Howdy, from Colorado!

[Happy Joe]

Noobie to this forum but experience on other forums.
I like camping, hiking, four wheeling and the outdoors in general.
Have skills in electricity, wood and metal working along with 4WD (fabrication, assembly and driving)
Currently I use solar for tent camping but am seriously considering adding a large system to the house/assembling a large battery bank..
I'm a long time fan of solar power and looking to upgrade the camp lighting system; from a tiny, 8 year old, 35 AH SLA with an 80 watt inverter to 100 AH LiFePo (already ordered a Dakota lithium battery (might not have been the best decision, but its done).
I am in the process of looking for a small light weight super efficient 1500-2000 watt inverter to attach to the Dakota 100AH.
Will likely post another thread with, and for, details & opinions... after I examine this site for relevant info.

Thanx in advance and
Enjoy!

 

[DThames]

For larger systems 48v on the batteries offer a lot more options for the power level of the inverter. I started with 24v and wish I had started with 48v. Consider your battery voltage carefully. If long term plans call for 6000 watts or greater, 48 volts looks like a much better option than lower voltage options.

 

[Happy Joe]

I agree for home systems either 48 or even 96 volts eventually; that's a few years off, I expect the home battery bank to start out at around 3KWH@ 24 volts since I have an old Trace 24 volt 3KW inverter already. The plan is to build it in 24V ~3 Kw modules going from 24 volts to 48 volts with an inverter upgrade around module 4.

My immediate need is to use the Dakota 100 AH hour for camping..(It also will serve as emergency home lighting power in case of blackouts).
It will initially be charged at home then transported to the campsites and used, likely with a spare 80 watt tiny inverter, at first (I modified 2 for use with the original 35 AH SLA, as I have lost several inverters while camping in the mountains due to lightnng near misses) to provide power/recharge for the tent lights, tunes and phone (the tunes are stored on the phone and herd via a blue tooth speaker). I preferr campsites with no phone or wifi service (getting harder to find).

Upgrade 1 (soon) will likely be a small MPPT solar controller (currently looking at victron (although I don't like the blue-tooth phone display) I have assorted solar panels but they are relatively difficult to pack in the back of a small 2 door, Jeep, TJ wrangler along with the rest of the camping gear. Its a packing/packaging issue more than any thing..
Upgrade 2
I may try running 100 to 300 watts of flexible panels, although they apparently are fragile; due to their light weigh and better packability.
after the upgrade I expect to be able to run the 12 volt camping refrigerator recharging with solar. and put the high efficiency (ice based) cooler into long term storage.

Enjoy!

 

[OnTheRoadAgain]

Is
'8 watt inverter" a typo ?

 

[Happy Joe]

Is
'8 watt inverter" a typo ?

yep...should be 80 watt...The tent battery was set up primarily for portability while camping in remote primitive locations
enjoy!

 

[DThames]

I agree for home systems either 48 or even 96 volts eventually; that's a few years off, I expect the home battery bank to start out at around 3KWH@ 24 volts since I have an old Trace 24 volt 3KW inverter already. The plan is to build it in 24V ~3 Kw modules going from 24 volts to 48 volts with an inverter upgrade around module 4.

My immediate need is to use the Dakota 100 AH hour for camping..(It also will serve as emergency home lighting power in case of blackouts).
It will initially be charged at home then transported to the campsites and used, likely with a spare 80 watt tiny inverter, at first (I modified 2 for use with the original 35 AH SLA, as I have lost several inverters while camping in the mountains due to lightnng near misses) to provide power/recharge for the tent lights, tunes and phone (the tunes are stored on the phone and herd via a blue tooth speaker). I preferr campsites with no phone or wifi service (getting harder to find).

Upgrade 1 (soon) will likely be a small MPPT solar controller (currently looking at victron (although I don't like the blue-tooth phone display) I have assorted solar panels but they are relatively difficult to pack in the back of a small 2 door, Jeep, TJ wrangler along with the rest of the camping gear. Its a packing/packaging issue more than any thing..
Upgrade 2
I may try running 100 to 300 watts of flexible panels, although they apparently are fragile; due to their light weigh and better packability.
after the upgrade I expect to be able to run the 12 volt camping refrigerator recharging with solar. and put the high efficiency (ice based) cooler into long term storage.

Enjoy!

Would you be able to transport several of those flexible panels in a box on a roof rack?

 

[Happy Joe]

Right now I'm looking at transporting them inside the jeep hanging from the deiling, to make sure they don't get crushed by things like water containers and cots and batteries...
Enjoy!

 

[HRTKD]

Welcome to the forum from another Colorado guy.

 

[georgeorwell]

Hello, welcome to the forum!)
I am in love with hiking and camping ?

 

[2milehi]

Hello to the Colorado folks. By chance does anyone know of a solar installer worker wanting to do some side work?

 

[HRTKD]

Hello to the Colorado folks. By chance does anyone know of a solar installer worker wanting to do some side work?

Sorry, can't help you there. It might help to clarify if this is RV, grid tied, or something else. There have been a few folks ask about installers on the forum and there has been very little response. Maybe there have been private responses, but not much public. I would help a friend, but I'm not going out on a limb for a stranger, even if there was compensation involved. I'm not qualified enough to get paid.

 

[2milehi]

Sure thing, I am looking to add solar panels to the house (roof, 2 kW system) and only charge a hybrid car, no grid tie.