Off Grid

Andy113

Guest
Hi all,
Has anyone managed to go completely off grid, using solar or wind with any success?
 
Some on here are full timers, never going onto campsites. Don't know if they carry generators or not though.
 
It would be hard to do all year round but it all depends on you , a wood burner is a great thing to have if you build your own , solar , split relay and occasionally a small generator would keep you going if you are careful.
 
In winter you would need some additional power ,Genny ( tin hat on ) hook up , battery to battery charger ,none electric gas fire would be a big help . Unless you are one of the hardy types that think's heating is for girl's.
 
Not full time BUT we have no hook up fitted (I prepared to BUT we never actually needed to bother)

2 X 100w solar panels on the roof and a Durite voltage sensing split charge relay.
3 x 100ah leisure batteries powering a 3000w inverter to run microwave/toaster /kettle /slow cooker etc
no gas on board and heating from eberspacher D2.

Never needed hook up even over xmas/New year
 
depends on how you live. we lived quite happily for years with gaslights,woodburner, no fridge, drove every day or 2 for work and occasionally used a genny. solar panels were way too expensive then. we had 12v lights ,but no leds , so only used them sparingly.
so, with cheap panels and compressor fridges and diesel heaters readily available it will be easy !
 
Us too.....All year, no hook up ever........2x100watt Solar, 2xT105(225amp), Xantrex C40(PWM), 180amp Allbright Contactor(split Relay)............Compressor Cool Box, Propex......................................Alec
 
I'm struggling to get a fridge to work with two 250 watt solar panels, three 110 leisure batteries and a 3000 watt inverter. Doesn't seem powerful enough. Any ideas?
 
Andy113 said:
I'm struggling to get a fridge to work with two 250 watt solar panels, three 110 leisure batteries and a 3000 watt inverter. Doesn't seem powerful enough. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
hi. is the inverter mod sin wave or a pure sin wave?
i used to run my old fridge easily on a mod sine wave inverter but the new fridge wont work unless i use a pure sin wave inverter . so i had to buy another inverter.
all winter i use my 6x80wt solars through about 500amp batteries . unless its really dark in the day for days they cope . have a gas fire if i need it . but still use caravan gas lights they give enough heat in spain /portugal . unless we are inland and higher than ben nevis . mind thats not hard in spain .
i power house fridge plus use a 240v twintub to wash clothes . dont iron .
i do carry a big diesel genny but only ever use it if i,m welding something . i carry an inverter welder it copes with most repairs on the road. mind hope i never have to use it . i have a few times . broken leaf springs in morocco. did the job .
sitting in the sahara eating home made ice cream or lolly pops is fantastic . all frozen by using solar. like being in lost in space .
 
We full-timed for 6 years. After fitting 2 x 130w panels and 3 x 110ah batteries we found we could be off grid for most of the year. We overwintered in Spain and liked the TV for entertainment on the long dark nights, not being ones to frequent bars. We ran blown air heating and LED lights. The fridge was on gas.

We found that from early December to early February we needed to head to a hook up or use or Gasparini generator at least one night in ten, unless it was clear and sunny or we had moved a long distance, as we also had a B2B fitted. This was convenient as it fitted in with a water fill and a toilet dump. Hours of daylight and angle of the rays improved from February onwards so we were self sufficient again.

Before solar we relied heavily on the generator. After fitting solar it was hardly used at all.
 
Andy113 said:
I'm struggling to get a fridge to work with two 250 watt solar panels, three 110 leisure batteries and a 3000 watt inverter. Doesn't seem powerful enough. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

I'd suggest changing your fridge to a 12v compressor type, they are thermostat controlled and the set up you have would handle one easily.
 
The fridge works, but it's not working properly, the light is dim and fades and the motor struggles. From what Vwalan says it sounds like I need more batteries. The inverter is pure sign wave, and runs the laptop and TV no problem. Cooking is lpg and heating is multi fuel stove. Hot water is tankless lpg water heater. So if I can get the fridge working OK I'm sorted.
 
How good are your batteries.... I've 3x100ah leisure batteries and a 3000w mod sinewave inverter and run a microwave/kettle /slow cooker /toaster etc all of which probably pull more amps than a, fridge....
Next question.. how many amps is the fridge rated at???
 
is it all the time though or just after a few dull days in a row.
this year i would say here in uk we have had some real hot days but lots of cloudy dull days .
doesnt take many dull days to let the batteries loose power .
this is why in spain etc in winter many turn the fridge off at night . the days are very short over there in winter . get 3 days dull in a week and its not good.
 
It's not got going yet really. The batteries are new this year. Everything has worked so far despite the dull weather, except the fridge, which is brand new. I've just plugged it in but it seems to be too much for the available power. I'm thinking a couple more batteries to wack it up over 500 amps would help. The inverter has the red light flickering as soon as the fridge is turned on. I can't find the wattage of the fridge anywhere unfortunately.
 
Just my own Spanish winter time observations/conclusions.

A standard absorption fridge uses about 250g of LPG per day, so a Spanish
13 kg. Cepsa cylinder should last 52 days at least. At around 15€ that works
out at a measly 29c per day. (naturally less if turned down, or off at night).
If running an absorption fridge makes the difference between having to or
not having to carry and use a generator due to a compressor fridges' battery
demands, personally I'd say go for the absorption fridge option.
 
My wife and I lived in our 1985 Westfalia for 9 months whilst touring around Europe and the UK - from Nordkap to Gibraltar - February to October.

No fancy electrics other than a 500watt plug in inverter to recharge the laptop and play Podcasts and CDs/Videos.

The only other electrics we used were strip lights and the power circuits to the Eberspacher heater, Truma water heater/water pump and an Electrolux 3 way fridge.

The heater was used pretty often from February to May and again in October. Fridge and Water heater and water pump every day.

The van came with (I think) 2 x 100aH leisure batteries.

We were moving around a fair bit, maybe 2 days in place.

I kept an eye on battery condition and I don't remember them ever getting so low that the heaters would not fire up.

A new van I've recently finished has a solar panel and a couple of 100aH batteries - but a compressor fridge which does give the batteries a bit of a work out. The panel will run the fridge on a good sunny day.

If you want to run espresso machines, toasters and microwaves then you do need a substantially larger storage and recharge capacity.
 
There is a guy at my asda living in a hyundai i10 car

i10.jpg

:dnd::dnd::dnd::sleep-027::sleep-027::sleep-027:
 
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