bigtexnick
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2020
- Messages
- 11
Hello everyone. I am new to solar and have taken on a project that I have several questions about and cannot seem to figure out (even with internet help). So I've decided to ask the question by telling you all what I want to eventually have and getting a recommendation for a solar setup. So, I am building a truck camper; a small to medium size (solo size) camper. I will be putting a solar system on it in order to power the basic components. I cannot figure out, however, how many panels and batteries I will need or what size charge controller and size of inverter I should be using. Honestly, I've tried to look at so many videos that I am totally and completely lost as to how to calculate all this stuff. I just get lost after listing out all the appliances and loads.
Here are all the appliances/loads I currently intend to use in the camper:
*small fridge
*small oven
*laptop 1
*laptop 2
wifi booster
inverter
*phone charger
water pump 1 (for minimal sink usage)
water pump 2 (for minimal sink usage)
exhaust fan
basic lights
*night fan
I put asterisks (*) next to the appliances that I currently have and have the energy label --- with watts/volts/amps info --- saved to my computer and can provide, if asked. If need be, I can modify this list of appliances and use a shorter list. However, these are all the things I envision using fairly regularly on my truck camper trips. BTW, I will not be living out of the camper; it will be strictly used a handful of times during the year, from anywhere from 1 night to 14 nights (give or take a few nights).
I am not terribly constrained in terms of budget spending, but would like to keep it as reasonable as possible. Also, I know that the LifePO4 batteries are very expensive and I am well aware of this, as these are the ones I want. I will have a limitation on how many solar panels I can put on my roof. Based on my current calculations, my roof will be right about 8ft x 7ft (and the entire roof will be dedicated to solar, nothing else will be on the roof). If I have to expend this area to put more solar panels on top due to system requirements, I can do this - but I would really like to avoid having to do so; but I may only be able to expand to as much as 8ft x 9ft, realistically speaking). Also, I would like to hook up my solar system to my truck alternator to provide "drive time" charging.
I am asking for recommendations on: the number of batteries needed, the number of solar panels required, the size of the charge controller, and size of the inverter.
If there are any questions, let me know as I will be checking this thread continuously.
Here are all the appliances/loads I currently intend to use in the camper:
*small fridge
*small oven
*laptop 1
*laptop 2
wifi booster
inverter
*phone charger
water pump 1 (for minimal sink usage)
water pump 2 (for minimal sink usage)
exhaust fan
basic lights
*night fan
I put asterisks (*) next to the appliances that I currently have and have the energy label --- with watts/volts/amps info --- saved to my computer and can provide, if asked. If need be, I can modify this list of appliances and use a shorter list. However, these are all the things I envision using fairly regularly on my truck camper trips. BTW, I will not be living out of the camper; it will be strictly used a handful of times during the year, from anywhere from 1 night to 14 nights (give or take a few nights).
I am not terribly constrained in terms of budget spending, but would like to keep it as reasonable as possible. Also, I know that the LifePO4 batteries are very expensive and I am well aware of this, as these are the ones I want. I will have a limitation on how many solar panels I can put on my roof. Based on my current calculations, my roof will be right about 8ft x 7ft (and the entire roof will be dedicated to solar, nothing else will be on the roof). If I have to expend this area to put more solar panels on top due to system requirements, I can do this - but I would really like to avoid having to do so; but I may only be able to expand to as much as 8ft x 9ft, realistically speaking). Also, I would like to hook up my solar system to my truck alternator to provide "drive time" charging.
I am asking for recommendations on: the number of batteries needed, the number of solar panels required, the size of the charge controller, and size of the inverter.
If there are any questions, let me know as I will be checking this thread continuously.