Any Greenies in the audience?

[Rich Biebel]

A portable generator like a Honda 1000 or 2000 is much better, + a battery with a 5-10 amp charger and a small inverter. Run the generator and it powers the computer and weather station and battery charger. Shut the generator off and use the inverter that is connected to your battery. Saves gas...generator does not have to run all day...and you can still use it to charge your race car battery.

Solar needs a lot of surface area for any kind of decent output and is DC I believe so you still would need an inverter and they use a fair amount of current so you'd need a lot of solar panel area and some sun !

I have a generator in my trailer but also have an inverter and give my generator (4KW Onan) a rest periodically by using the inverter...and I have a small 5 amp battery charger so the battery gets recharged when the generator is running.

[rognelson777]

check out honeywell 1400 inverter generator (home depot) comes with battery charging cables, ,about 500 to 600 bucks, inverter style generators are very quiet and lite. Put in 2 6volt deep cycle batteries (all the new RVS use 6 volt batteries because more storage capacity) , and a converter for 12 volts to 120 when not running generator. Size converter wattage to as close to max watts you need when not running generator because the larger the converter the more power it consumes even if no draw on it.

Make sure generator is 4 cycle.

Go to RVNET forums, a lot of info on there about boondocking, camping without hookups.

[Rich Biebel]

An Inverter produces AC from DC and a Converter produces DC from AC. A generator produces AC and is your primary power source. Your battery powers your inverter. An Inverter style generator is just a different way to make AC using an engine for power. Sounds confusing but really isn't. Cheap generators no matter who's name is on it are Made in China. Honda is the std all others are judged by.

[HandOverFist]

Well satisfied with the Yamaha 2000. I think it and the Honda equivalent are nearly identical in performance and features. You can join two of these together for 4000 watts if desired. They are so quiet I'm constantly checking to see if it is even running.

[Rich Biebel]

Yes those Yamaha generators are very good and quiet.

[SGSST109E]

I have solar panels on the top of my trailer for the last 16 years. They keep the batteries charged for the winch and power for the laptop, weather station, radio etc. I have a Honda 3000 which is great but I rarely have to use it. Solar panels are very cheap now between $1.00 to $1.50 a watt.

[Greg Gay]

Thank you for the responses, everyone. Very informative. I will probably go with the inverter/generator, but SGSST109E: How do you control for the variable input of the solar panels?

Greg

[rognelson777]

Originally Posted by Rich Biebel

An Inverter produces AC from DC and a Converter produces DC from AC. A generator produces AC and is your primary power source. Your battery powers your inverter. An Inverter style generator is just a different way to make AC using an engine for power. Sounds confusing but really isn't. Cheap generators no matter who's name is on it are Made in China. Honda is the std all others are judged by.

Correct me if I am wrong but my understanding is portable Inverter style generators are the quiet units.

I also think Honda now makes economy units and they are not quiet.

To me, noise is the issue, I also learned because it says Honda on it does not mean it is a good unit, I learned this with a honda black max lawn mower I bought, what a mistake. Do your research

[Rich Biebel]

Inverter-Generators are quiet and built from the ground up to be.

Industrial units are not quiet. Very little covering the engines on those.

DB ratings for Inverters are usually 50-60 and Industrial units are usually in the 70's

A big difference there noise wise....

I don't sell Honda equipment but their reputation is number 1 in the small engine power equipment world....I am sure they have failures too...

[SGSST109E]

The device is called a charger controller. The three batteries in the trailer never have to be charged. I use a older technology one, the newer ones uses more of the panels power. If you are using a higher voltage panel it very important. Mine put out 45 volts in peak light. If you use panels that put out around 18 volts it is much easier to control. The industry has come a long way in the last 15 years. I have almost 900 watts on my trailer. So I can keep the batteries peaked, run the laptop and weather station, pager and radio. Can also run a fan all on solar. All weekend long. Then I put the battery charger on the race car battery over night off the batteries. One of these days I will put a small panel just to maintain the race car battery with it own charge controller.