Down and dirty solar question.
Not terribly math savvy . But, will this system work to dry camp? Let's say, run the microwave five minutes per day (1100 watt), make a pot of drip coffee per day, run the water pump. And reasonably ...
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Almot wrote:Fortunately, my requirements are never more than 3-4 days at a time. I run a 10amp battery charger while running the genny and if the ride home won't finish the job, battery gets topped off when we get home.JiminDenver wrote:
It will be many, many, seasons to recoup the cost of our solar and battery systems even if we went full time. That's not why we did it, we did it for the silence.
Serious battery bank you need with generator too, if you live full time. To me, "full time" is when you live there most of the year, for several months at a time. As the fuel goes, with moderate use - say, gallon a day? - $80 a month, $1,000 in 12 months, this is the cost of 500 W solar. Enough to get by.
The problem is - I know that you know :) - with generator you'll quickly get battery to 80% but will never get 100%, unless you run it from dawn to dusk and some night time too. That's why the OP is seeing those big rigs running 24/7. Small solar is perfect for those last slow 20%. Not too small of course.
