Moving to Remote Location and need Help with Building a Portable Power System

warreng22

Hey All, Been "lurking" here for a few weeks, just registered last week.
Have to say, most of the info here is over my head . Really a total newb when it comes to a solar powered systems.
I understand the concepts and some about the equipment. But exactly what i need to make it all work... (correctly) I'm kind of confused on.

Here's the situation: We are moving out to the western US and will be in some remote locations. The location will not be permanently stationary, as we will be moving from time to time. I need to build a power system in which we can charge small batteries for: equipment, tools (cordless drill etc), laptop computers, cameras, phones, and the like.

Also I have a Shurflow 12 volt DC - 10 amp water pump, which will be used to fill 2 x 55 gallon water barrels when needed for filtered drinking water.

We will also be using some small equipment which have 110v motors.
After reading some threads here, I bought a "Kill-a-Watt" and measured the motor which would used for the longest period of time (45-50 minuets).
Kill-A-Watt gave measurements averaging:
75 watts - 0.65 amps - .05 kwh @ 45 minuet run time.

We also have a video projector which we use for ministry teachings.
Kill-A-Watt rated it at:
272 Watts (274va)
2.25 Amps
0.41 KWH @ 1.5 Hours

Since there may be some "sensitive" equipment connected to the inverter, I think I need a pure sine wave inverter. Correct?

Now I've been looking through the forums here, trying to figure out what I need, but there's a lot more to a solar power system than what I realized.

I would really like to mount this system on a hand built "cart on wheels" (for lack of a better word) Which we could take in and out of a cargo trailer, and could move it to where ever we need the power outside of the trailer or cabin. This would also allow us to move this "power cart" inside the trailer during bad weather to protect the solar panel.

But this was with the thought that I could build a system like this with just one single panel.
However after doing some reading here, I think it's going to take more than one panel, to even have a chance of recharging the battery in 4-5 hours (best possibly useable days amount of sunlight?). And to this end, I may have to mount the panels on top the trailer OR plan on taking more time to charge the battery.
If we mount the solar panels on the roof of the trailer, I am still thinking of having the battery & inverter setup where I could dis-connect them from the panels so that I could take the power outside the trailer if needed. Is this even feasible?

With my current lack of knowledge, I started searching on some of the pre-made "Cabin & RV" kits at www.solar-electric.com/rvandsmbasoc.html. At least then I know that all the parts will work together. But even at that, I'm not sure of what else (if anything) is needed, other than the batteries, which I am also not sure of how many or how much capacity I need.

One thing I do Not want to do, Is to get to Small of a System. I would rather the system to be over-kill, than to find it wanting.

Also this is probably going to be a one time purchase, so I don't want to do a "starter" system for "learning", and then have to turn around and buy a whole other system. We will be using this system for several years, so I want to go with quality components. So if there is some components that are prone to failure after a while, I might buy some backup parts.

I know this is probably lacking a lot of information needed to help give advice.
But any help and input would be much appreciated!

Thanks!
Warren

P.S. Forgot to mention that we'll have a generator for larger or high amp tools & equipment. But we'll only run it when we have to, for short periods of time. And of course we don't want to use it for things like charging batteries, which are low amp usage and take hours to charge.

Photowhit

Re: Moving to Remote Location and need Help with Building a Portable Power System

Wow, better than most, but we really need to define your loads better. You've gotten a Kil-A-Watt meter and done some, can you give use a list of the daily use totals for all you have planned?

With out this information, just throwing out some ideas, I would look for a roof mounted system if you have a large area to mount them. people regularly mount these outside in all types of weather. Mine have been out in Missouri weather for 6 years and my 30+ year old panels lived on an island in Florida through several hurricanes. My guess is when we get a total is for a largeish battery bank also in your RV/Van and using an extention cord for moving your electric around. Might also look into a tilt system for your roof mount panels... but I'm getting ahead of my self...

Also how often you will be traveling, as you can aid in charging with your alternator, it won't properly top off the battery but can be helpful in bulk charging, particularly if you have some heavy use days. Most of todays alternators are 80-100 amps and the car really doesn't use them very much during the day...

vtmaps

Re: Moving to Remote Location and need Help with Building a Portable Power System

Welcome to the forum. As Photowhit mentioned we need to know your daily load in kwh. You can get great design & engineering advice at this forum, but engineers are precise! As you know, there is a lot of difference between a truck that can carry 250 kg and a truck that can carry 1000 kg. Likewise, a solar system that can provide 1 kwh per day is very different than one that can provide 3 kwh per day.

You seem to think that this will be a small system... you want to take the batteries and electronics out of the trailer. I don't think so. Your system sounds like it will be too large (especially the batteries) to easily move.

Step 1: define your loads: kwh per day and maximum watts drawn at any one time.
Step 2: choose battery and system voltage (very difficult decision... we can help)
Step 3: buy enough panels and electronics to keep batteries happy (much easier than step 2)

--vtMaps

peakbagger

Re: Moving to Remote Location and need Help with Building a Portable Power System

A general note is that the current grid tied panels are rather large and unwieldy. Drop one or damage one and you lose a lot of capacity. I suspect that you would be better off with multiple smaller wattage panels, easier to store and move around. My old PV bank used 65 watt Siemens panels. The were about 38" long by 13" wide. They are stacked up on a shelf right now and take a heck of a lot less space and work than lugging around 210 watt Evergreens. They also are built very heavy duty, I have dropped a few in the past with no damage. Retrofit them with MC4 connectors and they would be a fast setup. I expect you could rig up a frame where the panels hooked onto the horizontals like peg board with the weight of the panels holind them in place (with possibly some bungy cords to keep them in place if its breezy). By using small panels, all you would need to do is set up temporary rack in a sunny place and then set the panels up with a temporary ground rod. I hauled my entire 960 watt array in the back of my honda civic with room to spare after I bought the panels at a garage sale. As others note the biggest issue is the size and weight of the batteries .

unicornio

Re: Moving to Remote Location and need Help with Building a Portable Power System

hi, welcome to forum!...

if you have to mount a portable solar power plant, we do that using a 20-foot shipping container, included in all equipment, battery and a diesel generator, and in ceiling we assemble a solar tracker that can be folded for when Transporting, with all solar panels ... it took about 5 hours to have it operating, after placing the container on a level floor ...

as equipment is preferable that you see which are more useful, not needed kits, inside can fit everything you buy ...;-)

warreng22

Re: Moving to Remote Location and need Help with Building a Portable Power System

Thanks Guys for the advice and input. It looks like this project is going to have to go on hold for awhile, might get back to it after I move.

Thanks!