Solar or Generator??

12thgenusa wrote:

2oldman wrote:
Battery charging IS solar's only job. When people ask me "What can you run with your solar?" I've pretty much resigned myself to giving a nonsense answer like, "Oh, it'll run the lights ok but not the microwave."

Maybe it's just perspective, but I haven't run a generator in the two years since I installed solar. So solar "runs" everything. It's a great multitasker. It powers things directly when the sun is out and keeps the "tank" full for use when it's not. The batteries are just there to ensure an uninterrupted supply and to provide a greater flow than is possible from the solar directly. I like to think of it like a stream running into a reservoir behind a dam and power plant. For me, solar powers lights, TV, toaster, coffee pot, vacuum, MW and more, but not AC.

RoyB wrote:
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.

Roy Ken, you're in for a surprise when you get your panels up and running and after a little experimenting realize you need to run your generator very little or not at all.:) Are you going with 2 or 3 120-watt panels?

To the OP, from the description of your needs I would agree with smk.

You’re right. It is perspective. I would not begin to know or understand what a person’s need, uses or lifestyle is and make a determination one way or another. I would look at a practical position. Many of the earlier posters are sharing that seasons, weather and a person’s choice of where they camp will impact whether they would benefit from Solar more than a need for generator.

I have no idea where you camp or when you camp, so to tell you will suffer with solar only, when in periods of cold and cloudy weather. Batteries operate better when they are maintained in temperatures above 70?F and lose capacity as they get colder. A battery bank is not going to provide you the same capabilities in December, with air temperatures at 12*F, as it would in September with outside air temperatures of 70*F. Then mix in the sun setting sooner during the winter, Solar is not going to perform the same in December as it does in May. Needing to camp in the shade to cool your camper in the summer months will cut into your Solar. So your choice of when you need to use it, will bear on your decision. Having a generator will always allow you a choice of having power. Having only Solar will restrict you in many aspects in how you retrieve needed power out of your Battery reservoir.

For me, and my uses, remote locations, 4 seasons, not plugging into shore power and 150–200 AmpH daily demands, I have 2 generators, 2 solar systems, 2 battery banks, 2 inverters, 2 charge controllers, 2 battery monitors. No, no one can make the decision for me in what their use will be in how I will satisfy my needs. Maybe if someone were to explain what their use really is, one could weigh in how that meets their own use/uses.

Best advice?

Get a generator, first.

If you are going to camp around other people, purchase one that has a history of being friendly to other campers, not just what you can afford.

If your budget allows, get a small solar set up, that is designed and installed for future expansion (larger cables, larger charge controller). Expand as needed.

I love, love my solar, but I love my generator. Especially when I am running my Microwave for more than 3 minutes at a time, running my power tools or boosting my battery banks when I am in snowy weather and cloudy for days.

b