What's the WEATHER Like Today?

[Murdy]

Brutal. We don't have AC.

BUT, we have cement/stone walls 1 1/2 feet thick, and you would never, ever know it's so fucking hot outside. There are a couple of fans going, and it's perfect in here.

Not going to sit in the yard, though.

...could the use of solar panels power an air conditioning system @LotusBud?

Solar panels are almost impossible to set up for AC unless you can find some large capacity battery banks and completely cover your roof with panels. Anything affordable for a battery bank is generally used windmill, telecommunications, or old forklift batteries.... and most of those can't be depleted to less than 60-70% charge.

Capacitor bank technology has come a long way but you'll be up for 10's of thousands of dollars just for storage.



It can be done but it's generally not the done thing except on small scale.... ie a room or two of the house only.

you only need the backup battery if you experience rolling blackouts regularly

 

[realgrimm]

I rent and it's all inclusive, I've had my 2 ACs going since May 24 week-end

 

[DDT]

I'm still running my furnace...

 

[Frood]

Brutal. We don't have AC.

BUT, we have cement/stone walls 1 1/2 feet thick, and you would never, ever know it's so fucking hot outside. There are a couple of fans going, and it's perfect in here.

Not going to sit in the yard, though.

...could the use of solar panels power an air conditioning system @LotusBud?

Solar panels are almost impossible to set up for AC unless you can find some large capacity battery banks and completely cover your roof with panels. Anything affordable for a battery bank is generally used windmill, telecommunications, or old forklift batteries.... and most of those can't be depleted to less than 60-70% charge.

Capacitor bank technology has come a long way but you'll be up for 10's of thousands of dollars just for storage.



It can be done but it's generally not the done thing except on small scale.... ie a room or two of the house only.

you only need the backup battery if you experience rolling blackouts regularly

You need a mode of storage.... either a very large battery system or newer capacitor bank to run solar and have it meet your AC needs whether blackouts, brownouts, or boonie living completely.

Look at the fucking trajectory of the world's economies at the moment and well before... power generator corps here at the moment are begging us to turn off our lights and heaters in Oz.... Texas almost tanked this week.


Get with the program, leftie....

Solar without isolated offgrid banking capacity is worthless....

 

[realgrimm]

 

[Murdy]

Brutal. We don't have AC.

BUT, we have cement/stone walls 1 1/2 feet thick, and you would never, ever know it's so fucking hot outside. There are a couple of fans going, and it's perfect in here.

Not going to sit in the yard, though.

...could the use of solar panels power an air conditioning system @LotusBud?

Solar panels are almost impossible to set up for AC unless you can find some large capacity battery banks and completely cover your roof with panels. Anything affordable for a battery bank is generally used windmill, telecommunications, or old forklift batteries.... and most of those can't be depleted to less than 60-70% charge.

Capacitor bank technology has come a long way but you'll be up for 10's of thousands of dollars just for storage.



It can be done but it's generally not the done thing except on small scale.... ie a room or two of the house only.

you only need the backup battery if you experience rolling blackouts regularly

You need a mode of storage.... either a very large battery system or newer capacitor bank to run solar and have it meet your AC needs whether blackouts, brownouts, or boonie living completely.

Look at the fucking trajectory of the world's economies at the moment and well before... power generator corps here at the moment are begging us to turn off our lights and heaters in Oz.... Texas almost tanked this week.


Get with the program, leftie....

Solar without isolated offgrid banking capacity is worthless....

I’m a moderate and a city girl. I don’t live in the boondocks…

Most power supplies are 90 minutes to 2 hours. You’re talking about a HUGE power supply laced with pure paranoia.

 

[Seamajor]

I rather enjoy warm weather.

 

[RANCIDMILKO ™ ®©]

I don't miss summer in the US

you’ve never experienced a PNW summer… they are perfect

80 degrees and sunny till 9:30 pm

I heard that, but the absurd amount of rain makes construction a pain in the ass there.

 

[Seamajor]

Brutal. We don't have AC.

BUT, we have cement/stone walls 1 1/2 feet thick, and you would never, ever know it's so fucking hot outside. There are a couple of fans going, and it's perfect in here.

Not going to sit in the yard, though.

...could the use of solar panels power an air conditioning system @LotusBud?

