Solar Panels

rlw999 wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
So you are looking at a very large solar array, very large battery array and a large inverter charger...realistically, it will be cheaper to maintain and fuel your existing 7kw generator. Even if you have to replace it every 8-10yrs.

I think you're underestimating the cost of running an RV generator 24x7.

Running an Onan 7000 for 6 months 24x7 would use close to $10,000 of gasoline (0.7 gph at half load), and after 4000 hours running 24x7 in the Arizona heat, it'll probably be time to replace it at the end of each season. (plus he'd be changing oil + filters ever 150 hours (or less) which would cost around $1000/year

So that's probably close to $15K/year in total expenses. A 20KW solar array plus a few tesla powerwalls would cost around $50K. So if he's really doing this long term, he'd break even with solar after 3 or 4 years, and he wouldn't have to deliver 120 gallons of fuel to his site every week.

He'd probably save some money buy buying a small 8KVA prime power diesel since fuel cost would probably be half, it would last a lot longer, and would need fewer oil changes.

If there is power within a few miles of his property, it could be cheaper to pay the power company to run power there.

24x7 maybe, if he's out there all summer long (all I can think is glutton for punishment) but if he's doing that, bucking up to get grid power run to the site starts making sense even if it's quite expensive.

Now if the OP is out there for weekends or a week here and there in the summer, he still needs the massive solar system to cover the power demand during hot periods but the rest of the year, it's oversized. A generator would use far less fuel in that scenario.

So really, the OP needs to share what he thinks is usage of the site would be.