The tongue of the Rpod

Lostagain. I am thinking of purchasing the solar panel option on my new r pod and it comes with a controller and 1000W inverter.  But I live in cloudy midwest so do you think I will get any real benefit from such expensive equipment?

I concur, a 1000 watt inverter seems like a complete waste. Too small to run the microwave or air con, too big for a laptop, and everything else in the trailer can be run on 12V more efficiently. Either get a 2kW or larger inverter which could actually run the microwave for a few minutes a day or a 200-300 watt one you can plug into a cig lighter for small AC loads like a laptop.

Blender Bob, you must have a different microwave than I do, mine draws 12.3A or just over 1400 VA. I couldn’t run mine on a 1200 watt inverter. That’s why I suggested a 2kw. Some headroom is very useful, most inverters die from thermal component stress, especially our current generation Chinese ones. The 2kw true sine wave ones are under $300 vs about $150 for a 1200 so not a huge difference.

I think having an inverter that can run the microwave is fine, even mine would only consume about 10-15AH a day in normal usage. Not a big deal. Don’t buy a modified sine wave one (they should really be called modified square wave). Microwaves don’t like them.

For about $130 you can change out the 120V TV for a dual 12V/120V one, then sell the old one on CL, no need for an inverter for that. I don’t use blenders and other AC loads so that’s up to personal choice, but I should have seen from your handle that that was important for you.😁. If you wanted to save some amphours and get some exercise to boot you could get one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/GSI-Outdoors-1304-1406-Vortex-Blender/dp/B001LF3I3O/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1539542816&sr=8-7&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=12v+blender&dpPl=1&dpID=4109UGGyAvL&ref=plSrch

In my opinion as a solar guy living and camping in the East, for someone living in the Midwest or East I would start with the genset. Too many cloudy days and deciduous tree shade canopies in campgrounds to rely 100% on solar. Also too many hot humid days when air con is a must.

Then add solar to reduce genny operation when not running air con and keep the noise down. You do not need a 3kw plus genny to run the air conditioner. A lightweight 2200 watt inverter generator will do it if you add an easy start to the air con. If I still lived in the West I would probably be 100% solar as well.

My original point about a 1000 watt inverter is that it puts too much of a load on a 12V battery system unless you have some humongous batteries. Going to 1200W or 2 kilowatts would just make it worse. I think if you really need to run large A/C loads above 500 or 600 watts would be much better served by going to a genset. Stick with the small inverter, or else use straight DC appliances. There are ways to do this on DC for the TV, stereo, laptops, phones, and other incidental loads. For the microwave, air conditioner, toaster oven, coffee maker, and so on, stick with the genset if you really need it.