My power needs are estimates only at this point, but I think a bit over 1 kWh harvest per average winter day will be what I need.
Where I live, the 3x160W panels will give me approximately 1.2kWh/day on average in winter. At 12V, they also max out what the EPEVER Tracer-BN 40A can do without over paneling.
I wonder if the best plan would be doing this in phases:
Phase 1: Build the system as I had initially intended - 3x160W panels, 12V, EPEVER Tracer-BN 40A, find an inverter that is powerful enough for the fridge startup but has a reasonably low power consumption, leave the inverter running 24/7 for maximum longevity and system simplicity, observe and measure and see if this might actually be sufficient. I might also glue some thick styrofoam sheets to the outside of the fridge as well - where it is I don't care at all what it looks like, it's visually scratched up anyway, and this might well save me a couple hundred Wh a day already.
Phase 2: If this turns out not to be quite enough power but only a little more is needed, add 1 or 2 panels, leave the rest of the system as it is, and just over panel the charge controller. Yes, I'd be throwing away the potential harvest from those 1 or 2 extra panels in full sunshine, but during less than ideal times throughout the day I'd be generating more than before, which might already be enough to make up for the little bit extra that's needed, and I won't need to change anything else about the system, just parallel wire one or two more panels in and be done with it.
Phase 3: If more than just a little bit of power is needed, buy a second battery and go 24V so the charge controller can actually make use of the full potential of the 1 or 2 extra panels when the sun is shining fully, and add a 24V/12V converter for my 12V devices. This will then absolutely and definitely cover all my power needs. Although I would prefer not to have to do this.
This seems like a reasonably feasible way to incrementally expand my system until it fully does what I want it to do; without investing in things that I'll throw away along the way.
Thoughts?