Why go solar?
Why go solar if generator/propane is still a must? After looking seriously at fitting rv (when we get it) with solar I am beginning to realize that solar cant keep up with what I want it to do. I want...
Forum Discussion
I am getting by pretty good with my 255AH Battery bank with all the things we want to have ON doing our off-grid camping. This included just about everything except AC or high wattage microwave etc...
I only have the Generator and it seems just about everywhere I camp here on the East side of the US all has generator run time restrictions. The only time I can run my generator is a few hours in the morning and early evening. Never allowed anywhere around here after 8PM at night until around 8AM the next morning...
For me it takes a good three hours each day to use my generator to re-charge my 255AH battery bank from its depleted 50% charge state to the 90% charge where I can use the batteries again for the next day/night run off the batteries.
Having some solar would reduce the generator run time during the day by two hours. Planning on installing a couple of 100Watt panels and maybe a 250 WATT panel on my small POPUP trailer roof line. I want to have at least 20AMPS DC current being developed during the high sun part of the day and this will bring back my batteries just fine after I do at least one hour of high DC current charging from the converter being run by my generator first. My battery bank starts demanding around 52-53AMP DC current when the 50% depleted batteries first get hit with 14.4VDC boost charging. After the first hour the DC current demand is around 6-8AMP DC current per battery which the solar panels in high sun can handle for several hours of daylight use. Also I can only do some 12-14 50% to 90% charge state without doing harm to the battery bank so after doing these cycle I have to do a 100% charge state which takes over 12 hours for me to complete.
Everything we do hinges on how well we take care of our battery bank...
I could not operate without the Generator with my style of camping. Adding a few solar panels just supplements the generator in my situation.
Camping off-road in the high country or back in woods creekside somewhere does not require Air Conditioner or High wattage 120VAC items for us. We get by just fine with good LED lights and watching some HDTV after dark. Keeping the computers and other battery items charged up is very doable for us with our 255AH battery bank...
It all depends what kind of camping you want to do I guess...
Just my take on Generator and Solar power style of camping off-grid... I'm sure others do it somewhat differently but this has been working for me since early 2009...
Roy Ken
I only have the Generator and it seems just about everywhere I camp here on the East side of the US all has generator run time restrictions. The only time I can run my generator is a few hours in the morning and early evening. Never allowed anywhere around here after 8PM at night until around 8AM the next morning...
For me it takes a good three hours each day to use my generator to re-charge my 255AH battery bank from its depleted 50% charge state to the 90% charge where I can use the batteries again for the next day/night run off the batteries.
Having some solar would reduce the generator run time during the day by two hours. Planning on installing a couple of 100Watt panels and maybe a 250 WATT panel on my small POPUP trailer roof line. I want to have at least 20AMPS DC current being developed during the high sun part of the day and this will bring back my batteries just fine after I do at least one hour of high DC current charging from the converter being run by my generator first. My battery bank starts demanding around 52-53AMP DC current when the 50% depleted batteries first get hit with 14.4VDC boost charging. After the first hour the DC current demand is around 6-8AMP DC current per battery which the solar panels in high sun can handle for several hours of daylight use. Also I can only do some 12-14 50% to 90% charge state without doing harm to the battery bank so after doing these cycle I have to do a 100% charge state which takes over 12 hours for me to complete.
Everything we do hinges on how well we take care of our battery bank...
I could not operate without the Generator with my style of camping. Adding a few solar panels just supplements the generator in my situation.
Camping off-road in the high country or back in woods creekside somewhere does not require Air Conditioner or High wattage 120VAC items for us. We get by just fine with good LED lights and watching some HDTV after dark. Keeping the computers and other battery items charged up is very doable for us with our 255AH battery bank...
It all depends what kind of camping you want to do I guess...
Just my take on Generator and Solar power style of camping off-grid... I'm sure others do it somewhat differently but this has been working for me since early 2009...
Roy Ken
