TripleDave
New Member
Hi, I'd really appreciate some advice. I'll try and keep things short:
This year we plan to build a cabin on woodlot in Nova Scotia. As part of this, we were looking into solar systems. We like to keep things simple so we really liked the look of the all in one units like the EG4 6500ex. Then I thought we could use 2 of the 12v 100AH lifepo 4 batteries in the RV and buy 2 more, exactly the same, so cutting down on the biggest cost (we have a budget for all of this so thinking of clever solutions to that save us money while not affecting us too much appeals) and wiring them for 48v. We have lived in our RV for long periods with our RV solar: 800w on the roof, 60A mppt and the 2 batteries (no inverter) and it has powered the 10cu ft 12v fridge non-stop plus lights, phones, laptops, 12v kettle without a problem. So, we can live quite happily not using much electricity.
We are going to use this cabin when we are not travelling in the RV - maybe up to 6 months of the year. We would like to upgrade the RV solar too as while we are building this cabin it would be good to have the ability to use AC power and have more batteries in reserve. Should point out we also have a duel fuel generator.
This morning, I had an idea. Not sure if it's a good one! I don't like the idea of investing in 2 separate solar systems, especially when they won't be used simultaneously. So, as we have a nice RV with a decent sized solar system (we could out another 1 or 2 panels on the roof and change the brackets so they tilt plus inverter and 2 more batteries) could this be used to power the cabin? Bearing in mind we don't use much power we will just need the same as above plus the occasional appliance and a well pump (no microwave, aircon etc). We plan to use a woodstove only for heat and propane for for cooking, hot water heater. We haven't bought anything yet but can base what we get on what is possible.
The other benefits I thought of is, we wouldn't be leaving an expensive solar setup in the middle of the woods in the winter.
We could skirt the RV and use the propane furnace on the thermostat in the winter.
It's already wired up including for generator use.
Obviously the cost savings could be huge.
Negatives would be, it would be a 12v system (not sure how much of a negative this is for a small system).
Don't know the implications from a permitting point of view.
Not sure how possible / practical it really is.
It would be quite limited in terms of size, especially if we have visitors.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm not great with some of the jargon so laymen's terms would be also be very much appreciated.
Thank you
This year we plan to build a cabin on woodlot in Nova Scotia. As part of this, we were looking into solar systems. We like to keep things simple so we really liked the look of the all in one units like the EG4 6500ex. Then I thought we could use 2 of the 12v 100AH lifepo 4 batteries in the RV and buy 2 more, exactly the same, so cutting down on the biggest cost (we have a budget for all of this so thinking of clever solutions to that save us money while not affecting us too much appeals) and wiring them for 48v. We have lived in our RV for long periods with our RV solar: 800w on the roof, 60A mppt and the 2 batteries (no inverter) and it has powered the 10cu ft 12v fridge non-stop plus lights, phones, laptops, 12v kettle without a problem. So, we can live quite happily not using much electricity.
We are going to use this cabin when we are not travelling in the RV - maybe up to 6 months of the year. We would like to upgrade the RV solar too as while we are building this cabin it would be good to have the ability to use AC power and have more batteries in reserve. Should point out we also have a duel fuel generator.
This morning, I had an idea. Not sure if it's a good one! I don't like the idea of investing in 2 separate solar systems, especially when they won't be used simultaneously. So, as we have a nice RV with a decent sized solar system (we could out another 1 or 2 panels on the roof and change the brackets so they tilt plus inverter and 2 more batteries) could this be used to power the cabin? Bearing in mind we don't use much power we will just need the same as above plus the occasional appliance and a well pump (no microwave, aircon etc). We plan to use a woodstove only for heat and propane for for cooking, hot water heater. We haven't bought anything yet but can base what we get on what is possible.
The other benefits I thought of is, we wouldn't be leaving an expensive solar setup in the middle of the woods in the winter.
We could skirt the RV and use the propane furnace on the thermostat in the winter.
It's already wired up including for generator use.
Obviously the cost savings could be huge.
Negatives would be, it would be a 12v system (not sure how much of a negative this is for a small system).
Don't know the implications from a permitting point of view.
Not sure how possible / practical it really is.
It would be quite limited in terms of size, especially if we have visitors.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm not great with some of the jargon so laymen's terms would be also be very much appreciated.
Thank you
