Looking for solar panel and inverter opitons

[jdeoliveira74]

Looking for solar panel options to run a 4000watt power inverter of a marine battery. so i can run power tools and not carry a generator with me at all times.... roof mount possible but cheap of course

 

[Ripcord01]

Solar Cell, Solar Panel, Solar PV, Solar Products, Charge Controllers, Solar Trackers

 

[deuceaid]

what kind of tools do You want to run and for how long, That is what will determine what You need, and solar isnt cheap.. ( I,m taking solar installation classes in college )

 

[jdeoliveira74]

thanks will do some more research!

 

[Recovry4x4]

The 45 watt panel from Harbor Freight seems to be above their normal quality. On sale it can be purchased for $150.

 

[jdeoliveira74]

will look into

 

[islandguydon]

Specifically what inverter/charger do you have right now to work with......?

 

[jdeoliveira74]

looking at purchasing the 4000 watt surge 2200 inverter from harbor freight

 

[islandguydon]

12v 0r 24vdc........?

 

[Darwin T]

how big a system are you looking for? northerntools.com and amazon.com have some. it all depends on how many watts you want or how much you want to spend.

 

[Darwin T]

i have one of the harborfreight units and i use it, but, i would not buy another one. go to amazon and the sunforce 60 watt is a better deal and quality.

 

[Gunnar1071]

RV Solar Panel Mounts
Inverters - Battery Based, Off Grid, RV & Backup

I went in July and looked at a property just outside Flagstaff, AZ. that was run on a system put together by Northern Arizona wind & sun. Good quality mount, great Kyocera 185 watt panels and a clean install. Everything I saw and have read has been very positive about them and their customer service.

 

[MakersTeleMark]

Take a look at ulsolar as well. I have been using their 85w panel for a year with no complaints.

 

[jdeoliveira74]

Do u have one mounted

 

[MakersTeleMark]

I have it mounted on the top of my camper which is bolted to the bed of the 1028. It feeds a bluetop optima, but is also connected to the truck through a relay.

 

[jdeoliveira74]

That's exactly what I want to do. Also want to run a inverter

 

[MakersTeleMark]

I run a xantrex prowatt pure sine wave inverter. You need to carefully calculate what you want to draw off the inverter and size accordingly.

 

[stampy]

There are a lot of questions you need to answer for anyone to help. 1. how big is the load you plan to pull in watts.
2 voltage you plan to pull /( I have a 24v/dc to 240v/ac inverter in my m1009 for example) 3.how long do you need to draw that load? in minutes. Most truck mountable solar panels will not produce enough energy to offset your load for power tools unless you use them very sparingly. You could however get a high capacity high amp hour deep cell battery or 2 in parallel and put in a switch to charge them off of you alternators when driving. The solar panel is good for recharging slowly over time. A 40 watt panel is about the minimum I would use. It can recharge most batteries in a 6-7hrs of full sun at about 18v @ about 2.1 watts. Most 40watt panels are small maybe 2ft by 3ft.

 

[Darwin T]

if you plan to run a 4000 watt inverter and use it for long or very often you will need several panels to recharge if you are going to use often and several batteries to run long. on my M109a3 i plan to have 4 optima deep cycle batteries, 12 volt altenator, and several panels mounted on the roof to run a 1,500 to 2,500 watt inverter. there is a formula on battery usage in here somewhere one of the SS members posted.

the first picture is my barn and i have 2 heavy duty deep cycle batteries on it and i run lights and charge batteries in my rechargable tools and flash lights about twice a month with the sunforce solar panels. i use the harbor freight panles to charge my "Xantrex XPower Portable Powerpack 1500" which is a complete battery, 1,500 watt inverter, on wheels.

the second is my well house and i use the sunforce solar panels to charge one heavy duty deep cycle battery to run a 1,500 watt inverter to power my well at the back of my place. i have run it for as much as 2 hours but only do so about once a month during the summer.

 

[Fort Powell]

Thank you all for all the good information.