Solar or Genny
This is my dilemma I don't boondock but I do road trips that are days travel time, I only run the microwave for a few minutes and maybe a toaster on this trips or charge a device here and there. I am ...
Forum Discussion
We went with the generator and beefed up battery system first to be able to run all we want to run in the one day/night run off the batteries. It was planned out to reduce my sized battery bank to its 50% charge state by 8AM the next morning.
Then we run the 2KW Generator to power up the trailer on-board converter/charger setup to recharge the batteries back up to their 90% charge state so we can do this all over again the next day/night off the batteries. This takes right at three hours of generator run time.
Adding solar to the mix would be icing on the cake for us. It would take a rather large solar setup to run all the things we are running now off the batteries with Inverter for the 120VAC items we want to have running.
The solar panels for us would be available to reduce the amount of generator run time at 8Am each morning. The initial charge when the batteries are first hit with the 14.4VDC Boost charge is over 53AMPS of DC Current which requires the generator to get past this step in the re-charge. After the DC CURRENT starts dropping back then the 400-450WATTS of solar power producing around 20AMPS of DC CURRENT can easily re-charge the batteries back to their 90% charge state before you lose the high sun.
If you are not planning on a large DC CURRENT drain than a small solar panel system can do alot for you... Keep in mind a typical 120WATT Solar panel will only produce around 5-6 AMPS DC Current when in high sun...
This is some of the planning you will need to do based on what you want to be running on your off-the grid power trips...
Just things to think about in planning your setup
Roy Ken
Then we run the 2KW Generator to power up the trailer on-board converter/charger setup to recharge the batteries back up to their 90% charge state so we can do this all over again the next day/night off the batteries. This takes right at three hours of generator run time.
Adding solar to the mix would be icing on the cake for us. It would take a rather large solar setup to run all the things we are running now off the batteries with Inverter for the 120VAC items we want to have running.
The solar panels for us would be available to reduce the amount of generator run time at 8Am each morning. The initial charge when the batteries are first hit with the 14.4VDC Boost charge is over 53AMPS of DC Current which requires the generator to get past this step in the re-charge. After the DC CURRENT starts dropping back then the 400-450WATTS of solar power producing around 20AMPS of DC CURRENT can easily re-charge the batteries back to their 90% charge state before you lose the high sun.
If you are not planning on a large DC CURRENT drain than a small solar panel system can do alot for you... Keep in mind a typical 120WATT Solar panel will only produce around 5-6 AMPS DC Current when in high sun...
This is some of the planning you will need to do based on what you want to be running on your off-the grid power trips...
Just things to think about in planning your setup
Roy Ken
