It is clear after this week that a 400-watt panel is what I need. With that, I will be able to power all of the devices I use on a daily basis full-time.
Now one easy answer is to buy another 200W solar panel and ask my friend if they are using the solar generator I gave them. If they aren’t, then I could use that to provide power. I am aware of solar generators that have 400W panels but they were at prices I couldn’t afford at the past $2-5k. Perhaps they have come down.
I would rather have one 400W panel than two 200W panels. It will be easier for me to move to a new apartment with less equipment. Also having to deal with two systems is annoying. I’d rather have a big system that can do everything than deal with individual smaller systems.
However, on the other hand, the Res-Q generator I have still has several years of life left. If I buy a new system it isn’t environmental to just give things to others that they may never use. By buying a 400W portal solar panel I can still potentially use the 200W solar panel if I buy a Y splitter and combine both of them. That would be amazing.
Most likely I am going to have to wait until I can afford a system that accepts 400W of solar power. One of the downsides of that high number is that it requires certain system compatibility that my system doesn’t have. I have a 12-volt system and the last 400W portal solar power I read had 18 to 48 Watts input for different models. There is a certain amount of tolerance but matching up solar panels with recommendations from the vendor is the safest way to go. If I ruined the $1200 I have spent on my solar generator by buying an incompatible panel that is obviously my fault.
The other reason why it may be time to save for a new system is that I have about a 1200WH battery. I would like to double that since from my energy usage yesterday I seemed to consume about 200WH per hour. With as it is now, I would only be able to use this for perhaps 4-5 hours a day and I work 8 hours a day. 2400WH is a minimum for the next solar generator.
Make sense? Then with this system, I will be able to power everything that I use during the day. It will be awesome.