Reputable Inverter brands?

My suggestion would be to get a Kill-a-Watt type power meter. You can plug your 120 VAC devices in and see how much energy they use.

For a "good" solar off grid power experience, you really need to reduce your loads (conserve) as much as possible. And, realistically, solar can be difficult to justify for emergency/backup power vs just getting a small genset (like a Honda eu2000i or eu1000i) and some gasoline siphoned from the car. Batteries age just sitting around, and do need charging (flooded cell either need to "float", or need to be charged for ~24 hours every month). A Honda eu2000i will provide ~1,600 Watts for 4 hours on or 400 Watts for 9 hours on ~1.1 gallons of fuel (for ~$1,000). Note--You can buy cheap/larger backup gensets, but their fuel consumption can be very high (5 kWatt genset can use ~0.5 to 1.0 gallon or more per hour).

Get a small multi-fuel stove (gasoline, diesel, Coleman fuel, propane, alcohol, etc.).

For lighting, get some LED flashlights--On low, they can go for days on a pair of AA batteries. --Pretty much more like camping. For fans, there are some DC fans (ceiling, RV) that do not use much power.

Usually, designing a small/cost effective emergency power system precludes using a microwave oven/full size refrigerator and other large loads--Both because of high starting surges (induction motors), and because of extend power draw over time (Watt * 24 hours per day=Watt*Hours and a large battery bank).

More or less, if you power LED lighting, TV (LED type), Radio, Cell Phone charging, laptop computer use, small RV water pump from cistern, etc... A 500 WH or 1,000 WH per day system is usually sufficient for enough power to keep everyone happy (laptop computer use + water pump--more towards 1,000 WH per day).

Also, using a smaller solar power+battery system for nighttime/small loads, and a (smaller, fuel efficient) genset for daytime loads (cooking, running washer, well pump, recharging battery if no sun available) is not a bad combination.

But--energy usage is a highly personal set of choices... I will go through a system design that will run a 2,000 Watt inverter so you can see what is involved--And make your choices from there.

Nominally, I would start with your loads (peak Watts, hours of day for loads--Watts*Hour for days for each appliance) to design the battery bank. However, since you have a 2,000 Watt AC inverter in mind--I will start there and work out the specs. from there. For a battery bank (flooded cell lead acid battery), you need a minimum of ~200 AH per 1 kWatt of inverter rating (to supply ~2,00 Watts of surge current/max continuous power of 1,000 Watts for a period of time). So that puts in the 400 AH @ 24 volt battery range. Roughly, 4x 6 volt @ 200 AH golf cart batteries in series (for 24 volts) and 2x parallel strings for 24 volts @ 400 AH battery bank (golf cart batteries are cheap, fairly rugged and forgiving, and a good starter bank for folks to learn with--An 8 battery GC bank is around $800).

To charge such a battery bank--Recommend 5% to 13% rate of charge. 5% for emergency/weekend/seasonal usage. 10%+ for full time hard core off grid system. 10% rate of charge is recommended current for a lead acid battery bank--For many reasons. Plus, 10%+ makes "managing loads" much less of a daily task.

• 400 AH * 29 volts charging * 1/0.77 panel+controller derating * 0.05 rate of charge = 753 Watt array minimum
  
• 400 AH * 29 volts charging * 1/0.77 panel+controller derating * 0.10 rate of charge = 1,506 Watt array nominal
  
• 400 AH * 29 volts charging * 1/0.77 panel+controller derating * 0.13 rate of charge = 1,958 Watt array "cost effective" maximum
  

Now, based on hours of sun near where you live (guessing near Jacksonville FL):
http://www.solarelectricityhandbook.com/solar-irradiance.html

Jacksonville
Average Solar Insolation figures

Measured in kWh/m2/day onto a solar panel set at a 60° angle from vertical:
(For best year-round performance)

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
3.94	4.48	5.16	5.78	5.67	5.01
Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
5.17	5.00	4.62	4.68	4.26	3.84

