Frank B
Well-known member
OK, went through the forum, but didn't find out quite what I needed. Here is my situation:
We have a small 5th with 6 GC-2's (new 6 months ago), a 2500 watt pure sine inverter (for the trailer as a whole), a 1000 watt pure sine inverter (for outlets on the table for electronic devices only), and a Honda 2K generator. Converter is a 60 amp Xantrex that I installed several years ago. We use the generator when drawing heavily, like for toaster, waffle iron, or microwave.
The idle current on the 1Kw inverter is about .36 amps according to what I could find online. Lets call it 0.4 amps. The larger Sunforce 2500 watt I am going to guess takes 2.5 times more, or about 1 amp (I've seen 0.8 listed, but can't confirm that). Even if I left both running (which I don't) 1.5 amps x 12 volts gives me idle current drain of 18 watts x perhaps 8 hrs/day for 144 watt hours.
32" Flat panel TV takes about 70 watts for perhaps 2 hrs/day for 140 watt hours
17" Dell computer takes about the same for about the same amount of time for another 140 watt hours.
140 plus 140 plus 144 = 424 watt hours
Now, am I correct that one calculates about 5 hours/day (average) of full output from a solar panel given that the sun is not always as strong during the 10 hours or so of daylight that one gets in Quartzsite in December and January? If so, then an 80 watt solar panel would give 5 x 80 watts during a whole day for 400 watt hours.
In other words, an 80 watt solar panel should cover the day to day 'extras'.
My goal is to just reduce the amount of times we use the generator while parked in the quiet, not to replace it totally. The 6 GC-2's run the furnace on their own for a couple of weeks in the desert, but I am finding that the electronics we are adding as time goes on mean that I have to run the generator more than I want to.
I can get an 80 watt portable solar kit for about $450 (in Canada). I'm willing to spend that much. I am not interested in loading the roof of the trailer with solar panels as we just don't use it enough in a year to justify the cost and hassle.
Anyone see any major faults with this so far?
Thanks.
Frank.
We have a small 5th with 6 GC-2's (new 6 months ago), a 2500 watt pure sine inverter (for the trailer as a whole), a 1000 watt pure sine inverter (for outlets on the table for electronic devices only), and a Honda 2K generator. Converter is a 60 amp Xantrex that I installed several years ago. We use the generator when drawing heavily, like for toaster, waffle iron, or microwave.
The idle current on the 1Kw inverter is about .36 amps according to what I could find online. Lets call it 0.4 amps. The larger Sunforce 2500 watt I am going to guess takes 2.5 times more, or about 1 amp (I've seen 0.8 listed, but can't confirm that). Even if I left both running (which I don't) 1.5 amps x 12 volts gives me idle current drain of 18 watts x perhaps 8 hrs/day for 144 watt hours.
32" Flat panel TV takes about 70 watts for perhaps 2 hrs/day for 140 watt hours
17" Dell computer takes about the same for about the same amount of time for another 140 watt hours.
140 plus 140 plus 144 = 424 watt hours
Now, am I correct that one calculates about 5 hours/day (average) of full output from a solar panel given that the sun is not always as strong during the 10 hours or so of daylight that one gets in Quartzsite in December and January? If so, then an 80 watt solar panel would give 5 x 80 watts during a whole day for 400 watt hours.
In other words, an 80 watt solar panel should cover the day to day 'extras'.
My goal is to just reduce the amount of times we use the generator while parked in the quiet, not to replace it totally. The 6 GC-2's run the furnace on their own for a couple of weeks in the desert, but I am finding that the electronics we are adding as time goes on mean that I have to run the generator more than I want to.
I can get an 80 watt portable solar kit for about $450 (in Canada). I'm willing to spend that much. I am not interested in loading the roof of the trailer with solar panels as we just don't use it enough in a year to justify the cost and hassle.
Anyone see any major faults with this so far?
Thanks.
Frank.