Very good article, it reads like someone has been in my trailer and then did an article on their own perspective.
On figuring out how many panels and batteries you need, its about like ammo, the more the merrier. Panels took a little spike in price a few months ago, and are coming back down some say only temporarily since some tariffs went up. I think I am going to be settling out somewhere in the 2KW range for solar, but I need to do some more experiments on wiring the systems to see if it is possible to run dual inverters and make 220v.
I don't know if it is a battery issue or power production issue, but I am not yet at the point of being able to reliably run larger power tools on my 460w system that has 400AH worth of battery storage and a 2KW pure sine wave inverter. Likewise, I already have the bread machine as mentioned in the article and I have yet to test it. Tests with the microwave have been less than encouraging, but it may be an issue with the older microwave and not the power system.
I have several panels sitting in boxes that are waiting to go on other projects and at least one of those is going to be a semi-portable array that gets carried inside a vehicle or trailer then gets set up at the location. It is never as portable or easy to camouflage as a generator, but is pretty maintenance free once it is set up and does not make any noise or require any fuel.
I am going for overkill on power production in part to be able to run a workshop at a remote location as my contribution to whichever survival retreat places I hook up with if SHTF/WROL, but then that is stuff for making me useful enough that nobody says "thanks for your shit now get the fuck out". So the workshop thing, yeah, it's a lot of stuff, but then there gets to be familiarity with the stuff and the skills/experience on using it.
The way I see it, the mobile but landless survivor is bringing a lot to the table with a mobile power production system that can augment whatever is at someone's retreat property, or even rehabilitate an abandoned property that your group just takes over when the grid goes down.
A lot of country properties are already set up with decent wells and septic systems, small farm irrigation, all of that, but would be abandoned if the people could not get the places to work as off grid retreats. You would likely be able to take those locations over very cheaply in a cash only real estate market.