Solar panels are almost impossible to set up for AC unless you can find some large capacity battery banks and completely cover your roof with panels. Anything affordable for a battery bank is generally used windmill, telecommunications, or old forklift batteries.... and most of those can't be depleted to less than 60-70% charge.

Capacitor bank technology has come a long way but you'll be up for 10's of thousands of dollars just for storage.



It can be done but it's generally not the done thing except on small scale.... ie a room or two of the house only.

you only need the backup battery if you experience rolling blackouts regularly

You need a mode of storage.... either a very large battery system or newer capacitor bank to run solar and have it meet your AC needs whether blackouts, brownouts, or boonie living completely.

Look at the fucking trajectory of the world's economies at the moment and well before... power generator corps here at the moment are begging us to turn off our lights and heaters in Oz.... Texas almost tanked this week.


Get with the program, leftie....

Solar without isolated offgrid banking capacity is worthless....

Not entirely true DD. It can reduce you power bill by a lot, if the power company buys back what you produce. Mini spits for A/C are the way to go.

 

[LotusBud]

Supposed to be 102 tomorrow, 104 on Tuesday. Will go to the market at night. Otherwise, not leaving these thick walls. Fuck this shit.

Does it cool at night?

Yes. A lot.

 

[LotusBud]

Brutal. We don't have AC.

BUT, we have cement/stone walls 1 1/2 feet thick, and you would never, ever know it's so fucking hot outside. There are a couple of fans going, and it's perfect in here.

Not going to sit in the yard, though.

...could the use of solar panels power an air conditioning system @LotusBud?

Solar panels are almost impossible to set up for AC unless you can find some large capacity battery banks and completely cover your roof with panels. Anything affordable for a battery bank is generally used windmill, telecommunications, or old forklift batteries.... and most of those can't be depleted to less than 60-70% charge.

Capacitor bank technology has come a long way but you'll be up for 10's of thousands of dollars just for storage.



It can be done but it's generally not the done thing except on small scale.... ie a room or two of the house only.

you only need the backup battery if you experience rolling blackouts regularly

You need a mode of storage.... either a very large battery system or newer capacitor bank to run solar and have it meet your AC needs whether blackouts, brownouts, or boonie living completely.

Look at the fucking trajectory of the world's economies at the moment and well before... power generator corps here at the moment are begging us to turn off our lights and heaters in Oz.... Texas almost tanked this week.


Get with the program, leftie....

Solar without isolated offgrid banking capacity is worthless....

Not entirely true DD. It can reduce you power bill by a lot, if the power company buys back what you produce. Mini spits for A/C are the way to go.

Yup. Looking into minisplits for heat. The ac will be a bonus.

 

[Frood]

Brutal. We don't have AC.

BUT, we have cement/stone walls 1 1/2 feet thick, and you would never, ever know it's so fucking hot outside. There are a couple of fans going, and it's perfect in here.

Not going to sit in the yard, though.

...could the use of solar panels power an air conditioning system @LotusBud?

Solar panels are almost impossible to set up for AC unless you can find some large capacity battery banks and completely cover your roof with panels. Anything affordable for a battery bank is generally used windmill, telecommunications, or old forklift batteries.... and most of those can't be depleted to less than 60-70% charge.

Capacitor bank technology has come a long way but you'll be up for 10's of thousands of dollars just for storage.



It can be done but it's generally not the done thing except on small scale.... ie a room or two of the house only.

you only need the backup battery if you experience rolling blackouts regularly

You need a mode of storage.... either a very large battery system or newer capacitor bank to run solar and have it meet your AC needs whether blackouts, brownouts, or boonie living completely.

Look at the fucking trajectory of the world's economies at the moment and well before... power generator corps here at the moment are begging us to turn off our lights and heaters in Oz.... Texas almost tanked this week.


Get with the program, leftie....

Solar without isolated offgrid banking capacity is worthless....

I’m a moderate and a city girl. I don’t live in the boondocks…

Most power supplies are 90 minutes to 2 hours. You’re talking about a HUGE power supply laced with pure paranoia.

Brutal. We don't have AC.

BUT, we have cement/stone walls 1 1/2 feet thick, and you would never, ever know it's so fucking hot outside. There are a couple of fans going, and it's perfect in here.

Not going to sit in the yard, though.

...could the use of solar panels power an air conditioning system @LotusBud?

