Opinons on Solar Power

[Caroline57]

I have a fairly decent understanding of how to set up a solar system and the costs of it and all that jazz, but what I'm wondering is about whether or not solar is worth it. Ive had people tell me and have read its a total waste of money, and then I've read post with people saying its the best decision they have ever made with their van. I was wondering what people who have installed solar or installed a different system think of it? I was fully planning on buying a 200w system, but I was wondering if maybe that wasnt my best option. Just looking for opinions..

 

[highdesertranger]

the big question is what is your situation? what are you planning on doing? boondocking, campground living, city stealth, or whatever. let us know because it makes a big difference. highdesertranger

 

[Caroline57]

Mostly hanging out on like Bml land, but some cities too. I will be spending most my time near beautiful places, and my van will be parked quite a bit because I like to ride my bike places a lot and I love hiking. Also I'll be working on my art, and traveling slowly because I don't like to rush at anything. I also hate the cold more than anything so intend on spending the winters either in Florida or the southwest. I know this has a big effect on solar because places like where I live now such as Michigan it goes days if not weeks sometimes with constant snow and cloud cover.

 

[highdesertranger]

ok imho you are a prime candidate for solar. when boondocking you have three choices.
1. go without power
2. go with solar
3. go with a generator
so within that you are going to have some wiggle room. so post up what your power needs are and we can give some more advice.
highdesertranger

 

[NomadMike]

From the sound of it, you are for sure going to want to invest in solar power, now the question is, how much you need to supply your intended consumption.

 

[Caroline57]

well I've been looking into a fridge such as this one 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...ue&ref_=ox_sc_sfl_title_1&smid=A2CK5NG72UVSTT
Because its suppose to be great for truck drivers, and I was going to build it a insulated cabinet in my van if i decided to. For aesthetics and functionality. But I haven't decided. Im a vegan so I don't need to keep foods that spoil easy cold such as meat and diary. But I love leftovers, and greens, and I occasionally drink soy milk so I would like to have something.  I refuse to spend $600 on a cooler or fridge. I also want to use a crockpot because I eat tons of rice. But day to day mostly just to charge my camera batter, iPhone and mac. Thats about it...

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Some thoughts from using solar for two years:

Solar is expensive energy.  But it gives me added freedom and convenience.  I can go a week to ten days out in the wilderness before having to re-enter civilization to restock.  Fresh fruits and veggies stay fresh in my refrigerator.  I can actually keep ice cream in my freezer!  Oh, and cream for my coffee.
With a roof vent fan I can keep my camper at the outside temp even when parked in the sun (one downside of attached solar panels).  Portable 12 volt fans add a cooling breeze (without the cost of disposable batteries).  I can light up my camper like a lighthouse with 12V LED lights.  iPhone and MacBook stay charged, cell booster is powered; all from my solar setup.
I could power all this with alternatives: run my vehicle for hours every day to recharge my house batteries (doable if one drives a lot, otherwise wasteful), use a generator (noisy), wind (noisy, not as dependable as solar), or stay where I can plug into the grid.  I could also go more primitive and use ice and alkaline batteries; done that, couldn't stay for more than five days before needing more ice (and cream gets a little lumpy after three days in an ice chest).

For me, solar makes this lifestyle more enjoyable.  I can have some of the modern conveniences and be alone in the wilderness too!

-- Spiff

 

[jimindenver]

What is it that you want solar to do for you?

Solar is part of a balanced system that includes knowing your needs and wants. Conserving without sacrifice, having enough battey to cover your needs when the sun doesn't shine, enough solar to get those batteries charged up relatively quickly when it does and a back up means of charging when the sun doesn't shine for too long.

Solar does not work well in the shade.

 

[jimindenver]

Oh and do I like it? Oh yeah.

