Thursday, March 31, 2022

Off-grid post, 3-31-22



The last few days were spent on the power-tote, mainly. This was to shake-down the thing, looking for weak spots in the install, and ways to upgrade.

So far, efforts at improving the utilization rate of the solar-panel system, already existing, have proven to be elusive. I got the idea to run the 24 volt charger off the RV battery, while charging it at the same time with the solar panel. This is an alteration of sorts, as the inside battery was providing the primary power. Now the panel's output will go to the outside battery, which will provide power for the charger for the 24 volt system on the inside. It may dump any excess to the inside 12v battery.

For this alteration, there was a need for an order for more parts. Hopefully this new batch of parts will be all that is needed for this upgrade. If the upgrade is successful, the system will be fully solar-powered. There is potentially 600 watt-hours of power that the panel can deliver on a daily basis. This can almost supply the power tote with enough electricity to run the swamper for six hours.

There's going to have to be more shade to help out with this if the goal is to virtually eliminate the wall unit air conditioner. But that is looking ahead a bit too far. Right now, the goal is to optimize this thing and see what it is capable of. By the way, I put the watt-meter on the dehumidifier today, while collecting some of the water that it made. It showed far less power than I thought. Now the idea is to use this in combination with the swamper to dry out all the humidity it produces, while making the swamper more efficient, and providing water in the bargain.

The power tote will run the TV, which means there's nothing it cannot run provided that it is small. Yep, playing small ball here.

There are still plans to go bigger, but these are in flux as I play around in the bush leagues for awhile longer.

That's all for now.

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