I’m camping at Allaire State Park in central NJ tonight to give Colonial Airstream’s installation of 120 watts of solar power a true test.

Sunny cloud-free day. At 1:30pm the trailer was getting a healthy 5.9 amps of “free” power at 14.4volts.

Hopefully, that’ll charge the battery enough to use 2.5amps of CPAP while I sleep, and the misc power needs for the trailer (lights, water pump, fridge electronics, radio, etc). I’ve got full tanks of propane (heat, stove, oven, hot water tank, and fridge) and water (sink and shower)

You can see one of the two panels on the roof on the left side.

If this is successful, I’ll know that I could camp hook-up free at Cheesequake (yes, CHEESEQUAKE) State Park when I play next with the New Jersey Symphony for $25/night vs. >;;$80 at the hotel – and way more fun. Hoping to do that in a few weeks when I join them for a concert at Carnegie Hall.

Too much technical info?

Don’t worry – we’ll be on more scenic trips soon enough. Northern Florida in a week, anyway. Let the camping season begin!