 

[highdesertranger]

Caroline 1st off that is not a refrigerator, it's a cooler it will only cool the inside to about 40 degrees below ambient. that means if it's 80 it will only cool to 40 if its 100 it will only cool to 60 and after reading the reviews I would say you would be lucky to get the 40 degree cooling out of it. it also does not state the power consumption, most of the time these draw 8-12ah . what you have to remember is these do not cycle they will draw 8-12ah all day every day, that's 192-288 ah a day. that's a lot of juice. in a semi that is running most of the day that might work but if you are not running your engine for 16hrs a day I don't know. you will need a lot of battery and a lot of solar. what that takes to run for 2hrs you could run a 12v refrigerator for 24hrs. something to think about. highdesertranger

 

[Caroline57]

Caroline 1st off that is not a refrigerator,  it's a cooler it will only cool the inside to about 40 degrees below ambient.  that means if it's 80 it will only cool to 40 if its 100 it will only cool to 60 and after reading the reviews I would say you would be lucky to get the 40 degree cooling out of it. it also does not state the power consumption,  most of the time these draw 8-12ah .  what you have to remember is these do not cycle they will draw 8-12ah all day every day,  that's 192-288 ah a day.  that's a lot of juice.  in a semi that is running most of the day that might work but if you are not running your engine for 16hrs a day I don't know.  you will need a lot of battery and a lot of solar.  what that takes to run for 2hrs you could run a 12v refrigerator for 24hrs.  something to think about.  highdesertranger

I understand that its a cooler, but I think with the general look of it refering to it as a refrigerator would be accurate. like I said as a vegan I don't need to keep anything super cold, so I thought it was an option. And I read the reviews, some were really positive and some weren't. I factored in the fact that Im the luckiest human on this planet with everything and figured if I decided to buy it, it would probably work out. but thank you so much for the numbers break down, I just hate the look of regular coolers. 12 volt refrigerators are a lot of times just so expensive, I could afford it , but I don't want to. Id much rather spend my money on other things.

 

[wagoneer]

I bought a used dometic 45 quart 2 leftover 240 panels 2x 6 volt gels and a 400 pure sine wave all for under 1,000 dollars. Look for deals on Craigs, good luck and welcome.

 

[ccbreder]

Stop. Don't buy that cooler.

 

[rvwandering]

There may be a few people who regret buying solar panels but we haven't met them. I think most of the people who believe solar is a waste of money have never had it or want to run air conditioners and other very high draw equipment. We've had solar panels as our power source for over 20 years and love them.

Solar power would be a wonderful asset for the life that you're planning so in my opinion your decision should not be should get a solar system but what should it look like. How much power do you really need? Do you want to mount them or use portable panels? How large of a battery bank to you need?

 

[Almost There]

Since you're going to be boondocking as much as possible and want to follow the sun AND need to keep at least some food refrigerated you have a couple of choices:

A) a good ice cooler (one of the 5 day ones) and battery operated lights. The drawbacks are that you would have to break camp every 4 or 5 days, drive however many miles necessary back to civilization to buy ice (figure the cost of gas, wear and tear on the vehicle and the cost of ice). The initial cost is low - I bought an LED rechargeable lantern at W/M for under $25.00 and get 2 or 3 evenings out of it before needing recharging. I get maybe 12 hours out of a set of AA batteries on my Petzl headlamp. The coolers range widely in price depending on brand and size.

B) buy a good generator that won't drive all your boondocking neighbors within 3 miles crazy - something in the line of a Honda EI 1000. Weighs in about 28 lbs so it's very portable, uses gas very lightly. This paired with a good battery charger will recharge a battery system in just a few hours of run time. You can go smaller with the battery requirements because you could conceivably recharge the batteries every day. Downside is that you have ongoing costs of gas (small $$) and you do have to carry the generator and a gas can. Initial investment in a good compressor cooler and the generator will set you back somewhere around a grand to $1500. You'll also have to be careful about how close you park to your neighbors because even the whisperquiet generator will annoy those who are out there precisely to avoid all the noise of civilization.

C) Invest in either roof mounted solar or a portable solar system, a good compressor fridge and sufficient battery to go a minimum of 3 days to cover usage in case of cloudy or rainy days. Initial cost is highest but maintenance and usage cost is absolutely Zero! You also don't have to break camp to go get either ice or gas and none of your neighbors will ever be annoyed with you (well at least not for noise... ) You could stay out there boondocking for a month if you have sufficient food and water on board.


What route you choose to take will depend on whether you're absolutely sure that this lifestyle is what you want for the foreseeable future on a full time basis. It's pointless to invest better than a grand if you're either going to be part-time or not determined to boondock for long periods of time.

