Multi purpose solar setup....

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Multi purpose solar setup....

Postby catsmith » Thu Jan 19, 2023 4:13 pm

I have a idea rolling around in my head. Looking for input please.

I will be doing a simple CTC with a double axle 6x12. I would be adding solar etc for limited boondocks. We also have been talking about backup power at the house for freezer, fridge, a small window ac or small heater incase of weather related emergencies. (If it got too bad we would just leave in the camper and hope for the best.)

We have a 8500w generator but it is not feasible to run 24/7.

My thought is to be able to use the solar/batteries for limited backup power. It would be with extension cords etc.

Any and all thoughts would be appreciated.
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Re: Multi purpose solar setup....

Postby Tom&Shelly » Thu Jan 19, 2023 5:08 pm

Well, you have to do the same power calculations that you would for a small camper. AC and heating take a lot of power. Home refrigerators and freezers do too. You would need a large battery bank, large/lots of solar panels, and control equipment and inverters that would handle it. Probably not the same class of equipment most use in a small camper. There are plenty of videos of folks who live "off the grid" and use solar and batteries. You might want to watch a few of those to see what is involved.

LED lights would be another matter. You might effectively rig 12 volt emergency lighting in your home that you could plug into the camper. You might keep a camping size refrigerator/freezer in your home, like some put in their campers, and transfer the most critical food there in an emergency. I'd consider non-electric forms of heating, and suffer rather than use AC, in an emergency.

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Re: Multi purpose solar setup....

Postby tony.latham » Thu Jan 19, 2023 7:33 pm

We also have been talking about backup power at the house for freezer, fridge, a small window ac or small heater incase of weather related emergencies.


You'll need the battery from a Ford Lightning EV pickup and a large solar array. Or something along that line.

It just isn't practical. :thumbdown:

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Re: Multi purpose solar setup....

Postby featherliteCT1 » Thu Jan 19, 2023 8:48 pm

It just isn't practical. :thumbdown:

Tony


$5k to $10k might do it. :thinking:
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Re: Multi purpose solar setup....

Postby catsmith » Thu Jan 19, 2023 9:35 pm

Feather, I would spend that much on a permanantly mounted generator that would be used a day or two a year. This would be alot more fun to have!

Realistically speaking, I am not planning on running my house on the set up. A freezer can stay frozen for days if not opened or if plugged in a hour a day. a house refrigerator can cold with a couple hours a day. The generator will be doing most of the heavy lifting. a small window unit or heater would be a couple hours in the evening to cool/heat the bedroom. Again the generator would do most of the heavy lifting.

Honestly we are talking about not much more than we would use boondocking.

Living 100 yards from the local hospital in our little town we have never been without power more than 48hrs.

I guess it boils down to I could use the money to get solar rather than a bigger generator to sit at the house. :twisted: :R :thumbsup:
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Re: Multi purpose solar setup....

Postby tony.latham » Thu Jan 19, 2023 10:15 pm

a small window unit or heater would be a couple hours in the evening to cool/heat the bedroom.


That will take a large battery bank. And I'm not talking about a couple of golf cart deep-cycle batteries.

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Re: Multi purpose solar setup....

Postby Socal Tom » Fri Jan 20, 2023 10:22 am

Powering the fridge and freezer might be doable, but it will probable triple the batteries, and solar panels you need vs the trailer alone. If you add an electric heater or window A/C unit, well then you are at the point you just need to get solar on your home with battery backup. FWIW, with a 2KW inverter-generator you could probably meet the needs you describe. It would be very quiet, and would probably last over 24 hours on 3 or 4 gallons of gas. Last time we had a power outage, I ran my 1kw during the day to keep the fridge/freezer cold and watch TV. Then turned it off at night.
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Re: Multi purpose solar setup....

Postby bdosborn » Fri Jan 20, 2023 10:51 am

My 5,000 btu window shaker pulls about 9 amps at 120V. That means an inverter will draw about 100A at 12V when the A/C is running from the battery. I've got a 400 a-hr battery (~70#) so I could run the A/C for about 3.5 hours, assuming it was running full blast and not cycling on and off. So *MAYBE* you could get around 6 hours of run time if your house is well insulated (50% duty cycle). The hard part is replacing the power; you'll need a big solar array to do it and that's not easily portable. Lets assume you have 8 hours of full sun, in May, in Colorado where I live. You would need around a 2,000W PV array, tilted correctly at the sun, to make up the energy you used in a single night. Now add in a freezer, fridge, lights, etc. and the numbers get even bigger.

Yeah, you could do it but it wouldn't be easily portable. I bought a 2kW inverter generator to run the A/C after I ran the numbers for my rig. :fan:

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