Solar Generators

[Glennman]

I see there are a lot of solar generators on the market these days. They have a pure sinewave, can be charged any number of ways, and have the ability to add battery storage. Sounds like a bus system in one box. Is there any advantage to simply use those instead of a permanently installed setup?

[richard5933]

Capacity

Cost


Seems to me on first glance that a bus had the capability to carry lots of batteries and solar - much more so than the average user of a solar generator. To put together as much capacity as a typical bus solar setup would cost more than what many do.

The advantage would be simplicity in being able to just plug things into a single box, but the reality is that setting up a solar charging option for a bus is not that complicated and most of us will want to permanently wire the charging system and not connect via temporary plugs or clamps.

[Glennman]

Some of the bus converters out there have multiple inverters for backup and redundancy. It seems that having a solar generator would at least provide back up, or even a dedicated connection to one item, such as a refrigerator. This wouldn't be practical for the full timer, but for weekend use it may be. I'm thinking about getting one for my stick and staples RV, in lieu of purchasing a $1700 gas refrigerator. I would purchase an electric refrigerator, and use the solar generator while on the road, then connect to the pole at our destination, or use the solar generator if we are only parked for a couple of days where there aren't any hookups. Then I could use the solar generator for other things as well.

[richard5933]

Yeah, but some of those solar generators don't have much capacity at all. Some I've seen are as low as 24Ah. If you are planning to run a residential fridge through the inverter you'll need to do some math.

If you already have the LP fridge and it just stopped working, you can also get it going for much less than a new one. Dinosaur Boards makes replacement control boards, and the Amish outfits make nice replacement cooling units. Either way, lot less than $1700.

[Glennman]

I've seen some that would run a full sized house refrigerator for up to 10 days, not taking into account the cycling, which would allow them to run even longer.

I know this is another subject, but on the Amish repairing them, I've read the posts on that. Some spoke of taking the units to their place of business (Indiana, etc.). I suppose I can ship it to them, but do you think it is really worth it? I had it checked out, and apparently there is an ammonia leak. Otherwise, it is in nice shape.

[richard5933]

I've seen some that would run a full sized house refrigerator for up to 10 days, not taking into account the cycling, which would allow them to run even longer.

I know this is another subject, but on the Amish repairing them, I've read the posts on that. Some spoke of taking the units to their place of business (Indiana, etc.). I suppose I can ship it to them, but do you think it is really worth it? I had it checked out, and apparently there is an ammonia leak. Otherwise, it is in nice shape.

Running a residential fridge for 10 days? Sounds like a powerhouse battery pack. Even a very efficient fridge would draw about 1.5 amps @ 120vac, which would be 15 amps at 12vdc. Figuring a 50% duty cycle, that would about 180 Ah every day, so to go 10 days would require having the solar deployed to recharge every day. Otherwise, it would take 1800 Ah of battery, which is the equivalent of 18 Battle Born 100Ah lithium batteries.

About the absorption replacement units - I got my replacement (Amish built) cooling unit from https://www.rvcoolingunit.com

They are a reseller of cooling units from Pines RV Refrigeration, who only sells through retailers. Total cost for my unit was only $650 delivered. JC Refrigeration does ship units as well. The place I bought from was incredibly easy to work with and the cooling unit came with everything needed.

The install to only a few hours. Not much to it really once the fridge is pulled out of the cabinetry.

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

I was visiting Lion Energy last month on my way through Salt Lake City and was very impressed with their unit.  The advantage of these is that they are very quiet and one guy said he took his on a camping trip for the weekend and it powered everything he needed very quietly.  Check it out here...

https://lionenergy.com/products/lion-safari-me

[Jim Blackwood]

I found a nice 2 way Norcold 1 year old on facebook marketplace for $200 that didn't run on 110 but did on gas. Someone had pulled the element out of it's socket and burned it up. Overall cost including a new element and gas to go get the fridge, $300 plus a new upper and lower trim which will be a few bucks if I don't make them myself. On setting 5 it runs 5 and 32 degrees and can go much colder, I tested it to -10 and 24.

Now I jumped right on that as soon as I saw it but it had been posted for a week. People are afraid of these things and will just replace them rather than work on them. It's an opportunity but it does mean watching for one to come along.

Jim

[dtcerrato]

Jim glad your little fridge purchase went well! It will probably serve you well for lots of years to come. It's nice to hear a simple "good" in this day & age... IMO

[windtrader]

Richard is tempting me back into doing the compressor swap from JC Refrig rather than swapping in a small residential. For certain it would be less effort but you still end up with the same nominal RV capacity. Unit cost only, the JC unit costs more than a low cost, yet high efficiency 10cf residential.


No knock to gary or the lion product but coming from a DIY point of view, solar generators are quite a novelty and very expensive. I just bought a box of 100 GENUINE MODEL 3 2170 CELLS 4800mah - 90% and up [/size]$225.00. That is 1,776Wh vs the 922Wh. Throw in an inverter, SBMS0(Charger controller and BMS), charger, and a box for a couple hundred and for $500 you have something twice as powerful for one fifth the cost.
[/size]

[chessie4905]

I wonder how solar does in the NW with all the smoke?

[Glennman]

I wonder how solar does in the NW with all the smoke?

Yep, the smoke is awful. Not so much today though. So from what I'm seeing here in this thread is a guy could build a solar generator with the right parts for a lot less money (just not as fancy).

I'll be looking into getting one of those coil units from JC. Thanks for the great advice everyone.

[freds]

I wonder how solar does in the NW with all the smoke?

In my case it was about 40% of the expected power. A cold rainy day is worse if you are near the bottom of your storage.

I have a DIY solar simulator that allows me to plug into a 120 outlet that draws about 1KW so I was plugged in for about four hours to make up for my short fall.

[windtrader]

In my case it was about 40% of the expected power.

I'm guessing around the same for smoke but it is totally dependent on the amount. The fires are just up the hill and from the video on TV, when you can hardly see the sun, solar output is probably in the 10-20% range. Same with fog and clouds, all depends on how dense. Typically, expect 25-50% cut when not in the clear but overcast.