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Old 05-22-2020, 07:57 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: May 2020
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40ft traveling clothing store

We are building a store front into our bus and dont want to spare money by getting a generator or be limited to plug ins. We are definitely doing solar. I just dont know what our needs will be. It's only 2 of us but we will both be having a job on top of operating the store at festivals and events. I know we need the wifi booster but I happen to see where a dude in a van had 600w solar system and powered basically most of the stuff we will be powering including the led strips inside. The only thing is, we arent in a van we will be in a 40ft bus. The budget for the solar system is 3000-4000. I know nothing about solar and we cant afford to scuff on our power source.

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Old 05-22-2020, 11:06 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OwllieDriver View Post
We are building a store front into our bus and dont want to spare money by getting a generator or be limited to plug ins. We are definitely doing solar. I just don't know what our needs will be. It's only 2 of us but we will both be having a job on top of operating the store at festivals and events. I know we need the wifi booster but I happen to see where a dude in a van had 600w solar system and powered basically most of the stuff we will be powering including the led strips inside. The only thing is, we aren't in a van we will be in a 40ft bus. The budget for the solar system is 3000-4000. I know nothing about solar and we cant afford to scuff on our power source.

Best place to start is get a ballpark for what your needs are. Its really hard to offer advice or to determine what size system you need without knowing how much energy you will use. You can get a ballpark idea of what's possible by looking through other peoples' build threads and looking at their systems and what appliances they power.


The best way to get an idea for your needs is to make a list of your appliances/electrical devices, the watts they consume, and the hours per day they will run. At least do this for your largest consumers. Even just ballparking is a good start.


For starters, maybe just list the electrical devices you hope/want to power
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Old 05-23-2020, 07:40 AM   #3
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most surely you should be able to power a store by solar assuming you arent trying to run A/C.. and also have to think about where most of your festivals would be held.. what type of environment.. for example T-shirt vendors oftern go to music , community, festivals which are often in parks, under trees.. (shade).. so you would wantt make sure you have enough batteries to be able to handle cloudy days, shady parking, and any nighttime hours you may be open, esp if you are going to have living space in the bus too .. others are 10X better at solar calculations than I.. the big thing is A/C.. A/C tends to shred even the best of electrical useage plans ..
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Old 05-23-2020, 08:34 AM   #4
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You'll prob need a CDL and DOT #'s.
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Old 05-23-2020, 09:53 AM   #5
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Since you won't be able to pass your bus off as a RV, you'll need commercial tags and a huge liability policy to fix the guy who misses a step climbing on board and gets busted up. No doubt you'll need vendor's licences each place you open at. You'll also have to deal with fickle customers and changing fads.

IMO, I can't see how your sales could possibly offset your overhead let alone turn a profit. I've been told I was wrong before so you might do just fine. Just crunch the numbers carefully before you make the leap.
Jack
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Old 05-23-2020, 04:55 PM   #6
Mini-Skoolie
 
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I appreciate the advice, we will be tweaking some stuff for sure. I am currently a driver for a national trucking company and hold my class A CDL but I am looking forward to not be regulated by the government anymore whether it be when I can drive, recreational activities, or even more so being in the category of vehicles troopers have an eye out for.
More likely we will stick to online sales which would then allow us to not be a commercial vehicle. His idea is to be in cities and such "we must go where the people are" type deal. Most commonly people are already wearing clothing when they purchase something so online sales would relieve them of the need to carry it around or run back to a vehicle. I think we should be okay. I appreciate the tips because honestly we didnt think of that.
This isnt a set in stone idea but most of the sales are online already due to quarantine so to keep that up shouldn't be too difficult.
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