Solar sizing

[Vadave311]

I will be buying a school bus at the end of May. I will be parking it on some land I bought and I will be converting it into my home. I will not be driving it around. It will stay parked on my property. The issue I'm having is sizing my solar system. I believe I have the ability to install it but I just can't figure what I need to buy. All I will be using electric for is 12v fridge with freezer, 8 led lights, with enough power to charge a few cellphones and a laptop. Stove and hot water and heat will all be propane. I will have a window AC unit but I will be buying a generator to power that.

Any suggestions are appreciated

[dzl_]

Originally Posted by Vadave311

I will be buying a school bus at the end of May. I will be parking it on some land I bought and I will be converting it into my home. I will not be driving it around. It will stay parked on my property. The issue I'm having is sizing my solar system. I believe I have the ability to install it but I just can't figure what I need to buy. All I will be using electric for is 12v fridge with freezer, 8 led lights, with enough power to charge a few cellphones and a laptop. Stove and hot water and heat will all be propane. I will have a window AC unit but I will be buying a generator to power that.

Any suggestions are appreciated

So what you need to try to do is put together an energy 'budget'. Basically state what you have already stated in a more explicit way. Make a list of your electrical consumers, the power they consume in Watts, and the maximum hours a day they will be used. Multiply watts by hours and that'll give you a decent ballpark of the minimum Watt-hours per day you will need in battery capacity (batteries are rated in amp-hours but amp-hours x voltage = watt-hours). There are spreadsheets that make doing this much easier


Once you calculate how much power you need per day, you can determine your battery bank size, and your PV array size. Another consideration is "days of autonomy" i.e. if there is little or no sun, how many days of battery power do you want to have? Since you have a generator maybe you don't need any days of autonomy.

[Danjo]

If it isn’t going anywhere, why a bus? Just curious. I’m not about to say you should get a single wide. I think making it the way you want it is the way to go. Maybe a semi trailer?

About where in the country are you? This is important to know how many sun-hours you get. You’ll also need to get a little more specific on your appliances.

Do the panels need to be on your bus or can it be ground-mounted?

[Vadave311]

Thanks for the replys...
My eventual goal is a single wide. The bus is temporary and will be sold once I can afford a single wide. I really don't have money for the well and septic right now. I became homeless a year ago and I just got my disability approved. I bought the land through owner financing and with my back pay from disability I need to provide somewhere I could stay and my own property is the answer and I figure I could get a bus ready quicker then anything else. Then work on well and septic. Once that is done it will be single wide time. Even then I want solar.

[dzl_]

Where in the country are you located?

[Vadave311]

Central VA

[dzl_]

Beautiful part of the country! based on this insolation map looks like you can expect between 4 and 4.5 hours of peak sun on average. That'll be useful info down the road when calculating your required solar panel wattage.

[Danjo]

Instead of spending lots of money on converting a bus, why not consider something less expensive? Maybe something you can repurpose for your permanent place? Just a thought

[dzl_]

Originally Posted by Danjo

Instead of spending lots of money on converting a bus, why not consider something less expensive? Maybe something you can repurpose for your permanent place? Just a thought

What sorta options did you have in mind?

[Vadave311]

It is still all up in the air right now. I'm married to the lot I have bought. I love it. I may still hold the route of buying a old site glen wide and gutting it and rewire it for solar.