One man's answer to high fuel prices

Brian Brawdy of UT has a Lance camper on a Ford 350. By going "green," he can boondock or camp "off-the-grid" and save money. He has six solar panels mounted on the Lance, 3 on the front of the cabover part and three on top. In addition he has a turbo wind generator. And, he collects, then filters rain water for drinking!

He keeps track of the electricity generated on a wireless monitor. Brian also has a weather station to check for storms when water is getting low.

You can see a picture of his Lance and watch a video of his interview on ABC Baltimore.

Having two or three solar panels gives you much more flexibility in your travels. You can blacktop boondock at a Wal-Mart or big box store or camp free on public lands if you are set up for it. If you have to have hookups each night, you limit yourself in where you can go and you must spend money on an RV site each night.

Using less energy helps the environment and saves you money. Plus you can boondock in some fabulous places. (Photo: Boondocking along the Salmon River in ID) Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

Comments

[Kathy]

I wonder how many solar panels it would take to store enough energy to run an air conditioner. Sometimes for me, air conditioning is not optional.

[Jaimie Hall-Bruzenak]

What we did to supplement our solar panels was to also have a small generator. Honda makes a nice quiet one. You'd have to check to see that it could power an AC.

Jaimie

[Medicare Advantage Enrollment]

I agree, if you can't be without AC then it is a must to have a small generator for backup power source. But there is no disputing that you can really save a lot on fuel by installing solar panels and harnessing energy from it like Brian did.

To Brian, great job and kudos to you! :)

[medicare plans]

That is really thinking outside the box! Those things only get about 3-5 mpg. I like that he collects the rainwater as well!

[Jaimie Hall Bruzenak]

It is neat that he collects rainwater!

Jaimie