Great post so far Nomad, keep it coming. I can relate to the 2 type panels, I have both as well and I am more to the thin film when traveling and my thin film definitely works really well in clouded conditions. I use a 20 watt TF to keep my truck charged in storage and I can go to my truck 6 months later and it fires right up with the battery. I am hoping as technology improves that solar comes down in price, I'll be all over that. Wind mills and solar, unfortunately turbines won't work well here due to the lack of constant wind. but we have plenty of sun.