Solar or Generator??
We are going to have some short boon-docking trips (3-4 days). I do not know my actual energy needs right now, but the DW and I are conservative when it comes to water and power. I really just want ...
Forum Discussion
Being new to the solar world I would think a generator would a necessity as it always works whether the sun is out or raining...
I have been camping off the power grid for more than 5 years and we decided what we want to run using an Inverter and direct connected to the battery and have enough batteries to handle this. We planned our usage so that our battery bank would not drop below 12.0VDC the next morning around 8AM. Then we connect our shore power cable to the 2KW Honda generator and re-charge our battery using the on-board smart mode converter/charger unit. This is done with only three hours of generator run time which usually fits into the camp grounds that have generator run time restrictions in place.
With our usage of appliances we want to have on when camping off the power grid I am certain we will have to have to run our generator for at least a couple of hours each morning to get the battery bank beyond the boost mode high current charging. Then we use the SOLAR POWER to finish the 90% charge of the battery up to 4:30 each day to get us to the 90% charge state or greater.
Keep in mind just a couple of 120WATT SOLAR PANELS will only produce around 10AMPS of usable current to recharge your batteries with. It will take high sun for many hours during the day to accomplish this. In our case I have three GP24 Interstate batteries and when I start re-charging with my PD9260C converter/charger the batteries demand around 52-53 amps of 14.4VDC Boost voltage and this will re-charge my batteries in a quick three hour time frame.
We would be considered high usage with all the things we want to have ON.
The solar panels will get your batteries back up to 90% and better during a one day high SUN run but it may take 6-8 hours of high SUN to do it... You may or may not have that much high sun where you are camping. Then what are you going to do if you don't get your batteries back up to their 90% charge state. It becomes candles and flashlights after that and NO HDTV using the BATWING antenna....
This is why we became as successful as we can using the generator then when we add solar panels then it will enhance the use of the generator big time. I still will have my generator with me when camping off the power however...
just me...
Gots to always have working PLAN Bs
Roy Ken
I have been camping off the power grid for more than 5 years and we decided what we want to run using an Inverter and direct connected to the battery and have enough batteries to handle this. We planned our usage so that our battery bank would not drop below 12.0VDC the next morning around 8AM. Then we connect our shore power cable to the 2KW Honda generator and re-charge our battery using the on-board smart mode converter/charger unit. This is done with only three hours of generator run time which usually fits into the camp grounds that have generator run time restrictions in place.
With our usage of appliances we want to have on when camping off the power grid I am certain we will have to have to run our generator for at least a couple of hours each morning to get the battery bank beyond the boost mode high current charging. Then we use the SOLAR POWER to finish the 90% charge of the battery up to 4:30 each day to get us to the 90% charge state or greater.
Keep in mind just a couple of 120WATT SOLAR PANELS will only produce around 10AMPS of usable current to recharge your batteries with. It will take high sun for many hours during the day to accomplish this. In our case I have three GP24 Interstate batteries and when I start re-charging with my PD9260C converter/charger the batteries demand around 52-53 amps of 14.4VDC Boost voltage and this will re-charge my batteries in a quick three hour time frame.
We would be considered high usage with all the things we want to have ON.
The solar panels will get your batteries back up to 90% and better during a one day high SUN run but it may take 6-8 hours of high SUN to do it... You may or may not have that much high sun where you are camping. Then what are you going to do if you don't get your batteries back up to their 90% charge state. It becomes candles and flashlights after that and NO HDTV using the BATWING antenna....
This is why we became as successful as we can using the generator then when we add solar panels then it will enhance the use of the generator big time. I still will have my generator with me when camping off the power however...
just me...
Gots to always have working PLAN Bs
Roy Ken