The various array options would supply (long term solar average), for December (worst case, "break even month"--perhaps use genset some):

• 753 Watt array * 0.52 typical AC off grid System eff * 3.84 hours per day = 1,504 Watt*Hours per day (December, long term average)
  
• 1,506 Watt array * 0.52 typical AC off grid System eff * 3.84 hours per day = 3,007 WH per day
  
• 1,958 Watt array * 0.52 typical AC off grid System eff * 3.84 hours per day = 3,909 WH pr day
  

And if you assume 2 days of stored power and 50% maximum discharge (for longer lead acid battery life):

• 400 AH * 24 volts * 0.85 AC inverter eff * 1/2 days of storage * 0.50 maximum discharge = 2,040 WH per day storage

A 400 AH @ 24 volt with 1,500 Watt array is a very capable system and should meet your needs (guessing) as you have given them. Now the question is this how much you want to spend (and install solar array, battery bank somewhere with good ventilation, etc.). Replace batteries every 3-5 years (for "golf cart" batteries, in warm Florida weather--Keeping batteries cool will help extend their life--For every 10C rise over room temperature, ~1/2 battery aging life is lost).

Or $1,000 for a small(ish) genset plus a siphon hose (and/or 10-20 gallons of stored fuel with fuel stabilizer, rotated into car every 6-12 months will run the genset for 5-10 days at least ~12 hours per day). Or--if you have propane/natural gas for a genset?

Either are perfectly good options--And even with solar off grid power, a backup genset is usually a good idea (if you have many days of dark clouds, you will not harvest much solar, or if the wind storm damages your glass solar panels with wind blown debris, etc.).

-Bill

The "quiet generators" are really quite nice... The Honda eu2000i sounds like an idling Honda Electroglide motor cyle. And if you are on a city street (food carts, street musicians), you cannot really even hear them until you are top of one. There are propane conversion kits for the eu2000i (and others) if gasoline storage is an issue. With oil changes and air filters, people get something like 2,000 to 6,000+ hours out of them (crossing fingers). Yes, store without gasoline (dump tank, run dry, there is a small drain screw on the carb for the Honda).

Put it on a 50' extension cord out back (genset changed to tree for security, some people make plastic handle metal guard plate to make cutting more difficult--if needed). And a carbon monoxide detector in the home--Just in case. You can also get/make a fuel cap + hose to pull fuel from a 5 gallon gas can (or outboard tank)--No more refueling several times a day.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_4_19?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=honda+extended+run+fuel+system&sprefix=honda+extended+run+,aps,529

My suggestion would to run a 500-1,000 WH per day system with a 12 volt MorningStar 300 Watt TSW inverter, and use the genset when time for cooking/other loads. Use 2-4 6 volt @ 200 AH golf cart batteries.

And get an RV 12 volt fan for the bathroom. We have some threads like this one:

http://forum.solar-electric.com/discussion/10865/most-efficient-12v-dc-fans

Much smaller system, will give you quiet power at night. And the ability to run larger loads via genset when needed.

Flooded cell lead acid batteries--Not really a good idea for bedroom installation/storage. They out gas hydrogen (and oxygen), and many times a bit of electrolyte (sulfuric acid+water) when charging. AGM batteries generally do not out gas and are much cleaner--HOWEVER, AGM batteries will overheat/out gas/catch fire with the best of them when they get old and/or being over charged.

Assume pretty much all batteries will out gas/leak and are potential fire hazards and treat then accordingly. I will leave it to others here that have hot weather/Florida experience on their suggestions for best battery / best installation practices. For a suggestion, a battery box on the north side/under shade should be a start. Ground contact is not bad (earth average temp is less than hot summer day). However, if you get standing water, ground contact may not work for you.

Set up for permanent / fixed installation of the battery bank/charge controller/solar array... I assume it would get old if you had to push your battery cart to the garage once a month to recharge for the other 9 months of the year you don't need backup power.

-Bill "my two cents" B.