Ready to get my feet wet with Solar power

lc0338 wrote:

5) As far as what our needs are when camping. Usually have a radio running, lights and fans, microwave, DVD player and monitor, computer, refrigerator-although it will run on propane as well. I like to dry camp so pumping water also.

This is all doable with 240-300W panel, 20-30A controller, 200W inverter (not 2000W), 4*T6 batts, and no generator ever. On one condition - no microwave :) ... MW is what forces you into twice bigger and twice more expensive system, and/or increases the probability to have to run a generator on every dry camping longer than 2 days to almost 100%. Everything else is peanuts - DVD, refer, pumps. I hope your computer is not a 300W desktop.

A lot of knowledge I have learned about solar is from "Handy Bob". http://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/
He pretty much laughs at people that have generators. I would love to be frugal enough to not need a generator but don't plan on getting rid of mine anytime soon. But one comment he say's is "keep the controller close to the batteries". I would encourage everyone to ready his blog. He has a lot of experience. Other thing he mentions is to use large enough wiring then go a little bigger.

Handy Bob is not universally liked and will not be, as long as people have enough money to pay for generator fuel and not enough flexibility in their habits. Other than AC, there is nothing that can not be done on solar. Nothing that is really necessary, anyway. I have seen people running generators 5-7 hours a day, with 160W-200W solar on the roof and sunny weather. I can assure you that they would still run generators if they had 2 or 3 times more solar. People are making up all kinds of house chores to fight the boredom - running breadmakers, microwaves, huge vacuums, washers/driers, et cetera, ad infinitum. Surfing the web and watching satellite TV 8 hours a day is not helping to conserve energy either...

Note that Bob's panels are tilted (I think he is adjusting the tilt few times a year).

Wiring: with MPPT the wire size is simply a matter of lost amp-hours. You can estimate quite accurately what wire you need, ex. #6 and if you then decide to increase the diameter to #4, you will gain 1 or 2 daily amp-hours at best.

I understand the desire to stay in shade and have a solar, but this is hardly possible if you want more than 150-200W. Smaller panels can be made portable with 50-80ft cable, this is some pain and still doesn't guarantee the results - i.e. rig in the shade and panels in the sun.