Solar panels are almost impossible to set up for AC unless you can find some large capacity battery banks and completely cover your roof with panels. Anything affordable for a battery bank is generally used windmill, telecommunications, or old forklift batteries.... and most of those can't be depleted to less than 60-70% charge.

Capacitor bank technology has come a long way but you'll be up for 10's of thousands of dollars just for storage.



It can be done but it's generally not the done thing except on small scale.... ie a room or two of the house only.

you only need the backup battery if you experience rolling blackouts regularly

You need a mode of storage.... either a very large battery system or newer capacitor bank to run solar and have it meet your AC needs whether blackouts, brownouts, or boonie living completely.

Look at the fucking trajectory of the world's economies at the moment and well before... power generator corps here at the moment are begging us to turn off our lights and heaters in Oz.... Texas almost tanked this week.


Get with the program, leftie....

Solar without isolated offgrid banking capacity is worthless....

Not entirely true DD. It can reduce you power bill by a lot, if the power company buys back what you produce. Mini spits for A/C are the way to go.

You two knuckleheads sometimes....

 

[Murdy]

Brutal. We don't have AC.

BUT, we have cement/stone walls 1 1/2 feet thick, and you would never, ever know it's so fucking hot outside. There are a couple of fans going, and it's perfect in here.

Not going to sit in the yard, though.

...could the use of solar panels power an air conditioning system @LotusBud?

Solar panels are almost impossible to set up for AC unless you can find some large capacity battery banks and completely cover your roof with panels. Anything affordable for a battery bank is generally used windmill, telecommunications, or old forklift batteries.... and most of those can't be depleted to less than 60-70% charge.

Capacitor bank technology has come a long way but you'll be up for 10's of thousands of dollars just for storage.



It can be done but it's generally not the done thing except on small scale.... ie a room or two of the house only.

you only need the backup battery if you experience rolling blackouts regularly

You need a mode of storage.... either a very large battery system or newer capacitor bank to run solar and have it meet your AC needs whether blackouts, brownouts, or boonie living completely.

Look at the fucking trajectory of the world's economies at the moment and well before... power generator corps here at the moment are begging us to turn off our lights and heaters in Oz.... Texas almost tanked this week.


Get with the program, leftie....

Solar without isolated offgrid banking capacity is worthless....

Not entirely true DD. It can reduce you power bill by a lot, if the power company buys back what you produce. Mini spits for A/C are the way to go.

The key word here is “IF” they will buy it back…

Most power companies will bank the overages without payout to the owner.

 

[Murdy]

I don't miss summer in the US

you’ve never experienced a PNW summer… they are perfect

80 degrees and sunny till 9:30 pm

I heard that, but the absurd amount of rain makes construction a pain in the ass there.

This is the reason I moved home… he works commercial construction and would have taken a HUGE hit relocating his business. Plus he had kids.

We are moving into solar with my besties fam business.

 

[Joe]

Heat Wave hitting much of the US now:

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

 

[Biggie Smiles]

Brutal. We don't have AC.

BUT, we have cement/stone walls 1 1/2 feet thick, and you would never, ever know it's so fucking hot outside. There are a couple of fans going, and it's perfect in here.

Not going to sit in the yard, though.

...could the use of solar panels power an air conditioning system @LotusBud?

Solar panels are almost impossible to set up for AC unless you can find some large capacity battery banks and completely cover your roof with panels. Anything affordable for a battery bank is generally used windmill, telecommunications, or old forklift batteries.... and most of those can't be depleted to less than 60-70% charge.

Capacitor bank technology has come a long way but you'll be up for 10's of thousands of dollars just for storage.



It can be done but it's generally not the done thing except on small scale.... ie a room or two of the house only.

I was gonna say that

No way you're getting solar to run your AC. Not unless you're going with a Solar generator that's capable of surging up to like 8,000 watts minimum

I bought a 2200 watt solar generator as a backup to my two hybrid generators (2,000.00) and I was speaking to an electrical engineer this morning at the electrical supply store while I was purchasing a new circuit breaker for my hot tub and he told me I'd be lucky to run my 1.5 HP pool pump on that thing but nothing more.

 

[Murdy]

Central air takes 240 volts and approximately 35 amps. That’s 8400 wats. Solar translation depends on the panels and how much usage power your house requires.

 

[DDT]

Most Americans are mutts, and LOVE hot weather, since they genetically need it..

Why complain?

