Well, it’s MN. So once the panels are covered with snow they do a lot less. During normal days I’ve left the mesh transceivers operating all the time counting on the sun to keep the batteries topped off. Sure enough the panels were putting out zero amps. When it gets cloudy and snowy too long, I have to turn them off to keep the batteries from running down too far. Generators have a leg up in the colder months, have to admit. Some folks have mounted AC charging ports on their trailers, so that they charge at standby and unplug when you roll out. Something like this, with a battery tender hardwired in.
That probably works better for garage-based deployments – but could be done outdoors too. Usually the snow melts/slides of of the panels first, and they don’t mind the cold as long as the sun is out.
One item that might be a future investment would be an attached device that could be a remote voltmeter and logger – so we can better see trends and charging characteristics, get notified of low voltages and more importantly do it from somewhere indoors.
Ham Radio Tower Trailers 