Another burn is upon us! This year I got a chance to do some major infrastructure upgrades for the trailer and the truck, installing a much improved solar / battery system and an awning on the back for having additional space for more panels. I also started work on a fold away murphy bed, but had to pause as I ran out of time. I’ll get that done some time in the next year.
Last year I installed a 12v – 100AH battery, a 60A MPPT charge controller and 160 watts of panels for powering house lights and charging batteries. This system worked great, but I still needed to break out the 2000W honda generator when I needed to run AC or something more power hungry like the espresso machine. This was a real pain in 2022 as temperatures soared to 130F during the day, making getting up and turning on the generator in the mornings a sweaty no-fun experience.
I did some research into kits and found a Chinese supplier that sold a solar charge controller, panels, and a lithium iron phosphate “power wall” style battery. The total cost was about ~3k for the solar. Here is a breakdown of the specifications
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