 

[Frood]

Central air takes 240 volts and approximately 35 amps. That’s 8400 wats. Solar translation depends on the panels and how much usage power your house requires.

To push that, you'd need a huge amount of panels and a way to bank it sufficiently to always be on tap.... (through overcast and cloudy days).

The amount of battery needed would require its own shed and roof top real estate wouldn't be enough.... you'd have to build a mini solar farm on acreage.

The initial outlay and maintenance costs would be prohibitive.... even if you bought second hand panels and used electric deep cycle/AGM forklift batteries....and the fire danger of poorly maintained forklift batteries is pretty high.

Better to build a bermed house and take advantage of the earth for climate control during summer and winter.

Solar is great for travelling remote and living remote where there are no other options....but you must live an energy restricted lifestyle.

Fridges, lights, devices first...then limited use of things like washing machines, microwaves, and appliances.

Hooking home solar into the grid won't help your bottom line though. Governments around the world have brought in rebates and incentives to install these systems, then gutted their programs at our expense.

 

[DDT]

Freud isn't wrong... Something like a Tesla house panel will be $10,000+, and that's just for the battery alone.

 

[Seamajor]

Brutal. We don't have AC.

BUT, we have cement/stone walls 1 1/2 feet thick, and you would never, ever know it's so fucking hot outside. There are a couple of fans going, and it's perfect in here.

Not going to sit in the yard, though.

...could the use of solar panels power an air conditioning system @LotusBud?

Solar panels are almost impossible to set up for AC unless you can find some large capacity battery banks and completely cover your roof with panels. Anything affordable for a battery bank is generally used windmill, telecommunications, or old forklift batteries.... and most of those can't be depleted to less than 60-70% charge.

Capacitor bank technology has come a long way but you'll be up for 10's of thousands of dollars just for storage.



It can be done but it's generally not the done thing except on small scale.... ie a room or two of the house only.

I was gonna say that

No way you're getting solar to run your AC. Not unless you're going with a Solar generator that's capable of surging up to like 8,000 watts minimum

I bought a 2200 watt solar generator as a backup to my two hybrid generators (2,000.00) and I was speaking to an electrical engineer this morning at the electrical supply store while I was purchasing a new circuit breaker for my hot tub and he told me I'd be lucky to run my 1.5 HP pool pump on that thing but nothing more.

I could have sworn you claimed to have 2 10,000 watt generators last week? Confused?

 

[LotusBud]

Central air takes 240 volts and approximately 35 amps. That’s 8400 wats. Solar translation depends on the panels and how much usage power your house requires.

I doubt that splits take anywhere near as much as central air, but I honestly haven't looked into any details yet.

 

[Seamajor]

Central air takes 240 volts and approximately 35 amps. That’s 8400 wats. Solar translation depends on the panels and how much usage power your house requires.

To push that, you'd need a huge amount of panels and a way to bank it sufficiently to always be on tap.... (through overcast and cloudy days).

The amount of battery needed would require its own shed and roof top real estate wouldn't be enough.... you'd have to build a mini solar farm on acreage.

The initial outlay and maintenance costs would be prohibitive.... even if you bought second hand panels and used electric deep cycle/AGM forklift batteries....and the fire danger of poorly maintained forklift batteries is pretty high.

Better to build a bermed house and take advantage of the earth for climate control during summer and winter.

Solar is great for travelling remote and living remote where there are no other options....but you must live an energy restricted lifestyle.

Fridges, lights, devices first...then limited use of things like washing machines, microwaves, and appliances.

Hooking home solar into the grid won't help your bottom line though. Governments around the world have brought in rebates and incentives to install these systems, then gutted their programs at our expense.

Battery back up systems don’t work very well in harsh environments. ie) Humid, warm, dusty.salty air, etc. it affects the electronics. I’ve seen it 3 times here. Even with the better Israeli materials, batteries and software. The technology isn’t quite there, for all locals.

 

[Frood]

Central air takes 240 volts and approximately 35 amps. That’s 8400 wats. Solar translation depends on the panels and how much usage power your house requires.

To push that, you'd need a huge amount of panels and a way to bank it sufficiently to always be on tap.... (through overcast and cloudy days).

The amount of battery needed would require its own shed and roof top real estate wouldn't be enough.... you'd have to build a mini solar farm on acreage.

