For the devices you posted I'd recommend keeping as many of them on 12v as possible to not use the inverter as possible. Lights, the fridge, and converting the starlink to 12v will allow you to go with a smaller inverter and waste less power. As far as the number of panels it will depend where it's located and what tree coverage is like but I'd think 300W could be good. As you say you've got the generator for backup.

I converted my starlink in the RV to 12v and noticed a pretty good difference in power usage.

I agree to make everything 12 v as you can. Add 1 more battery then go from there. You will learn your usage and expand or be happy with what you have.

Brian

I'm not into the solar off grid thing, but based on usage you can always add more batteries if needed since it's more of a couple of days thing.

Moose hunting tells me you are up where the white stuff falls, which usually means less sunshine. But again you have days for the panel to recharge the batteries between stays.

Camp is about 75 miles north east of the Minnesota border where it hits Lake Superior. In the summer we get sunshine from 530 to 2130. In the winter it is more challenging. from 0800 to 1730. We don't hit the cabin in the winter though.

ncitro
I looked at converting the Starlink. Wasn't sure of the component quality in the video I was watching. Hadn't heard of the name. What electronics did you buy for the conversion?

I did it the first time with components from Amazon and found three noise generated was high and hurt my signal. I switched to a board by a guy that did pretty thorough testing, he called it "dishypowa" and he recommended a clean 12 to 48v power supply that worked well. Last I heard he was developing a unit with a built in power supply, not sure if he ever brought that to market.

https://dishypowa.com

You need to do an energy audit. How many watts per day will you require from your system. If you convert to 12V, this requirement will probably be a little less than keeping a lot at 120V.

Once you know your daily energy requirements, multiply by 2 (for 2 days) or 3 (for 3 days). That will be your battery bank size. For example, If you find your needs are 2000W per day, you will need 4000WH or 6000WH of battery (4-6 100AH, 12V batteries).

For panels, the general rule of thumb is double your battery bank (at 12V). If you have 4 100AH batteries (or 400AH), you will want about 800W of panels. If you have 6 100AH batteries (600AH), you will want about 1200W of panels.

Basically you plan on about 5 hours of sun per day. If you have an 800W panel array, and you have 5 hours of sun (assuming 800W for 5 hours) you will net 4000W of power which is about 80/85% of you 400AH battery bank.

You plan the 2 or 3 days of battery power in case you have overcast skies, partly cloudy skies, etc where you are not getting the sun you need.

For Starlink 12V conversion, I bought this https://boondocker.io/products/dishy...id=thingiverse

acoleman43 You use a poe powered router with that board?
Then either cut up a starlink cable or use something like the Yaosheng adapter?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BYJTHX4P...v_ov_lig_dp_it

The board has built in POE for the Starlink Router (48V). I cut up a Starlink cable and attached a shieled RJ45 connector (using T-568B pinout) - see below. This way I can use the Starlink router or any other router.

I like the Starlink router, but I prefer a router with SIM slots. This will give me more flexibility when working on the road. I'm looking at the Peplink routers which have the direct DC wiring optional accessory. This way all components will be 12V DC.

The starlink router can use poe? I thought it's power came from the 120vac cord. I must be getting confused.

acoleman43 You use the Starlink router and powering it ....how? Everything I have read so far requires a different router. Maybe I am misunderstanding what you are saying.
Sorry for all the questions. Just want to make sure I have this sorted correctly in my head.

Scott'n'Wendy

I just got the Starlink and will be watching your findings. I am planning on using it at home and also taking it on the road so I could use a second router,power supply and cable to leave in the camper. This whole thing is confusing to me as well.

Brian

I am planning the same thing.
There are a few ways to do it. I'm spending a little time determining the best way after ncitro mentioned noise generated from components being a problem and another site mentioning cheap 12v-48v dc-dc step up converters with small smoothing caps causing dishy some issues. The dual poe injector acoleman43 referenced looks like it had decent sized caps. Curious what he has done to utilize the starlink router though. Pretty sure you cannot use the Starlink router when converting to non ac power, but willing to learn.
The DishyDually board, unlike most poe injectors is dual for powering the dishy and poe router. Most setups have the usual poe dishy supply but you power up the router separately by just wiring the power cord to 12v directly. But...individual components come pkged and protected...the dishy dually is a bare pcb. To be continued....
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I posted in Brians other thread but basically the Starlink router does double duty as a POE injector and router. Unofrtunately they use a nonstandard pinout, so it gets tricky, but a variety of "cottage" solutions have popped up to help this out as it has become a more popular mod. If you want to ditch the Starlink router you need to use a POE injector to power the dish that allows for this custom pinout, and then you can use any router you want.

Sorry, I was trying to multi-task and failed. The Starlink dish uses POE. The starlink router provides power to the dish via the Starlink cable. As you know, if you have a different POE injector to power the dish, you can skip the Starlink router and use your own. The Boondocker device provides the 48V DC power for the dish. This allows me to use whatever router I want....can be Starlink (will still require 120V AC source) or any other router (like a Peplink router). I want to use a DC router to keep all components DC. More efficient when using battery. When plugged into shore power I really don't care much about efficiencies...so DC trumps AC in my trailer.

I already wired a DC source for a router in my center console area (where "control" center/GX Touch resides). Now I need to snake a ethernet cable from the wet bay area (where the POE injector and Starlink connection from outside will be) to my main center console where the DC source and future router will be installed.

Using a good Peplink (or other brand router) with SIM slots will be fantastic and very flexible when working on the road and for the kids homeschool on the road. It will give me the option to use AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile data plans for internet, or the Starlink dish...depending on what gives me the most reliable connection. I find in high population dense area's a cell service provider offers the most reliable internet. In very rural or in-the-middle-of-nowhere areas (where we like to boondock) Starlink offers the most reliable internet service. This is very important as each year we have 1 or 2 5-7 week trips where my wife and myself work on the road and the kids do homeschool. We can't do this without reliable internet service.