Solar Panels (why are people going small?)
I read thru the forums, and it looks like every one is buying 4 100 watt panels............ Why not just get 300 watt panels? I have a 40 foot RV............. Is it possibly to go COmpletely off grid...
Forum Discussion
I suspect that how much electricity you need to generate depends on how you want to live and how much battery capacity you wish to add. More panels would necessitate more batteries to store the power. First thing would be to make an energy budget for your lifestyle that add panels and batteries to make that happen. AC units are particularly power hogs..figure 140 amps DC each so 280 amps or roughly 1700 AH.
I have 300 W of solar and 6 batteries. On a bight sunny day with nothing running I have a constant draw of 13 amps just powering the inverter and electronics in sleep mode. 20 odd amps when the fridge kicks on. If I shut off the inverter I see a net positive charge of a few amps.
To me, going off the grid would also mean I would have to find a way to handle waste products, no or minimal propane use and etc. In other words pretty much a tent camping lifestyle....not what I bought a MH for. So settling for the solar panels to extend the time between gen set operation is all I hope for.
I have 300 W of solar and 6 batteries. On a bight sunny day with nothing running I have a constant draw of 13 amps just powering the inverter and electronics in sleep mode. 20 odd amps when the fridge kicks on. If I shut off the inverter I see a net positive charge of a few amps.
To me, going off the grid would also mean I would have to find a way to handle waste products, no or minimal propane use and etc. In other words pretty much a tent camping lifestyle....not what I bought a MH for. So settling for the solar panels to extend the time between gen set operation is all I hope for.