The initial outlay and maintenance costs would be prohibitive.... even if you bought second hand panels and used electric deep cycle/AGM forklift batteries....and the fire danger of poorly maintained forklift batteries is pretty high.

Better to build a bermed house and take advantage of the earth for climate control during summer and winter.

Solar is great for travelling remote and living remote where there are no other options....but you must live an energy restricted lifestyle.

Fridges, lights, devices first...then limited use of things like washing machines, microwaves, and appliances.

Hooking home solar into the grid won't help your bottom line though. Governments around the world have brought in rebates and incentives to install these systems, then gutted their programs at our expense.

Battery back up systems don’t work very well in harsh environments. ie) Humid, warm, dusty.salty air, etc. it affects the electronics. I’ve seen it 3 times here. Even with the better Israeli materials, batteries and software. The technology isn’t quite there, for all locals.

Yet they're fine in humid, warm, dusty, salty Australia....

The tech is reliable.

They must use American made components in Costa Ebola. ..

 

[Murdy]

Central air takes 240 volts and approximately 35 amps. That’s 8400 wats. Solar translation depends on the panels and how much usage power your house requires.

To push that, you'd need a huge amount of panels and a way to bank it sufficiently to always be on tap.... (through overcast and cloudy days).

The amount of battery needed would require its own shed and roof top real estate wouldn't be enough.... you'd have to build a mini solar farm on acreage.

The initial outlay and maintenance costs would be prohibitive.... even if you bought second hand panels and used electric deep cycle/AGM forklift batteries....and the fire danger of poorly maintained forklift batteries is pretty high.

Better to build a bermed house and take advantage of the earth for climate control during summer and winter.

Solar is great for travelling remote and living remote where there are no other options....but you must live an energy restricted lifestyle.

Fridges, lights, devices first...then limited use of things like washing machines, microwaves, and appliances.

Hooking home solar into the grid won't help your bottom line though. Governments around the world have brought in rebates and incentives to install these systems, then gutted their programs at our expense.

he is insistent that it can be done without the backup… but that all depends on the panels

I’ll let you know how that goes. In the interim, if you accomplish going completely off grid, I wanna know how you did it.

 

[Frood]

Central air takes 240 volts and approximately 35 amps. That’s 8400 wats. Solar translation depends on the panels and how much usage power your house requires.

To push that, you'd need a huge amount of panels and a way to bank it sufficiently to always be on tap.... (through overcast and cloudy days).

The amount of battery needed would require its own shed and roof top real estate wouldn't be enough.... you'd have to build a mini solar farm on acreage.

The initial outlay and maintenance costs would be prohibitive.... even if you bought second hand panels and used electric deep cycle/AGM forklift batteries....and the fire danger of poorly maintained forklift batteries is pretty high.

Better to build a bermed house and take advantage of the earth for climate control during summer and winter.

Solar is great for travelling remote and living remote where there are no other options....but you must live an energy restricted lifestyle.

Fridges, lights, devices first...then limited use of things like washing machines, microwaves, and appliances.

Hooking home solar into the grid won't help your bottom line though. Governments around the world have brought in rebates and incentives to install these systems, then gutted their programs at our expense.

he is insistent that it can be done without the backup… but that all depends on the panels

I’ll let you know how that goes. In the interim, if you accomplish going completely off grid, I wanna know how you did it.

Batteries or a grid connection is a necessity with solar.

 

[Murdy]

Central air takes 240 volts and approximately 35 amps. That’s 8400 wats. Solar translation depends on the panels and how much usage power your house requires.

To push that, you'd need a huge amount of panels and a way to bank it sufficiently to always be on tap.... (through overcast and cloudy days).

The amount of battery needed would require its own shed and roof top real estate wouldn't be enough.... you'd have to build a mini solar farm on acreage.

The initial outlay and maintenance costs would be prohibitive.... even if you bought second hand panels and used electric deep cycle/AGM forklift batteries....and the fire danger of poorly maintained forklift batteries is pretty high.

Better to build a bermed house and take advantage of the earth for climate control during summer and winter.

Solar is great for travelling remote and living remote where there are no other options....but you must live an energy restricted lifestyle.

Fridges, lights, devices first...then limited use of things like washing machines, microwaves, and appliances.

