[kjs3]

The solar/RV/golfcart world has and entire ecosystem of standardized 12v DC power distribution and the appliances that use it if you really feel the need to have DC. Works pretty good...last year wired up a friends mountain cabin with 12v solar, batteries, inverter for AC, led lights, fans, dorm room sized DC fridge. Different manufacturers and everything popped together fine.

[iamnothere]

Most laptops can be charged from 12V auto-style sockets as well.

12V DC is fantastic for a solar setup (vacation cabin, off-grid home, or whatever). You can still have some standard AC outlets using an inverter, but there's no reason to have lights running off of AC -- especially if you have LEDs! Since inverters cause a slow but constant power drain, it makes sense to leave them off most of the time.

Edit: I also wanted to mention the amazing "3-way" fridges, which I was not aware of until looking into solar a few years ago. They can run on AC, DC, and propane, giving you an alternative if the power goes out. The RV world has tons of this stuff, and the appliances usually aren't that much more expensive. Some are even cheaper than regular appliances since they are usually more compact.

[nybble41]

Keep in mind that your typical RV refrigerator capable of running on AC or propane, and possibly DC, will run much less efficiently on electric power than a standard electric refrigerator. That might make them less-than-ideal for a solar + battery configuration. In an RV context one typically uses the electric mode only when connected to "shore power", where the lower efficiency is less of an issue.

Propane-based refrigerators use an absorption cycle which depends on heat produced by burning the propane; in electric mode they just substitute resistive heating. A pure electric refrigerator would use a compressor-driven heat pump, which is considerably more efficient.

[ianburrell]

What DC connector does that use? My impression is that solar panels use MC4 connectors which have separate female and male and need two connectors for DC. But there is a convention for polarity.

Amateur radio has standardized on the Powerpole connector for 12V DC. Powerpole is hermaphroditic so don't have to worry about which end is plug or socket, and uses color coding for polarity.