Is solar the way to go?
Looking for some input from those of you that use solar to charge your battery. What are good kits to buy that are affordable and portable? How long does it take you to charge in all conditions? Is so...
Forum Discussion
Is solar for you? Good question. It works wonderful for us and we don't even take the generator unless we know the conditions will require it. Having one as a back up is always a good plan.
For us a 230w portable was more power than we could use without a big inverter to run larger loads. It gets cold every night at altitude and we set the stat at 74F. We light the trailer end to end with LED lighting, have the TV/Sat running all day long at times as well as keep the phones, computers and such charged up.
Wanting to use the microwave, coffee pot, hair dryer, etc meant a big inverter powered by more batteries needing more solar to keep them happy. Things like panels or batteries scale up easy enough, two batteries are twice the cost of one. However the larger inverters cost a arm and leg, the controller to handle three panels is 5 x more expensive than the one that will run just one.
So now we can put the trailer most anywhere and do what we want. It's cooler most of the time were we go so having the trailer in the sun isn't a bad thing. Rarely is it hot enough for air conditioning but when it is we can run a small window unit. We don't conserve, we are pigs with the power. It would take years to save enough gas for the generator to pay for the system, not having to listen to one is priceless.
For us a 230w portable was more power than we could use without a big inverter to run larger loads. It gets cold every night at altitude and we set the stat at 74F. We light the trailer end to end with LED lighting, have the TV/Sat running all day long at times as well as keep the phones, computers and such charged up.
Wanting to use the microwave, coffee pot, hair dryer, etc meant a big inverter powered by more batteries needing more solar to keep them happy. Things like panels or batteries scale up easy enough, two batteries are twice the cost of one. However the larger inverters cost a arm and leg, the controller to handle three panels is 5 x more expensive than the one that will run just one.
So now we can put the trailer most anywhere and do what we want. It's cooler most of the time were we go so having the trailer in the sun isn't a bad thing. Rarely is it hot enough for air conditioning but when it is we can run a small window unit. We don't conserve, we are pigs with the power. It would take years to save enough gas for the generator to pay for the system, not having to listen to one is priceless.
