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The Cafe On Wheels

The Cafe On Wheels

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Joined
Dec 7, 2023
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Location
Gold Coast
I'm going to build a cafe trailer in about 2 or 3 years and I need help trying to find out a solar system under 5 grand that would run a WHOLE LOT of power
I got like two fridges, a grinder, possibly an oven, lights, a coffee machine, aircon, and a bunch of other stuff like a waffle maker
I have no idea about this stuff so please just hit me with it ?
And please tell me the overall price you guys think ???
 
I'm going to build a cafe trailer in about 2 or 3 years and I need help trying to find out a solar system under 5 grand that would run a WHOLE LOT of power
I got like two fridges, a grinder, possibly an oven, lights, a coffee machine, aircon, and a bunch of other stuff like a waffle maker
I have no idea about this stuff so please just hit me with it ?
And please tell me the overall price you guys think ???
If everything you list is electric, Your system is impossible for a mobile build for 5 grand.
 
We need a whole lot more info to give any kind of helpful advice. A whole lot of power could be peanuts to some members while running a town in a developing nation for others.
Wattage of every appliance you're trying to run and run times would be a start.
5k might be doable if you buy "tier 2" hardware, used panels and build your own batteries but it's not probable.

Welcome to the forum.
☕
 
You can buy a generator for $5000 but ideally try to find a spot with shore power. I find the generator noise such a turn off on food trucks.

I think with the right design that still allows cooling (fans, which would add some noise), you could build a sound-insulating box that would take care of at least 50-70% of the noise.

@The Cafe On Wheels , you could pour all $5000 into a massive DIY battery bank. Forget the solar part, just have a way to plug into shore power at the end of the day to recharge that big battery. Still not sure it would be enough juice to power everything you have for as long as you want, but it would help keep you running longer.

Why no solar? Because you're going to be sucking down energy way faster (especially if you intend to heat an oven or griddle via electric, personally I'd do propane for that) than solar could produce for you in the amount of solar you could fit on the roof (don't forget your roof will have a massive exhaust fan on top, too). So if you could just run on battery for the day, then just drive off and plug into shore power to recharge. You would need a beefy charging system to recharge it overnight.

So yes, give us an energy audit: wattage of each item you wish to power and how many hours per day you expect it to be using power. Without that, we're all guessing. It might turn out your energy needs are more modest than we think and you have budget for some solar as well as a good-sized battery.

And key here is are you willing to DIY a battery? It's not that hard, but you will need to watch some videos and ask questions and people can help you figure out what exactly (including tools) you need to buy to build it. You can save a significant chunk of $$ by DIY the battery.
 
I doubt you can run everything on solar - there just will not be enough roof space for solar. You may have maxed out solar array, a big battery (this will be the expensive part) and then every night plug it into power and let the battery recharge.

If you can run stuff off propane (oven) that will help. But the air conditioner running full-time will chew up a lot of watts.

To get started list every item, how much power it uses (you can find it on the elect nameplate) and how long in the day you will use it - and indicate which items will be on at the same time.

Then we can help you get started with the planning.
 
I doubt you can run everything on solar - there just will not be enough roof space for solar. You may have maxed out solar array, a big battery (this will be the expensive part) and then every night plug it into power and let the battery recharge.

If you can run stuff off propane (oven) that will help. But the air conditioner running full-time will chew up a lot of watts.

To get started list every item, how much power it uses (you can find it on the elect nameplate) and how long in the day you will use it - and indicate which items will be on at the same time.

Then we can help you get started with the planning.
Yeah if you skip the air conditioning and use propane for the main cooking, your energy needs will be more likely do-able for rooftop solar without much need to plug in to shore power at night to charge it up. In that case, it could be possible that solar alone will keep you sailing (or more likely).
 
It seems to me, that it is assumed, that one will have direct sun for the entire work day? As well, unless it actually is sunny and you moved the truck or the panels once very hour to keep the sun in a direct line and the panels at the best angle for the time of year, then you would still need a big solar panel array. Then what happens when a cloud goes by or a tree shades the panels or the panels are not moved and the angle changes from direct, to an ever more increasing side angle and loss of production? What happens is, you quickly lose solar electricity generation. To solve this, and as others have suggested, you would need a really big battery bank (which could also be expensive depending on the size and the safety requirements and the monitoring or automation / generator or grid switching?). If batteries are considered, where are you going to put all the batteries and their accompanying weight? Can your vehicle handle the extra weight of batteries, never mind solar panels and frames? And how do you charge that big battery in time for the next day and at what cost, not just for the electricity from the grid, but for the cables, charger and accessories to do that. For big power needs, it is very difficult to beat the low cost of grid power and the portability of propane or diesel.

As other posts have discussed, it's winter for us in North America. I've had many cloudy days in a row and my panels often only produce 5%, yes 5 percent of their capacity, so I've had to run the generator now and then to recharge the batteries. On a brighter say high overcast day, with the panels facing due south at the correct angle, I still on some days only get 10-20% of their power producing potential. So I don't run my energy intensive appliances, even with my $2,000 CDN DIY battery as a backup, cause it's going to be cloudy again for the next 2-5 days and possibly to cold to auto start the diesel generator.

Solar means SUN, it does not include clouds, shade, early morning or late afternoons, as part of it's power production. Creating heating and cooling with electricity is extremely energy intensive and so expensive. Most people that I know, all who are grid connected, are not aware of this and that solar requires sunshine, constant sunshine ..... or one heck of a lot of panels to compensate for the measly 5-10% produced when clouds roll in or the sun is blocked by a tree or a building as it crosses the sky and shades the panels, drastically reducing solar generated electricity production.

Hopefully, you have an ideal location for direct sun and the patience to learn and then constantly monitor the constant watts out vs watts in.
 
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