Boondocking Is an Energy-Use Balancing Act

Got solar?

When was the last time I camped completely unplugged with the RV? By this, I mean that I had no:

• Running water

• Electricity

• Sewer

• Phone service

Easy! That would be in July of 2024 when I traveled to Arizona to say goodbye to my friends. Some of you might remember my extended Goodbye Tour, where I traveled across the US and Mexico to see as many people as possible for—potentially—the last time. These specific friends in Arizona worked in the National Forest and had no services.

How do you get power when boondocking?

You can power your rig and devices in several different ways while boondocking. Your RV should have a “house battery” that runs all 12-volt items inside, such as your exhaust fan and lights. Your furnace, stove, and even your fridge may run on propane instead of electricity. Some fridges can also run on 12-volt power.

But what if you need to charge an e-bike or run a Starlink for work?

For that, you’ll need a generator.

Generators are a staple of the RVing and off-grid communities. Sadly, these machines are usually obnoxiously loud and release fumes, so you must be careful where you place them when running them.

I, however, have never owned a generator—at least not one powered by gas.

Instead, I put my solar panels outside, let them soak up the sun, and enjoy a taste of civilization in the RV. If you’re wondering:

Why on earth would you need electricity and WiFi in the national forest?

Let me remind you that I was a full-time RVer. My RV life wasn’t a vacation, and I certainly wasn’t retired, though my friends often joked that I was. While parked in Arizona, I worked a standard 40-hour week for Google while finishing up my master’s degree in tech.

Why you should consider getting a solar generator

I constantly got questions about my solar at camp. Even hardcore gas generator lovers started asking me questions when gas prices soared in 2022. If you’re not sure whether you should opt for a solar generator instead of traditional ones, here are the reasons I only ever used solar:

• Sustainability: The fumes that generators let off are so harmful that they can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning if you position it too close to your RV. Why add to pollution and other environmental issues? Offset your thirsty travel rig with solar.

• Silence: Gas generators are loud. I can’t imagine a remote worker successfully having meetings while a gas generator hollered outside to power the laptop and the internet. My generator doesn’t make a sound. Even when the fan kicks in, it never interrupts my meetings. In fact, I can sleep right through the night while it charges my devices.

• Freedom: Some parks don’t allow gas generators because of the noise. Others have designated gas generator areas so the loud rigs can suffer each other’s presence together. The rest of us have a separate space to enjoy peace and quiet. Even when generators are allowed, parks often have a cut-off time. For example, some parks say generators should be off after 8 PM. I once had friends leave camp because of this. They couldn’t run anything in their rig without a generator.

• Cost: Solar generators are not cheap. I paid roughly $1,300 for mine in 2021, not counting the solar panels. But everything else is free after paying for that initial startup cost. I will never pay for the sun and don’t need to worry about any cost fluctuations in a non-renewable resource.

In case you’re wondering, my solar generator still works perfectly fine in 2025. It’s the best upgrade I bought for my RV. Why did I choose this option instead of installing solar directly onto my RV? That’s a post for another day.

Conserving power is more important than creating it.

When boondocking, people often worry more about how much power they have than how much they use. Both are important, but I’d argue the second one is even more critical. This is especially true for those of us using modest solar setups instead of thirsty gas generators.

With that in mind, next week, I’ll tell paid subscribers:

• How to reduce your power consumption for boondocking

• Why I chose a solar generator over installing solar on the RV

• How to choose a good solar generator for your rig

• How I financed my solar setup and paid nothing in interest

See you then!