My New Solar System

[Otters]

Originally Posted by Thomas G.

if I save money on one trailer item it leaves me that much more to buy other fun trailer stuff.

Now that I get!!! And believe me, I've got a looooonnnng wish list. Something to consider...

Linda

[Mike Magee]

Um, it just occurred to me to wonder how many planets you have in your new solar system...

[Sharon G]

Originally Posted by honda03842

Sharon, just to provide a little experience.

We've been dry camping with our 80 watts and have no trouble running pump, fans, lights, sat dish and TV.

The biggest load for us seems to be the two refrigerator fans that blow over the cooling coils. We keep the fans on through most of the day.

We use a 100 watt Inverter to run the TV and Sat Dish. Other than that we've found no need to use AC.

We used to run the AC to make coffee, 600 watts for 10 minutes but now just pour hot water thru the drip unit. Actually makes hotter coffee.

Of course we are in a particularly sunny part of the world.

We're about to dry camp in a deep mountain valley for four days and I'm wondering how we'll do it that situation.

Safe Travels

Norm, I just saw this post. Good to know that your 80 watts provides everything you need. I've put an air baffle on the outside of the refrigerator so it works great without fans. My concern is if we will have enough power to run a mifi and two laptops.

We also switched to a french press for coffee. Comes out hotter and tastes better than in the electric pot.

I am seriously thinking about getting one of those portable countertop icemakers so we won't have to lug around a big cooler and can make ice as needed for our cold drinks. I'm guessing I'd need a bigger inverter for that. We would probably use it once a day and put the ice we didn't need right away in the freezer.

Right now I'm just using one of those little 75 watt cigarette lighter inverters. I was thinking of getting a 400 watt inverter just to be safe. Is that overkill?

[theresa p]

the more i read about solar, the more friggin' confused i get! i have no head for amps/voltages etc. but i do like the "solar for dummies" concept and i am deep into investigation!
i want solar. we boondock alot. and our fridge is not 3-way but only 2-way, meaning no propane.

keep the info coming....i appreciate any and all i can get!

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by theresa p

the more i read about solar, the more friggin' confused i get! i have no head for amps/voltages etc. but i do like the "solar for dummies" concept and i am deep into investigation!
i want solar. we boondock alot. and our fridge is not 3-way but only 2-way, meaning no propane.

keep the info coming....i appreciate any and all i can get!

The solar kit is tidy, but you pay a fair premium for that convenience. A solar system is really simple:

1. A solar panel (or two)
2. A charge controller that hooks to the solar panel with two wires
3. Your deep cycle battery that you probably already own, hooked to the charge controller with two wires.

I mounted a 60 watt panel to my roof for $130, bought a good quality controller for $50 and wired it to my battery. Done.


You cannot practically run an absorption refrigerator off a battery / solar system. If it is a compressor refrigerator (makes noise when it runs), you can use larger solar panels and batteries to make it work.

[Vicki A.]

Thomas,
THANK YOU! I too have been totally confused with this solar stuff. I was hoping it didn't really need to be as confusing or difficult as it was sounding!
I appreciate the fact some like to have a very elaborate setup, but I prefer things as simple as possible, as I am one of the "dummies"! Thank you for making as simple as I thought it could be!

Vicki

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by Thomas G.

................
Just as a FYI to others interested in solar kits, I was at Costco today and they have this 55 watt Coleman kit for $199. It includes a 200 watt AC inverter and a charge controller. The panels are amorphous.

Amazon.com: Coleman 55 Watt Solar Power Generator Kit: Patio, Lawn & Garden

I was at my local Costco recently in Livonia MI and they have dropped the price to $149.

For comparison, I paid $130 for a 60 watt panel alone with no controller or inverter.

[honda03842]

Norm, I just saw this post. Good to know that your 80 watts provides everything you need. I've put an air baffle on the outside of the refrigerator so it works great without fans. My concern is if we will have enough power to run a mifi and two laptops.

We also switched to a french press for coffee. Comes out hotter and tastes better than in the electric pot.

I am seriously thinking about getting one of those portable countertop icemakers so we won't have to lug around a big cooler and can make ice as needed for our cold drinks. I'm guessing I'd need a bigger inverter for that. We would probably use it once a day and put the ice we didn't need right away in the freezer.

Right now I'm just using one of those little 75 watt cigarette lighter inverters. I was thinking of getting a 400 watt inverter just to be safe. Is that overkill?

Sharon,

We have given up ice and have found we can easily live without it. We keep 5 cans of drinks in our fridge at the bottom and they are typically near ice cold. We carry no coolers.

Let me know what the ice maker is and I'll see what size inverter it needs. If it has a compressor 400 watts is probably not enough.

We use a cigarette light inverter to run our TV and sat dish receiver without issue. We have used one to charge cell phones and computer.

I sometimes put a 3 way plug expander on the cigarette lighter inverter so I can run a computer and hotspot simultaneously. We also keep one in the car to allow us to charge things as we drive. computers, phones, cameras hot spots draw very little from an inverter and do not have high start up currents like compressors.

Hope this helps.

[santacruzer]

I bought that set-up from Costco a coupe of years ago, used it on my pop-up. Then bought a second set to power a watering pump at our fish camp. They've come down in price by about $100 since then. They're not a bad deal, and you can use one, two, or three panels as you need. Although when I bought the Escape I went with the 95 watt roof mount.