JiminDenver wrote:
We used our 230w 24v panel as a portable last year and boy was it nice. The first trip we tried to use as much power as we could, the only time the batteries voltage dropped at all was at night. The next trip I left it flat on some logs for a week to simulate it mounted. Again we never ran out of power even though it clouded up by noon daily. The last trip was cold, cloudy and rainy most of the time. We were inside running the furnace more and watching DVDs to drown out the neighbors Honda 3000. Even though the output was minimal, it kept us off the generator.
What I said. Minimum solar size depends more on the user than on the weather. 230W portable is tilted, so this is roughly equivalent to 390W flat in winter, in summer tilt is less important.
Handy Bob - sorry, post editor doesn't work: http://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/about/
is living fulltime off 345W solar, and it does snow there. His panels are tilted so this is roughly equivalent to flat 590W in winter. Mind you, the guy is living fulltime, with power tools and all.
There are ways to reduce energy consumption without sacrificing a comfort, but people are usually reluctant to learn. I don't have 600 AH bank, but if I had, I could live a week without any solar at all, keeping rig warm and with as many hot meals and coffees a day as I wish. When there is more than one person in the rig, things are more difficult to control though.