Hooking home solar into the grid won't help your bottom line though. Governments around the world have brought in rebates and incentives to install these systems, then gutted their programs at our expense.

he is insistent that it can be done without the backup… but that all depends on the panels

I’ll let you know how that goes. In the interim, if you accomplish going completely off grid, I wanna know how you did it.

Batteries or a grid connection is a necessity with solar.

I have at least 2000 sq ft of 1st story roof to panel up. We shall see….

But we will never be able to get rid of the grid connection here. If we bank more than what is needed to push the central air and house needs, the dial is gonna go in reverse, but we won’t get credit for it.

How long do you anticipate your battery system can make it all run without recharging? He is saying the common battery instal for a commercial/apartment building is about 2 hours. It’s rare that we go without for longer than that… even in summer with rolling blackouts.

 

[Seamajor]

Central air takes 240 volts and approximately 35 amps. That’s 8400 wats. Solar translation depends on the panels and how much usage power your house requires.

To push that, you'd need a huge amount of panels and a way to bank it sufficiently to always be on tap.... (through overcast and cloudy days).

The amount of battery needed would require its own shed and roof top real estate wouldn't be enough.... you'd have to build a mini solar farm on acreage.

The initial outlay and maintenance costs would be prohibitive.... even if you bought second hand panels and used electric deep cycle/AGM forklift batteries....and the fire danger of poorly maintained forklift batteries is pretty high.

Better to build a bermed house and take advantage of the earth for climate control during summer and winter.

Solar is great for travelling remote and living remote where there are no other options....but you must live an energy restricted lifestyle.

Fridges, lights, devices first...then limited use of things like washing machines, microwaves, and appliances.

Hooking home solar into the grid won't help your bottom line though. Governments around the world have brought in rebates and incentives to install these systems, then gutted their programs at our expense.

Battery back up systems don’t work very well in harsh environments. ie) Humid, warm, dusty.salty air, etc. it affects the electronics. I’ve seen it 3 times here. Even with the better Israeli materials, batteries and software. The technology isn’t quite there, for all locals.

Yet they're fine in humid, warm, dusty, salty Australia....

The tech is reliable.

They must use American made components in Costa Ebola. ..

Israeli as I said, and my experience is Merican or what ever, the electronics is affected. Like when your phone doesn’t work cause you left in the sun.

 

[TheHaze]

How many volts are these electric cars ?

 

[Frood]

Central air takes 240 volts and approximately 35 amps. That’s 8400 wats. Solar translation depends on the panels and how much usage power your house requires.

To push that, you'd need a huge amount of panels and a way to bank it sufficiently to always be on tap.... (through overcast and cloudy days).

The amount of battery needed would require its own shed and roof top real estate wouldn't be enough.... you'd have to build a mini solar farm on acreage.

The initial outlay and maintenance costs would be prohibitive.... even if you bought second hand panels and used electric deep cycle/AGM forklift batteries....and the fire danger of poorly maintained forklift batteries is pretty high.

Better to build a bermed house and take advantage of the earth for climate control during summer and winter.

Solar is great for travelling remote and living remote where there are no other options....but you must live an energy restricted lifestyle.

Fridges, lights, devices first...then limited use of things like washing machines, microwaves, and appliances.

Hooking home solar into the grid won't help your bottom line though. Governments around the world have brought in rebates and incentives to install these systems, then gutted their programs at our expense.

he is insistent that it can be done without the backup… but that all depends on the panels

I’ll let you know how that goes. In the interim, if you accomplish going completely off grid, I wanna know how you did it.

Batteries or a grid connection is a necessity with solar.

I have at least 2000 sq ft of 1st story roof to panel up. We shall see….

But we will never be able to get rid of the grid connection here. If we bank more than what is needed to push the central air and house needs, the dial is gonna go in reverse, but we won’t get credit for it.

How long do you anticipate your battery system can make it all run without recharging? He is saying the common battery instal for a commercial/apartment building is about 2 hours. It’s rare that we go without for longer than that… even in summer with rolling blackouts.

I've got a smaller system but it works for long blackouts.... 200 watt panel, 200 ah Lifepo4 battery (all amps can be used versus AGM types), a deep freezer set to -24c with half full of water jugs/other half food, 40 litre Engel fridge that typically only draws 1-2 amps and a small petrol generator for emergencies.

Juggling around a bit and we can go weeks, even with sporadic sunlight.

But that's for the basics only.... lights, fridge, devices.... generator for bigger draws or emergency top ups...