[Chiefster23]

A 12 volt battery bank and 200 total watts of power sounds pretty small for a 3000 watt inverter and running a fridge. And you won’t be running your 120 volt fridge very long on a 400 amphr battery bank. I’m not trying to be rude or rain on your parade, just speaking from experience.

 

[Chiefster23]

Yep! And I’m willing to bet you had sunshine and a lot more that 200 watts of panels

 

[Chiefster23]

Ok. You win. Yours is bigger!

 

[Chiefster23]

Not trying to offend anyone here, but from what I see advertised as “solar generators” , they usually aren’t telling the whole truth. Selling you a 2000, 3000, or even a 4000 watt inverter sounds impressive as hell. The screw job is in the 100 amp-hr battery they are selling you with it. Assuming conventional battery technology, you are advised to only discharge to max 50%. So now we are down to 50 amp-hrs capacity at 12 volts. That only translates to 5 amp-hrs at 120 volts. 5 amp-hrs may run some LED lights for a good while, but it isn’t going to run anything with a motor for very long. Think pellet stove, fridge, pump, or freezer. I’m not saying these systems are totally useless, but buyer beware.

Then on the charging side, look at panel capacity. Solar panels never put out rated capacity. And they are only at max capacity few a few hours daily at local noon assuming sunny conditions. So beware. It may take you solar generator kit panels a couple of days to recharge your battery with the supplied panels. And that is assuming you aren’t using the batteries to power anything while recharging.

So I’m not saying all solar generator kits are bad or useless. I’m just saying do your homework and know exactly what you are buying. Years ago I looked into buying a Harmon battery backup system for my Harmon pellet stove. The setup was very expensive and would only keep the stove running for a few hours. It wouldn’t even power the stove thru the night.
So do your homework and fully understand what you are buying.

 

[Chiefster23]

I went to a hand fired coal stove.

 

[Chiefster23]

I've been looking at getting a setup.

Local CL has used panels : Trina 245 watt solar panel.
60 cell unit produces 33 volts DC average. Used condition without inverter. 12 panels available. Voltage production is based on available sun light.

Is this a good deal? I thought these, a couple golf cart batteries, and a controler/inverter would give me a good start at solar.

Depends on the price. Compare the panels to the price of new. 12 of these panels is alot! If the price is right, I'd jump on it. If you are going to go with a system this big, go 24 volts DC, not 12 volts.

 

[Chiefster23]

If you are planning on 4 panels, buy at least 6 and maybe 8. You will be upgrading later on and you can’t beat the price. And as far as the genny, buy it too. I have a solar set up AND a 3 kw army generator. If you have an oil furnace you already a big diesel fuel tank to feed the genny.

BTW, I started with 400 watts of panels and I am now up to 1000 (soon to be 1200)

 

[Chiefster23]

I started out with a new Honda 2KW inverter gen instead of the battery backup for the pellet stove. BTW, 2kw rationed properly will do an awful lot for you. Then some time later I started with the 400 watt solar setup. Maybe 2 years later I bought the 3kw military generator. Over all those years I gradually upgraded the solar power components. Ya can’t do in all at once. Too expensive.

 

[Chiefster23]

Based on this tread, I just tried running my 7 cubic foot chest freezer on a 600 amp-hr battery bank to see how long it would go. I left the year old freezer run round the clock. Full disclaimer; the battery bank is 5 years old but it has been well maintained and never discharged below 75% capacity. I got 48 hours and the batteries were down to about 50% by specific gravity readings. I disconnected the batts from the solar panels or this test so the batteries were on their own.