Off grid Camper 1,000 dollars to spend.

[paulcheung]

OK cool.

[Sunking]

Paul I have a friend in Jamaica named Paul Williams. He owns a tour company. Look him up sometime and tell him KF5LJW says HOWDY and 73's

[paulcheung]

Sunking, how is that possible? The cooler is ac/dc and would run thru an inverter if that makes a difference but this is one of the things I don't understand I read all over about people running all kinda stuff of their systems and all I want to do is run a little cooler and I need a 5000.00 system? Very difficult for this pea brain to comprehend. Oh and I really wasn't intending to run 24/7 just a few hrs a day would suffice if that makes any difference as well lol

Off grid solar world is a total different place all together. you have to work around and be conserve and disipine. I used to use 1000 to 1200 kwh every month and there is no way I can afford the right amount PV system to support that, so I got a PV system with 6000+ watts with two bank of batteries total 750 amp hours at 48 volts.

I have to change my life style and be conserve. I change most of my lights to LED lights and turn off most my pond pumps at night and also the freezer and the refrigerator at the nights. so I can use the solar to power my whole house. Lucky thing we don't have Snow in Jamaica and my ceiling are very high so it is not so hot at nights. I make sure tell my helper to do laundry in the sunny days and do what ever heavy demanding in the suny day. That is how I try to meet my demand with the 6000+ watts system.

Like your situation. you can convert one of those freezers to work at the day and turn it off at the night so you don't need much battery and get a small generator to charge the battery when the sun is not coming out the whole day. Then you can buy two 250 or 300 watt panels and a mppt charge controller and 600watts pure shine wave inverter with two of those 225 amps batteries which will run you about $1500 with out installation and wires.

[paulcheung]

You can have refridgeration for .5Kwh/day and the equipment will cost under 200 bones. Based on some discussion here, I converted an 8.8CuFt chest freezer to act a a fridge. I already had the freezer but they are cheap and for 60ish bones I bought a Johnson controls external temp regulator. The cost of your PV system comes down significantly when you cut your loads in half.

Also if you don't put glass bottle in there you can turn the control a bit colder and make it slightly freeze in the day and turn it off at the night so use the panels instead the batteries; that is what I do with my freezer. I have an automatic switch on the power socket. it turn the freezer on at 8:45 am and turn it off at 4pm, because the door is only open once or twice a day so meat still frozen. and my refrigerator turn on 8am and turn off 8pm when every one leave the kitchen. the drinks and vegetable are still cool in the morning and the meat in the freezer compartment still freeze. only thing I can't do is keep ice cream in there. but that is ok as I am over weight anyway.

Cheers

[inetdog]

You can have refridgeration for .5Kwh/day and the equipment will cost under 200 bones. Based on some discussion here, I converted an 8.8CuFt chest freezer to act a a fridge. I already had the freezer but they are cheap and for 60ish bones I bought a Johnson controls external temp regulator. The cost of your PV system comes down significantly when you cut your loads in half.

Conservation and load management should always be the first step, as it almost always gives the greatest return on investment.

[thastinger]

I hear ya about the paid shill thing Mike I really appreciate all the help and knowledge you guys have provided It seems that a 100w panel will get your cell phone charged run a couple of lights and a fan and not a whole lot more Guess I'll be toting gas for generator around for awhile The idea of solar is awesome but at the present time the cost pretty much outweighs the benefits. Once again thanks for helping me understand

You can have refridgeration for .5Kwh/day and the equipment will cost under 200 bones. Based on some discussion here, I converted an 8.8CuFt chest freezer to act a a fridge. I already had the freezer but they are cheap and for 60ish bones I bought a Johnson controls external temp regulator. The cost of your PV system comes down significantly when you cut your loads in half.

[MrTanaka]

I hear ya about the paid shill thing Mike I really appreciate all the help and knowledge you guys have provided It seems that a 100w panel will get your cell phone charged run a couple of lights and a fan and not a whole lot more Guess I'll be toting gas for generator around for awhile The idea of solar is awesome but at the present time the cost pretty much outweighs the benefits. Once again thanks for helping me understand

[Mike90250]

..... I read all over about people running all kinda stuff of their systems and all I want to do is run a little cooler and I need a 5000.00 system? .....

Paid shills pumping up the Amazon reviews.

