As I develop Glasir, I am going off-grid solar. So right now I’m heavily dependent on a gas generator for running the heavy loads. I've got two group 27 batteries I use primarily for the camper at the moment. I have four group 31 hybrid starting/ deep cycle in the semi the camper and the semi both have a 12 volt refrigerator. the camper can go about 24-30 hours on barriers with no solar. The semi, about 50-55 hours. a pair of 100W solar panels from harbor freight will put about 12 amps of power back into the batteries during the day time. I’m pretty sure I need to get that up to no less than 600-700 watts to get them recovered during the daytime. that’s just three 250 w panels. Or less if you get a pair of 400w panels. so your not talking a big foot print here. all your trying to do is get enough energy to power a refrigerator / freezer.
final update: Giving the panels away, not going solar at home. I picked up a good Honda genset for the odd times we MIGHT loose power, and kept 60G of gas on hand. I'm shoving off and selling house. I'm planning a trailer build for sleeping/camping on the road, MAY bring panels with me, but I don't see the need for much electric in the trailer....Will use oil lamps, and battery powered items as needed. Have genset for charging stuff if needed. Heat will be done with wood stove (naturally) and cooking on gas. Not sure how I'll deal with out refrigeration.....maybe just a cooler or go without. Will figure that out as I go. SCA
They are coming out with battery powered fridges. They are small, but if you have simple needs (lunch meat, milk, drinks etc), then one of them might do what you need for just a camper. Bluettie and a few others have released them in the last year or so. I think maybe even Ryobi (or one of the other tool companies) also have one. Just Google for Battery operated refrigerator and you'll see all kinds of options. Some can be charged multiple ways - shore power, solar or off a battery generator of a vehicle. If that were me, I would keep the solar panels until I figured out what I was going to do with the camper/trailer and how much power one of those really needs. The panels are already on hand, so you as well see if they could save a bit of money (either from gas running a generator, or from shore power). Good luck in whatever you decide to do.
our simple solar panel on the top of the RV kept our battery at full charge for all of our trip. Mind you we had summer weather for the whole trip.