Personally, I'm going for a portable solar system because I like parking in the shade and will be spending at least half my year in forested areas. With a portable system I can park in the shade, charge in the sun. To me the upfront costs are going to be well worth it for the freedom it gives me.

Oh, and please save your money and skip buying that fridge you linked to. If you read all the reviews carefully, the only ones that were pleased with it were long haul truckers where the truck was running constantly and one guy who used it at home on 120V. The thermoelectric coolers use more electricity than a 120V fridge run through an inverter and are not cooling efficient. Put it this way, if they did the job efficiently and effectively, all those here who boondock long term would be using them instead of investing in the more expensive compressor coolers.

 

[Caroline57]

haha I won't buy the cooler! No worries. But I did find a 230w brand new solar panel on craiglsist for $150 and thats why I've been thinking about it now. I won't buy appliances till later.

 

[jimindenver]

Caroline

I spoke of balance before. The balance to run that fridge is a fairly large solar system, battery bank and a generator for those cloudy days. My systems are larger than most here with 750w of solar and 675 Ah of battery. Even so my battery bank could only run that fridge for a few days by them selves and they are huge.

Now my batteries are huge. A regular sized battery was only good at running the fridge for 5 or 6 hours.

I have also noticed the Avanti isn't cheap either. I don't know the differences between it and my fridge but mine was $50 at Pep boys. I wanted to use it but between the power draw and the fact it CAN'T get cold enough at times, I gave up.

So you will spend your money somewhere. With this fridge you will need a large solar and battery system. A 12 volt compressor fridge cost more but requires you to spend less on solar and battery. a 120v compressor fridge is the least expensive, will require less solar than the Avanti but the balance is now you need a inverter too. One way or another it gets ya.

I can't tell you what to do, only help work out the options. Setting up a system around one load isn't unusual, our was designed to run a air conditioner, just not at night. We only use it occasionally and what we do with the power the rest of the time is allow our trailer to be more like a cabin on the grid. That includes cooling, some hot water and heat, TV and satellite and that's on top of running the general trailer functions. I'll add a 120v fridge here soon. It will use more power than a 12v but I have power coming out of the.... I already spent the money on the solar and batteries.

So it's a case of where do you want to spend your money.

 

[jimindenver]

haha I won't buy the cooler! No worries. But I did find a 230w brand new solar panel on craiglsist for $150 and thats why I've been thinking about it now. I won't buy appliances till later.

Good deal. I have made three solar systems with panels I bought off of craigslist. The first was a 230w panel that I mated to a inexpensive MPPT controller that you can get for $85-102 shipped. I used it portable and have kept it for that purpose when we start traveling. ( I sold the other two for $500 each)

 

[NomadMike]

I agree with the others on not buying that cooler, i used to be a truck driver and i had one, it was not well insulated and it took a lot of power to run. The first thing you need to do is measure your roof, and make a sketch of it on paper, then figure out what size solar panels will work out best for you. Then you need to figure what you want to be able to run, and how many amp hours you will use per day. Lots of good info. on here and other places on how to do that. If it were me, i would put as much solar capacity as you can afford right now, and leave room for expanding the system at a later date.

 

[Caroline57]

I agree with the others on not buying that cooler, i used to be a truck driver and i had one, it was not well insulated and it took a lot of power to run. The first thing you need to do is measure your roof, and make a sketch of it on paper, then figure out what size solar panels will work out best for you. Then you need to figure what you want to be able to run, and how many amp hours you will use per day. Lots of good info. on here and other places on how to do that. If it were me, i would put as much solar capacity as you can afford right now, and leave room for expanding the system at a later date.

Well if we want to get into specifics I can afford whatever I want to afford, I don't know if you have kids, but nannies aren't cheap. I nannied for over a year full time for a pediatrician with three kids under the age of two. The kids were all adopted from foster care and were born from drug addict mothers. Drug exposed babies in most ways are completely normal but behavior wise, its a bit of a nightmare. especially when both the boys hit Two. Development wise there a bit behind. It takes someone with immeasurable amounts of patients and love for the kids to do my job, Needless to say I was very very well paid, and I have a lot saved up. I don't have much need for a ton of power though, I don't want some huge expensive thing, I'm not a techy person.