Gday all, finally decided on a Knaus Skywave 650mf ...new from Avan. Using the Covid-19 lockdown to sought things out and doing loads of research on using the equipment; a huge learning curve having very little experience coming from an advertising background. Now we are both retired ready for our first lap of this great country.
I have a 130w solar panel, 2x 100w house batteries so if I stayed off the grid, how long would these last running the basics?
Cheers, and see you on the road, Davianni
-- Edited by Davianni on Saturday 6th of June 2020 11:19:12 AM
Tony Bev said
02:28 PM Jun 6, 2020
Welcome to the forum, Davianni
As not many people come to this part of the forum, it may pay to copy and paste your question, into the techi part of the forum
I am not a techi, so can only go by my own experience, I will assume you mean 2 X 100 AH batteries, the techies will probably want to know what type of batteries
I found that it was easier (for me) to actually work backwards
I figured out that I used about 7˝ amps per hour, while I was using the TV + lights + fan I then calculated that I would never use more than 120 AH (Amp Hours) each day
I then purchased 2 X 120 AH AGM Bosch batteries, knowing that (all things being equal), I would never drain them more than 50%
I then purchased 300 watts of solar panel, and placed on roof, with a 20 Amp DC/DC charger, near the batteries The CTEK DC/DC charger, uses the engine, and/or the solar to charge the batteries
I then (later on), changed my gas fridge, to a 12 volt only fridge This was OK as (for whatever reason), we do not bother with the TV anymore
I found that in certain situations, that my airconditioner was shading my roof solar panel I therefore purchased a lightweight 160 Watt portable solar panel
I have stayed (at Greens Lake) for up to three weeks at a time, with my current system
Hope that this info is useful to you, as it is very hard to predict, how long your system will last, without knowing what your power requirements are
Peter_n_Margaret said
02:39 PM Jun 6, 2020
Davianni wrote:
I have a 130w solar panel, 2x 100w house batteries so if I stayed off the grid, how long would these last running the basics?
Depends what the "basics" mean to you and what the weather is doing Davianni.
My first reaction is that 200Ah of batteries is a reasonable amount but 130W of solar is not much. To las longer you need much more solar, maybe 4 panels like that.
What physical size are the panels, what are their specifications and what is the controller?
Gday all, finally decided on a Knaus Skywave 650mf ...new from Avan. Using the Covid-19 lockdown to sought things out and doing loads of research on using the equipment; a huge learning curve having very little experience coming from an advertising background. Now we are both retired ready for our first lap of this great country.
I have a 130w solar panel, 2x 100w house batteries so if I stayed off the grid, how long would these last running the basics?
Cheers, and see you on the road, Davianni
-- Edited by Davianni on Saturday 6th of June 2020 11:19:12 AM
Welcome to the forum, Davianni
As not many people come to this part of the forum, it may pay to copy and paste your question, into the techi part of the forum
I am not a techi, so can only go by my own experience, I will assume you mean 2 X 100 AH batteries, the techies will probably want to know what type of batteries
I found that it was easier (for me) to actually work backwards
I then calculated that I would never use more than 120 AH (Amp Hours) each day
The CTEK DC/DC charger, uses the engine, and/or the solar to charge the batteries
This was OK as (for whatever reason), we do not bother with the TV anymore
I therefore purchased a lightweight 160 Watt portable solar panel
I have stayed (at Greens Lake) for up to three weeks at a time, with my current system
Hope that this info is useful to you, as it is very hard to predict, how long your system will last, without knowing what your power requirements are
Depends what the "basics" mean to you and what the weather is doing Davianni.
My first reaction is that 200Ah of batteries is a reasonable amount but 130W of solar is not much. To las longer you need much more solar, maybe 4 panels like that.
What physical size are the panels, what are their specifications and what is the controller?
Cheers,
Peter