solar under challenging conditions

I recently jotted down some specs from my solar charging system.

My daily use on the normal circuit is estimated to be 70.3AH, thanks to offloading niceties to the opportunity circuit.

I live in zone 3 which has the equivalent of 5 hours of full insolation a day on average around the year.

Based on my average high temp of 77F this would be

> > Average       192A/day > > > > Winter         144A/day (-25%) > > > > Spring/Fall  240A (+25%) > >

Not all of that could be stored in the bank which has 110AH _usable _capacity when we stop at 50 DoD%.

Here are the figures derated by 80% for cloudy, rainy days:

> > Under overcast/rainy skies (output x .20) > > > > > > Average      38.4A/day.**  **2.5 day reserve > > > > Winter        28.8A/day.  1.4 day reserve > > > > Spring/Fall 48.0A/day.  4.9 day reserve > >

Remember that these estimates are done with no active conservation at all.  A quick look at my power spreadsheet shows a power conservation mode (restricted to refrigerator, lighting, roof vent, phone charging) would increase reserve time by 40%:

> > **Power conservation mode** (49AH needed) under overcast/rainy skies (average x .20) > > > > > > Average      38.4A/day.**  **3.6 day reserve > > > > Winter        28.8A/day.   2.0 day reserve > > > > Spring/Fall 48.0A/day.  6.9 day reserve > >

In reality if we had a volcanic blackout or something the alternator charger would help get the bank to 80% SoC each day, which is about 75% of the lifting.  And the alternator would be used while driving away to better weather.  :-)