[VAC] Re: Solar

[Jim Dunmyer <jdunmyer@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ed,
 To answer your questions:

1. Ceapest is not always the best, you must to determine what your needs
are, then shop around.
2. Yes, you can probably do it yourself. The toughest part is mounting
the panels on the top of the trailer, the wiring is very simple.
3. Go to http://www.rvsolarelectric.com and go through their worksheet
to figure out how much you need. Throwing in the "coffee that I don't
need fire for" ups the ante dramatically.
4. A "Converter" makes 12 volts from 120VAC and is included on every A/S
trailer. (the infamous UniVolt) An "Inverter" makes 120VAC from the
12VDC battery. They can be well worthwhile or totally superfluous,
depending. They're not magical and will REALLY suck on your battery bank
if they're powering a heavy load. (IE: coffee pot)
5. Again, the worksheet will tell you how many batteries you need.

Another source of non-technical information on solar and batteries is
Fred's Poop Sheets at http://www.phrannie.org. He has sheets on both,
read them.

                              <<Jim>>