# Adding on to my solar set up



## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

As some of you know I have a small 300 watt solar system at my BOL. They are mounted on hinges that allow them to be
swung out for the correct angle of the sun or all the way back under for a bad storm. Or left straight down to get rid of the snow.
I have decided to ad on to my set up with two 235 watt panels. They too will swing out for the correct angle but they are going
to be to big to swing all the way back under the roof. And boy are they heavy I don'y think I am going to be able to use the
light weight aluminium poles like I did on the 100 watt panels. When I get them hung I will post some pictures and we will see
what we can come up with for supports.

These will be set up as a completely separate system but they will be feeding into the same battery pack. 
I should be able to see a difference in my charging power. For now I have to many batteries and I'm weak on charging
power. I'm hoping that when these are installed and hooked up that I will be able to have 8 batteries that will charge in
a reasonable amount of time ( I have 5 batteries now) 
Here's a picture of what I'm doing. You can see the difference in size of a 100 watt and a 235 watt


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## Rwurbanwildlife (Nov 9, 2012)

Is that your primary source of electricity?


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## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

Rwurbanwildlife said:


> Is that your primary source of electricity?


 Yes and no my place is sort of a hybread all the small stuff runs on solar,, TV, Computer, Lights, But the big stuff like water pump,
washer dryer and frig are still on the grid. But I'm working on it. I'm working on gathering up the things I need for a water system
And I'm looking at smaller refrigerator after I get done hooking up the two new panels I'll see what I can run.


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## Rwurbanwildlife (Nov 9, 2012)

budgetprepp-n said:


> Yes and no my place is sort of a hybread all the small stuff runs on solar,, TV, Computer, Lights, But the big stuff like water pump,
> washer dryer and frig are still on the grid. But I'm working on it. I'm working on gathering up the things I need for a water system
> And I'm looking at smaller refrigerator after I get done hooking up the two new panels I'll see what I can run.


Maybe an RV fridge? 12v or propane!


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

If you are running a RV frig off 120VAC or propane doesn't matter it still requires 12VDC for the control board.


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## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

I have been thinking I might use a 120 volt fridge with an inverter 
There is one called a edgestar that takes 75 watts to start and 30-35 watts to run


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## StarPD45 (Nov 13, 2012)

There are several brands of super efficient refrigerators around. Sundanzer, Novakool, Sunfrost, to name a few. They make 12 volt versions. They are not cheap, though.
I just picked these names from my Backwoods Solar catalog. I'm sure there are others.
If you have propane anyway, the RV units would be worth considering. 
Some of them also run on just 12 volts without using propane, but they do suck the power.


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## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

StarPD45 said:


> There are several brands of super efficient refrigerators around. Sundanzer, Novakool, Sunfrost, to name a few. They make 12 volt versions. They are not cheap, though.
> I just picked these names from my Backwoods Solar catalog. I'm sure there are others.
> If you have propane anyway, the RV units would be worth considering.
> Some of them also run on just 12 volts without using propane, but they do suck the power.


 Yes the true 12 volt DC refrigerators cost a bunch.
I don't know for sure but I don't think the refrigerators in a camper are a true 12 volt dc frig. I think they are 
more of a small regulator frig with a small inverter to get them to run off of 12 volt DC.
I had a camper and the frig would suck a 12 volt battery dry in just a few hours and I have asked a few people
that have campers with a frig and they say the same thing.

I have been hitting a few solar web sights to see what is the most popular way to have refrigeration and it looks 
the big winner is a small upright 120 volt freezer converted into a frig with an inverter. 
But at the same time I see that I can get a small 120 volt Edgestar frig that only takes 75 watts to start and 30 watts to run
I would think that would be hard to beat.

they list this at 75 watt that is the start up 
http://www.edgestar.com/CRF320SS-Ed...efault,pd.html?cgid=Appliances-Refrigerators#

check this guy out


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