Comment by Shirley Billingsley on February 11, 2011 at 8:59am

I made two solar heaters for this winter, and they work very well, but i have room for improvements, since i did not add in the baffles on one, and  did not properly proportion the holes on it. I will be making more solar heaters with improvements for this next winter. I have a camper set on a lot, so i am going to strawbale that, and add my fireplace in as an extra back up.  I also plan to make my own food dehydrator this summer.

Comment by Shirley Billingsley on February 21, 2011 at 6:50am

Those kits do work pretty good. I had a kit but sold mine, and got a 45 watt solar panel kit from harbor frieght. I think i may have equaled out about the same, as far as cash outlay, since i used the $100.00 coupon that is available.

Comment by Shirley Billingsley on February 21, 2011 at 12:25pm

1000 would be much better. I totally agree with that. Sorry i took so long in answering, i am starting a cordwood wall at the back side of my camper.

Comment by Pat S on November 3, 2011 at 8:44pm

I want to start my solar project with the batteries, inverter, and anything else that I would need for my battery bank. I am trying to build this for an emergency backup only or SHTF situation. I have a foldable solar panel setup for my Lifepo BMS 12v,(Ham radio) my lithium rechargeables and my D's, AAA's, AA's rechargeables. What I need now, is a bigger portable solar setup for the use of my 300 kw per year compact Frig, a 600 watt microwave(occasionally), and to charge a 600 watt Duracell battery pack, in an emergency setup. I want to be able to roll out the solar panels to charge the battery bank then put them away in the garage. In an emergency situation, don't want them stolen or want to become a target. I had read about these 6v golf batteries and wanted to know how many to buy? 400-500 ah worth of batteries? What size inverter to I need to cover the microwave and Frig? I'm not trying to recoup the money spent on this setup. Trying to prepare for the worst, but hope for the best. I also want to buy some kind of rollable battery enclosure. I know there are pre made solar panel and battery kits out there, but some of them seem over priced. I really would rather buy a pre made solar kit, because I don't have the time to build one. Any opinions?

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