Just for fun, let's see if I'm doing my math right...
I wanted to know how much battery I'd have to have just for the refrigerator:
1600WH / 12V = 133AH x 4 = 533AH to keep in the top 25% of battery charge, assuming full recharge each day.
Then thought, how much solar panel? My area has 4.98 hrs insolation in winter:
133AH / 4.98H = 26.7A x 15V = 400W (I don't remember just where the 15V came from, probably someone else's examples?)
So probably a bit more solar panel than I want to buy just for an emergency backup. But it does tell me I'd have to have a charger I could plug into the generator that could push 30A. And the generator would have to run 5 hours to get the batteries charged.
Is that correct?
My original plans for the ham bench were:
- AH x 5 = 250AH battery for one day, so:
- AH x 3 = 750AH to stay in top 20% for 3 days no sun.
That seemed a bit excessive, I don't usually go that long without sun, so I dropped it to 50% over 3 days no sun:
50AH x 2 x 3 days = 300AH.
Looking at what is required for the fridge, it appears I might not be too far off with - say - a bank of six T-105s (660AH). That would provide an excellent reserve for my regular use, and keep the fridge going in a pinch.
On the solar side, I figured (for the ham bench):
50AH / 4.98 = 10.04A x 15V = 150W
So preferably something around 175-200W of panels.
So far so good?!? :-)
