Solar or generators???

[thatswhyy]

hey guys just looking into both of these options both look to be about the same price

not going to be running a lot

Arb fridge some led lights for setting up camp and a camping trailer with maybe a hot water service and a fan maybe a second fridge.

thanks sam.

[threedogs]

Solar all the way after initial purchase its free with no working parts.
I take an 8o watt panel and have plenty of led camp lighting and never ran out of battery ever.
solar all the way

100ah aux battery in the patrol and another in the trailer heaps

[megatexture]

Solar 100%, if its really cloudy for a few days you can run your car with idle up switched on to charge the batteries.
I have 2 x 10 m extension cords with Anderson plugs on them in 10 mm twin-core if I need extra distance for charging via the car or solar, they come in handy.

[thatswhyy]

any type (brands) I should lean towards or stay away from? whats a rough price on a 100ah battery

[Cuppa]

Definitely solar - but it does have limitations. Forget electrically heating water (or anything else) with solar, it just isn’t practical. For hot water consider the camp fire, gas or calorifier. I have the latter ( basically a heat exchanger in an insulated storage tank) in two vehicles & love it. No ongoing cost - just drive & have hot water when you arrive. Ours stays hot for 3 days.

TD & I always get into disagreements about solar, he is a minimalist, a valid way to go....... BUT if you are talking about running two fridges (as I do) you will need rather more than TD has suggested. In most people’s set ups, the fridge will be the biggest consumer of power by a long way.

In order to have a solar set up that achieves what you want you need to have an understanding of not just what you want to run, but also your pattern of usage. Eg the requirements for getting you through a weekend will be very different to the requirements for going weeks at a time. If you get it right a solar set up is a real joy, but if you don’t get it right you will find yourself constantly chasing your tail & worrying about wrecking your batteries.

The addition of an in car smart charger (dc to dc) can work very well, & for some , provide an alternative or adjunct to solar.

Before making any decision I thoroughly recommend spending $40 on one of Collyn Rivers’ easy to read & understand books on solar. You won’t regret it. ’Solar that really works’ is a good one. http://www.caravanandmotorhomebooks...._motorhome.htm

Putting together a solar set up is not difficult but there are a number of traps, perpetuated by common myths, to be avoided.

Some folk decide it’s simply easier to buy a gennie, & I guess it’s a horses for courses thing. I go bush to enjoy the bush & that includes it’s sounds & smells. I find even the quietest Honda Gennies intrusive, so leave ours at home.

[pearcey]

I`ve just completed 3 months traveling Tas (Sept Oct Nov ) free camping as much as possible
My vehicle is equipped with a fixed 120 watt panel which charges the 75 A/H aux battery, off this battery I ran all my accessories which included a 40lt Waeco fridge an 18lt Waeco fridge which we run as a freezer. While we don`t always stay put for long periods of time which means the vehicle charges the aux while traveling I did not have to get out the gennie once. We did camp up for a 5 day period and while the weather was mostly sunny we did have a couple of cloudy days but we still did not experience any problems and the battery never got below 12.3 volts
I have been remote camping fo over 20 years and have learn`t through experience how to manage my power usage
One thing, I always try to use the best quality products I can afford
But as Cuppa says do the research and you may find solar is your best option, plus it`s cheap to run and maintain.

[thatswhyy]

thanks guys fpr your input solar it is but now to see what setup I want so many option

[FNQGU]

x2 for the books by Collyn Rivers. Do your research before you make decisions. For what you are thinking about, I would particularly recommend his book on camper trailers, as he covers off on solar in the tow vehicle, as well as in a camper, and everything else relating to camper trailers. He also extensively covers wiring, voltage drop, types of panels, types of batteries, types of chargers, and has quite a few basic rules for typical scenarios. You need to count up what your appliances will use each day, and that will help you work out how much solar capacity you need to replace that usage.

After reading this book, and one of his other books, I am convinced that more is better, and you should try to have more energy coming in, than you are using, but keep it close or you are wasting money.

As a guide - Collyn recommends that for every 100Ahr battery, you should have about 120-150W of solar panels.

[FNQGU]

ps. you will also need to think about whether you want portable panels, or whether you want to fix them to the roof rack or camper.

[megatexture]

I'll be happy with my set up once I get another 120w panel, ATM we have 1 panel and 2x 110ah deep cycles and only have to run the car if its cloudy for 2.5 days straight but I prefer to maintain a high charge in my batteries and a 2nd panel will certainly do this I like the enerdrive solar kits for folding panels