Ames, thanks for your contribution.
Reliance on
solar charging should, as you point out, include plenty of panel watts so the
battery bank can get topped off as completely as possible every few days; otherwise, the batteries will degrade. And lead-acid batteries should not be discharged much below 50% so they don't sulfate, which means plenty of
battery storage is called for also. I have known a couple of forum members who run a DC
fridge (Danfoss type compressor) off a single lead-acid
battery and 100 or so watts of solar (1 panel), and until fairly recently I thought this was fine, but lately I've come to see how rough this is on battery life. I'm enthused about the newer LiFePO4 batteries and hope their prices come down soon; they can tolerate deeper discharges and less-complete recharges much better than lead-acid. In the meantime, golf cart batteries (although heavy) can take much abuse and give good life.