 200W of panels. That's about 16 square feet. The 'how to carry it' question then arises!

My 330W trailer is 4ft wide, 6ft long and 25kg these days (6kg panels, 7kg 1000Wh battery, 1kg electronics, 11kg base trailer).

20220327_101030.jpg

Not everyone's cup of tea.
 

saneagle

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The best solution for off-grid charging is a small petrol generator unless you have a campervan with substantial solar panels and at least 200Ah of leisure batteries.

As partially explained above, a single leisure battery doesn't hold enough charge. A 100ah lead battery has about 50ah of charge. If you go deeper, you'll be compromising it's lifetime. That means that if a 100ah one is in tiptop condition and fully charged, you get 600wh to charge your ebike battery. There are losses in the conversion, whichever charge device you use, so realistically, you need to account for around 20% loss, which leaves 480wh to go into your ebike battery.


Portable solar panels are a bit of a waste of time. A 200w one gives about 20w on a dull day, and the most you're likely to see is around 100w. Fixed ones on a campervan roof perform much better, and they're generating something throughout the day, regardless of what you're doing.

Also, the portable power stations are quite good, though heavy. I have one that only cost £2000 that has 15kwh, and can run my house for 3 days. The downside is the 150kg weight. You can get them any size. One with about 3kwh, would be quite useful on a camping trip, but they're not much cheaper than my massive one.
 
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esuark

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Love those, I remember when they first came out many years ago when my girls were small we were camping at a campsite near Newquay when the person next to us decided he`d start his to charge his battery I`d guess :confused:. Then went off for the evening not wanting to listen to it himself :rolleyes:, yeah see you next Tuesday I thought ! Promised myself if it ever happened again I`d *!#? turn the *!#? thing off.......
 
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Only-Me

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Love those, I remember when they first came out many years ago when my girls were small we were camping at a campsite near Newquay when the person next to us decided he`d start his to charge his battery I`d guess :confused:. Then went off for the evening not wanting to listen to it himself :rolleyes:, see you next Tuesday I thought. Promised myself if it ever happened again I`d *!#? turn the *!#? thing off.......
Many moons ago I did motocross racing with a camper and trying to be a good camper I bought a kipor sine wave silent generator with built in inverter the trouble was every now and then some bob the builder would park near us and pull out a four stroke site generator that was like a tractor then they would get the beers out and fall asleep Genny still running til 1am or until sugar went in ;) not by me I may add
 
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matthewslack

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Thanks for the replies , I won’t mind camping couple of days while charging this is a kit I looked at a few months back https://electrifybike.com/products/solar-200-watt-ebike-battery-charger-sun200 I think there are better versions now ?
SunPower cells, and neat folding to a small size, but you would be paying over the odds compared to a couple of 100Wp SunPower panels bought separately.

When I bought mine nearly 4 years ago they were £200 each. Today from the same supplier Bimble Solar they are £99, Inc vat but excluding delivery.

The picture in that link shows the same £30 Elejoy charge controller that I use. You could put your own non foldable system together for about £250. Mount on a second hand kids trailer base and off you go.

The huge disadvantage of the foldable solution is that you have to dedicate days to charging instead of charging as you ride.

Middle ground would be a stack of 100W panels on a small trailer about 2ft wide, 4ft long with the top one charging whilst riding and one or more others joining in when parked up and spread out.
 

saneagle

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Thanks for the replies , I won’t mind camping couple of days while charging this is a kit I looked at a few months back https://electrifybike.com/products/solar-200-watt-ebike-battery-charger-sun200 I think there are better versions now ?
Are you wanting to take something on the bike or are you travelling in a car with the bike?

That kit looks sort of OK. The charge controller is perfect. That was the thing I was thinking of. It would be good if you could get it on its own, but probably very expensive, like the whole kit.

If you want to take it on the bike, you have to consider the size and weight. I have a 200w kit, and it's pretty heavy.

The problem with solar is always the weather. if you get a week of dull days, you'll wish you hadn't bothered. We're always optimistic, though.

There are also river generators that you throw in a stream, but, of course, that only works if you always stop off at fast flowing streams. They're quite heavy too.
 

RogerO

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Jun 1, 2025
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I have a Jackery 500. I've a pretty big solar panel on the roof of my camper (OK, it's just a vivaro with a single bed and a tv in the back). Jackery maxes out at 80w solar input (I think) so I have a 300w panel to deliver close to the max input when parked up on less than bright sunny days.

Driving charges it via 12 v fag lighter and solar during the day.

I can recharge my bike's 700w battery from 40% ish to full easily off the fully charged jackery and watch a bit of TV, recharge the mobile and have small LED lights on in the van for necessary movement.

I think I'll invest in a Jackery 1000 soon as a safety net when I'm away for a few days.. I'd need that to power a fridge (beer cooler)...

Roger
 

saneagle

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I have a Jackery 500. I've a pretty big solar panel on the roof of my camper (OK, it's just a vivaro with a single bed and a tv in the back). Jackery maxes out at 80w solar input (I think) so I have a 300w panel to deliver close to the max input when parked up on less than bright sunny days.

Driving charges it via 12 v fag lighter and solar during the day.

I can recharge my bike's 700w battery from 40% ish to full easily off the fully charged jackery and watch a bit of TV, recharge the mobile and have small LED lights on in the van for necessary movement.

I think I'll invest in a Jackery 1000 soon as a safety net when I'm away for a few days.. I'd need that to power a fridge (beer cooler)...

Roger
I have two VTOman power stations both with extension batteries. They work really well and are a lot cheaper than most. You can get 3kwh plus solar panels for £999:
VTOMAN 3096Wh Portable Power Station Bundle with Extra Battery & 220W Solar Panel Included - Up to 4400W Solar Power Generator for Home Backup, Off-grid, Road Trip, RV, Camping : Amazon.co.uk: Garden

They have an Ebay shop that's worth visiting. This is their Flashspeed 1500wh that charges in an hour and gives 3kw if you ever need it:
VTOMAN FlashSpeed 1500 Portable Power Station 1548Wh, Recharge 0-100% within 1H. | eBay UK
 
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