Any Greenies in the audience?
 

Being from VT, you might think that I would be a Greenie, but not so much. However, I would like to run a computer at the races, possibly a weather station and MAYBE a pager system. My trailer is not that large, and I really don't have room for a generator (no motor home), so I was wondering if the above could be powered with solar panels, either portable, or perhaps mounted to the roof of the trailer. If so, would this be cost effective? Could the battery already on board the trailer serve as the reserve capacity? We generally race during the daylight, anyway, and not when its raining, so I wouldn't think there would be much need for a lot of reserve. Anyone know about this stuff?

Thanks,

Greg

Re: Any Greenies in the audience?
 

Greg,

This may not be what you had in mind but this is what we use as backup power at the track. It will power the laptop, weather station and battery charger for the car.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumacher...erter/15140200

Sean

Re: Any Greenies in the audience?
 

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.

Re: Any Greenies in the audience?
 

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.

Re: Any Greenies in the audience?
 

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.

Re: Any Greenies in the audience?
 

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.

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps95c67b65.jpg

Re: Any Greenies in the audience?
 

Yes those Yamaha generators are very good and quiet.

Re: Any Greenies in the audience?
 

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.

Re: Any Greenies in the audience?
 

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

Re: Any Greenies in the audience?
 

check out with Bill Bagley, he races and sells Honda Generators at great prices, will ship to your house, tell him Nitro Joe sent you.

Bagley Tractor
& Equipment

3709 South Eastman Road
Longview, TX. 75602

800-281-0256
903-753-8262
903-753-3651 Fax

http://www.bagleytractor.com/

Re: Any Greenies in the audience?
 

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

Re: Any Greenies in the audience?
 

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...

Re: Any Greenies in the audience?
 

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.

Re: Any Greenies in the audience?
 

As Rich says the Honda's are great. My 3000 can be running in between you and I and we can have a conversation like it wasn't even there. I think on econo mode it 50db

Re: Any Greenies in the audience?
 

I like the idea of solar panels for sure but balk at the cost and having them vulnerable on the roof of a flat trailer. $1.00-$1.50 a watt times 900 watts is $1000 or more. Add a bank of batteries and a controller device and an inverter. This still gives you limited electrical capabilities.

To each his own as the saying goes but a 2000-3000 watt inverter generator is a better investment.....

Re: Any Greenies in the audience?
 

I've got 2 Honda inverter generators I run 1 when I don't need to power much and in parallel when the extra juice is need. They've been great.

I also have 1 Honda engine powering the race car. Good little engines. 😀

Re: Any Greenies in the audience?
 

I have a EB 3500 Honda generator that is at least 12-14 years old.
I have used it many hours at the track for years.
I have used it at home in power failures.
I lent it to a neighbor when he lost his electrical service in a storm.
He ran it 24/7 for 3-4 days.

I carried it in my trailer even after I installed an Onan 4KW RV unit in my trailer. As a spare just in case.

The Onan quit last year as I returned from a run and was heading to a final round. I dragged the Honda out....fired right up....ran my charger for a few minutes while I cooled down a bit....and kept the batteries up.
The Onan just got hot and quit.....started back up once it cooled down but I needed AC power and the Honda did the trick...

It starts generally with very few pulls even after sitting idle for months.
It has never failed electrically.....and is 120 or 120/240 output.

P.S. I won that race........probably really didn't need the Honda but hey it was there and worked for me.

Re: Any Greenies in the audience?
 

Casey,

If you put a turbo on a Honda EU2000i, how much power will it make then?

Greg

Re: Any Greenies in the audience?
 

Enough to power a small town. :)