Thor Forums

[TurnerFam]

I think solar is great as a secondary power for charging our batteries... but, living off-grid and expecting solar to ‘really’ be beneficial and financially frugal, you will need:

- enough batteries to sustain your electrical usage during much of the day, and much of the night
- enough solar panels/output to ‘fill’ your batteries within a set time
- enough ‘hours of sunshine’ each and every day for any of this to matter
- enough days without clouds and weather that inhibit the solar input
- enough consistent tilting of the panels in order to maximize solar input
- enough money to invest in such a system
- enough ‘room’ to store, carry and/or deploy the panels
- enough time ‘off-grid’ to warrant the investment
- enough time ‘off-generator’ to warrant the additional expense


I have 200w of solar and view the $300 investment as a way to offset generator usage and create more quiet time, but without a substantial output for 6 to 8 times more battery storage, 10 times more panel amperage, and 365 days off direct sun for 8 or more hours each of those days, I will always view it as a quiet ‘trickle charge’ for the battery bank - at least when there’s sunshine.


enjoy!