Practical use of solar
I have always thought that solar would be a nice mod to make and there seems to be a wealth of knowledge here about solar. However, I'd like to hear your thought processes before you did this mod. Is ...
Forum Discussion
Gjac wrote:
90% of the camping I do is dry camping but I always run out of water before I run out of battery power.
It appears that your energy needs are low, so solar will be able to supply that much. It also appears that you should concentrate on water conservation, be it with or without solar.
I live fulltime off solar - when I live there. Could power another trailer like mine, with 490W flat array that I have. But that area is pretty sunny. Doing it in BC or PNW would be a lot more difficult. In low overcast it harvests just barely enough to cover my daily needs, and they are modest. On a sunny day it harvests more than I need. When you have sun at least 60% of time, it becomes doable. On a dark day you borrow some energy from the batteries, and later solar will return it when sun shines again. I would not suggest a flat array smaller than 500-600W if you are aiming at fulltime stay without a generator. As others noted, A/C is nearly impossible unless you run a generator - there is not enough roof to install that much solar.
