How Much GENERATOR do I need?

[dthurk]

The biggest hurtle that you would have to overcome is the amount of available sunlight at your latitude. You would have a few months during the summer that may be viable but for the most part, the angle of the sun at that latitude is not real favorable for solar power. I would estimate that your power production in July, Aug would be about 80% of what I posted above. Other months would be greatly degraded as the sun heads toward the southern latitudes and the angles become severe. The sunlight is very degraded at those angles because it has to travel through a thicker layer of atmosphere.

I am going to build a house near San Diego, Ca in 2010. I plan to finish the entire roof with a solar panel array. Hopefully, by that time, the gvm't will have more tax incentives and subsidies to encourage more solar power. I think that solar research is on the verge of some technological breakthroughs as well.

At that time, I will also add solar to my camper (whatever it is at that time). For now, I'll stick with my Honda Generator.

As far as your 5500w home generator is concerned. The muffler system is only a part of the noise problems from those things. Some people have successfully made sound proof containers to house them in. That seems to work out pretty well but you will need to put a pretty good sized fan in it for cooling. It's kinda like bringing along a "dog house" dedicated for your generator. It's pretty bulky.

Well, some of my ideas work, and some of them don't.  Those that do are fun,  and I learn from those that don't.  I generally research fairly extensively before doing, so things usually work out pretty well in the end.  The generator idea is just a preliminary thought without even looking at the thing to see if it would even be mildly viable.  Where it will lead?  Who knows.  But the path is usually interesting.  

Congratulations Orange!!!

[gravy]

I checked out the Yamaha ef2800 agianst the Honda Eu 3000,but if I were to buy one I probably would go with the Honda Eu 2000 because of the price and the Honda credibility.Plus we will be doing some dry camping,at which time we will be in the shade(probably) and won't need the a/c,other times we will have hookups.

[chasd60]

Lattitude is only one of the factors to consider when contemplating solar. Average hours of sunshine per day has a lot to do with it as well. Portland Maine has more average hours of sunshine per day than Washington DC although Portland is much further north.
 
When you design your solar setup you need to check the insolation data for your area and determine how long you may have to go without sunshine and size your battery bank accordingly. I have a pair of Group 27 batteries and a pair of 80W panels and have never been short of power yet. When the G27's die I will replace them with something a little more robust. I removed 25.3AH from my batteries yesterday and the panels had replaced 22AH within 3.5 hours. Granted that it was only about 6 amps average charging rate but it was all done while not being attended to. The system could have easily replaced more if the batteries were lower. When I checked later in the evening, the batteries were at 100%. I monitor my system with a Link 10 battery monitor by Xantrex. I have about $1100 into the system on my camper and that includes everything. I never have to carry fuel, worry about the sytem not starting or anything else, the system is basically maintenance free with the exception of checking the electrolyte level in the batteries.
 
My next home will be 100% solar powered with backups for everything. I plan to have a grid tied electrical system but also enough solar thermal for heat and domestic hot water.
 
 
Good link here
http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/old_data/nsrdb/redbook/atlas/
And here
http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/

[kampingkoge]

I was looking at the Honda EU2000 generator today at a local lawn power equipment store.  I think they wanted 1064.00 for it.  Good price??   Will this generator run a standard fullsize refrigerator at home in the event of power loss?

[zamboni]

I think they wanted 1064.00 for it.  Good price??

You should be able to find it for under $1000.  I can buy it locally for $950.