Mitch this is the post, I will try to send pics too....they are good. It was posted on Sept. 14th....
A 40 watt solar panel will not be near enough. Likewise a single battery. I now have two panels on the side of my coach. The larger of the two is 125 watts and the smaller 80 watts. I mounted them on the side so that I can easily remove them. I have a 50 ft. cable which allows me to park in the shade and set the panels in the sun. Most people mount panels on the roof. This means that the coach has to be parked in the sun.
For batteries many people opt for two Trojan T-105 6 volt golf cart batteries connected in series which gives you 12 volt and 225 amp hours. I opted for the T-125 which is the same size but gives you 240 amp hours. Trojan has a good reputation but any brand of group GC2 deep cycle battery should work.
I did a quick search on the internet for apartment sized fridges and was surprised to find that they tend to be more efficient than the compact dorm size. A couple of them were about 250 KWH per year.
Figuring what size and type inverter you need is going to involve a bit of guesswork. To get started, a compressor style fridge requires a fairly large start-up current. Once the fridge gets started it settles down to a much lower current. You can get by with a smaller inverter if it will handle the initial surge. Typical inverters can handle a peak current of about twice their rated continuous current. If you are lucky a 300 watt may work.
The next question is MSW or PSW inverter. I recently purchased a Go Power 300 watt pure sine wave inverter for $175. The same brand costs $25 if it is MSW. The big IF is will your fridge run okay on MSW. Induction type motors (which your fridge would have in the compressor) tend to run hot with MSW power.
The main reason I opted to go solar was peace-and-quiet. I spend winters in south Florida (the sunshine state). I boondock 100% and seldom have to run my generator.
If you plan on boondocking you have some decisions to make. To get an adequate charge you most likely will have to upgrade your converter or purchase a high current battery charger. You will need an inverter to power your fridge. You will need two healthy batteries (the largest that will fit) to keep things running.
If you plan on solar you will need at least 200 watts for the panel/panels plus a charge controller.
Here's some sites for solar info:
http://rvroadtrip.us/library/solar_install.php https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/the ... -puzzle-2/ http://www.jackdanmayer.com/rv_electrical_and_solar.htm A couple of sources for solar gear:
http://www.renogy-store.com/ Good prices & free shipping.
http://stores.ebay.com/Renogy-Solar?_tr ... 7675.l2563 Renogy ebay store.
http://www.solarblvd.com/ I purchased my 80 watt panel from them.
Some pix of my present solar:
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Tom
2005 24' RB
2009 Kawasaki KLX250SF
our is attached and DH used to get up there and angle them but the last winter I don't believe he changed them ...he pretty much drove the 5th wheel down parked and wasn't able to accomplish much after that...I didn't see the difference between angling them on top or leaving them flat...Last year I was plugged in so it didn't really matter...this winter will be out on the desert so perhaps I'll be more aware. But I also use a generator watch tv in the night and have an aquarium that has to have electricity.
Glad you got it all together. Just waiting to see how it works for you in MX.
