E26,
An old cooler would be a good start. Yes you do need "any" ventilation. The smallest of outlets for escaping gasses is all I use for small systems. Tip of the day for ventilation holes, point then down so the rain does not fill your battery box.
More about winter ops, do not under any circumstance let your batteries go flat in winter, if they freeze, they are for all purposes dead. Yes they can be revived, but that is a higher level of understanding and takes a long time to accomplish if the battery does not rupture. Ask me how I know....
I'll see if Bob would like a new thread about solar systems, or if he would like it here. Either way I think I can have something easy to understand in short order.
I understand that cost is a big factor for most, but if you can't fulfill the requirement, the system is of little use. So in my mind, it is "know the requirement first," them see if solar is right for you. Then add 10% just because "it" happens.
A few things to know right up front:
12 volt systems are very limited. 10 amps is only 120 watts nominal
even at 30 amps, you are only at 360 watts nominal. Multiply that by the hours of sunlight you receive and subtract for clouds and you will have a rough idea of the power you can use daily.
24 volt systems are twice as powerful for the same amps. So now you can "make" something close to 700 watts at 30 amps. But with this power, you can't run high loads for very long.
So if you want to use a lot of power, 48 volt systems are where you are going to end up.
My current big system uses Eight 6V 428AH batteries and the same six 230 watt panels wired two strings of three in series for a total of 1380 watts potentially. I have seen 1250 watts during noon time sun and a spike wattage of 1365. I use a Midnite solar Kid controller and all of my wire is high grade. The cables from battery to battery is 1/0 high strand count welding cable. I "build" my cables custom. My current inverter is adequate. I am waiting for a new offering from Midnite before I upgrade my AC inverter. I have made 8KWH of power in one day testing this setup. I also have my panels on a solar tracker I built. It allows for southeast to northwest tracking. If I did not have the tracker, I would expect to loose 2KWHs minimum on this system daily. I can also set up another identical set of panels and use the same battery bank for twice the power available daily. It has the capability to accept that much charge without damage. Again, I sized the parts correctly for the potential upgrade.
In short, there is a lot to learn/know about when setting up a solar system. If you don't know, you can spend a lot of money on things that are not going to give you your best value.
The biggest thing I can say is that I had a lot of help from those who are way smarter on this than me. All I can do is share what I have learned. And I am glad to do so.