Good Energy Star fridges, consume about 1KWh daily. Little dorm/mini fridges, may actually consume even more than that, because of cheap insulation, gaskets.......

http://www.coleman.com/Products/8570/thermoelectric-coolers

40-qt. capacity, holds 44 cans plus snacks
Iceless cooler chills contents to 40° F (4.44° C) below the surrounding temperature

http://r1.coleman.com/Manuals/5644-710a.pdf

12V 4A or about 50 watts (not as bad as I first thought)

However, 50 watts won't move much heat, about 80% of that, is self heating from the module, things must be pre-chilled.

That would be a constant 4 amps, till the ambient cools to about 50F.

in a day, that would be 1200 watt hours, just a tad more that a real fridge with icemaker.

if you had 5 solar hours, you need to harvest 2400 wh which needs about 600w of panels. A few more watts of PV, and you can run a couple LED lights.

[MrTanaka]

Sunking, how is that possible? The cooler is ac/dc and would run thru an inverter if that makes a difference but this is one of the things I don't understand I read all over about people running all kinda stuff of their systems and all I want to do is run a little cooler and I need a 5000.00 system? Very difficult for this pea brain to comprehend. Oh and I really wasn't intending to run 24/7 just a few hrs a day would suffice if that makes any difference as well lol

[Sunking]

On the description, for whats thats worth it does say around 30 degrees below surrounding but....product descriptions get carried away sometimes

This is the power requirement according to the manual

POWER REQUIREMENTS
9.5 to 14.4 Volts DC, 4 Amperes @ 12 Volts DC Nominal

I used just a 12v rating

Ouch this is where things get painful. 48 watts x 24 hours = 1152 watt hours. That is a huge number.

Just in battery alone requires a 12 volt 480 AH, $1000, 270 pound battery.

As for panel wattage depends on location, time of year use, and orientation. Panel wattage could be anywhere from 300 to 500 watts just to run the cooler. Here is the kicker. I have a full size 26 cubic feet French door refrigerator that uses less power than you ice chest.

[MrTanaka]

I think those cooler don't use compressor. it use like 48 to 72watts power and only get 10 degree lower than surrounding.

On the description, for whats thats worth it does say around 30 degrees below surrounding but....product descriptions get carried away sometimes

This is the power requirement according to the manual

POWER REQUIREMENTS
9.5 to 14.4 Volts DC, 4 Amperes @ 12 Volts DC Nominal

I used just a 12v rating

[paulcheung]

I seriously doubt that the cooler is only 48 watts. I would belive 148watts or 480 watts.

I think those cooler don't use compressor. it use like 48 to 72watts power and only get 10 degree lower than surrounding.

[Mike90250]

... The Coleman cooler appears to be approx 48 watts. ....

I seriously doubt that the cooler is only 48 watts. I would belive 148watts or 480 watts.

Since these are used with 110 ac adapters an inverter would be needed. 1000 watt unit good enough?

Way too much overkill. Your idle losses in a large inverter would be more than than all your loads. You want a small, pure sine wave inverter to power all your electronic gizmos since 20% of them will puke with a mod sine inverter

[SunEagle]

Just wondering if the below will get me close to where I'd like to be and if not what would you suggest (I know kits probably aren't the best way to go but just a starting point really)

http://www.renogy-store.com/100-watt-solar-panel-kit-p/kit-starter100d.htm

See the problem with most of those kits is the cheap charge controller that comes with them. Even though the panel is rated 100 watts that PWM charge controller won't deliver more than 66% or about 66 watts maximum and even less in most cases.

You end up spending a lot and get back very little. You can add another 100 watt panel at $2/watt but still only add another 66 watts to the system.

Start with a 250 watt panel and with a MPPT type charger you will be able to expand your system if needed as well as put almost 100% of your panel wattage to use.

[MrTanaka]

Just wondering if the below will get me close to where I'd like to be and if not what would you suggest (I know kits probably aren't the best way to go but just a starting point really)

http://www.renogy-store.com/100-watt-solar-panel-kit-p/kit-starter100d.htm

http://www.batterystuff.com/batterie...batteries.html (Know I'll need at least 2 of these in series correct?)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...d=AWZ3LXPHZK09 (Know its kinda low end but again just a reference point)