What can you do with solar?

harold1946 wrote:
I find the difference in systems quite interesting and varied.
I also find it interesting that anyone can say their solar system has made their genny obsolete. They must be fair weather campers only, or real power conservers.
I wonder what they do in situations like 8 days of overcast and rain like we had in Quartzite this year, when even the largest arrays were only able to manage 6 to 8 amps max, and then only at mid day.
Everyone in our area was having to supplement with their genny. Temps in the low 40s at night and mid 50s for the high.

Things were a bit strange in Q this year. I was only there for weeks (Jan 14-28th) The first morning it was 27 deg. F. in the Roadrunner area. The 2 1/2 days of clouds and rain didn't allow much charging but with my 600Ah batery bank it wasn't a problem. On the days when it was cloudy for only part of the day I was able to get to at last 95% full.
My typical usage is about 92Ah and I can reduce that by 1/2 if necessary.
With good sun in Q I can harvest 200Ah from my ground mounted tilted panels. I Point them a bit East of South to take advantage of the morning sun. That way when the sun is not at a very good angle in the afternoon I don't care because the batteries are in absorption mode and the panels are still putting out more power than the bateries can accept.
Hacen't used the generator since I got the solar except when camping in the woods.
Gale