help me understand solar , batterys , and invertors for my..

[225digger]

right now im in the gather and hoard stage before i start my tear build , i do it with all projects , i never liked to start a project and then wait till i have the part needed to preceed , i just buy everything i think i need then go for it .

so heres the question or rather what i plain on doing, and i did search and read as much as i could i guess i just need approval since i have never done this before and would like to do it the right way


im going to run 12v lights / water pump . but i am going to go with a 120v TV i know there are 12v tv's but the satellite reciver is not . so im going to use 120v for the tv and reciver . tv wise im thinking just a 20" lcd type tv

that said heres what im thinking to power this.... 2 group 27 batterys , 1 100w solar panel . im not sure on invertor sizing , but from what im reading a 400w invertor will power what i need to run right ?

ideally i would need to run the tv for maybe 2hours at night time and possibly in the morning , we have a 3 yr old so he needs his cartoons .

with the 2 batterys , and solar panel would this be ideal for a few nights without shore power ? the solar panel will be mounted on top of the tear and not covered so during the day on the road it will get light .

any suggestions on how to go about this would be greatly appreciated . thanks !

[celticquetzel]

Try a kindle fire for the young one. $179. Power off car or backup power battery. That way you're not committed to the tv that you may not need in a couple years. Kids grow fast!!!

[Lgboro]

My DirectTV receiver is 12 volt through a wall wart so yours might be if you check it. You will be better off to go with all the 12 volt equipment as possible as the conversion from 12 volt to 120 volt is very inefficient and power hungry for a small solar system. I have a similar set up on my tear with one 55 amp battery and it will keep up with my tv, radio, led lights and computer fan vent system but I wouldn't trust it for much past that. The lowest I have run my battery so far is 45% but in 18000 miles and many days on the road I have been lucky not to endure much cloudy or rainy weather. You will need to get a close estimate of your usage to determine how much solar and battery is you will need.