OFF THE GRID POWER

[Sports_man38]

Looking for recommendations for high quality but economical price solar system to take me off grid for several days at a time.

Just got my 1989 Ford E150 Quadra Van Pathfinder and now begining the transformation.

Any and ALL suggestions would be appriciated.

 

[IdaSHO]

For starters you need to decide what you need power for.

Without knowing that, we cannot help you.

FYI, for the energy savy, a couple of days at a time requires nothing more than the starting battery or batteries for power

 

[228B]

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HandyBob's blog, if you are patient, take a couple of afternoons/evenings and read through the whole thing (easy to do when you find it interesting) will start you off on the correct foot for anything you might ever attempt with solar electric battery power.
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https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/the-rv-battery-charging-puzzle-2/ <--- I started there, then tried to read through the remainder of his blog posts in chronological order. I must confess however I still do not have a Trimetric battery meter and for that I am lagging behind. The rest of my small camp trailer system works extremely! well and I have Bob S. and Odyssey battery techs to thank for that!

 

[DiploStrat]

Step One: Figure out how much power you need per 24 hours.

Step Two: Figure out how many days you need it.

Step Three: Size a system to fit. (This is the easy part.)

Observations:

-- The most rigorous sizing will assume no solar, no generator, no shore power, no engine run. That way, if you get any sun/run/shore power, you will come out ahead.

-- Typically, alternators (engine/generator) work best for bulk charge and solar/shore power work best for absorb charge. (Assuming lead acid.)

-- An all electric camper will consume on the order of 125Ah overnight. Cooking with gas will reduce this tremendously. A compressor refrigerator is often the biggest single power consumer.

-- More camper battery setups fail due to poor installation (wire size/shading of panels/etc.) than fail due to a poor selection of components.

If all else fails, read Handy Bob. Much of what he recommends will not apply in your case, but once you understand the basics, you can adjust as needed.

 

[fog cutter]

read the Yeti 400 thread. might be a good starting point.