If your fridge runs AC - start off with a kill-a-watt meter. It is an inexpensive meter. Just plug it into the wall socket, and then plug in your appliance and let it run for a few days and then calculate out how many watts (and/or amps) on average you use per day. You'll need to know this information. And it will help you identify where the most electricity load actually is. (Hint - it isn't the lightbulbs... it's the fridge, a/c and computer.) You'll have to determine what you can live without and what your real priority is. Also learn on a small budget that you might only be able to run a couple of things at a time.
I've lived in an RV and home (in FL and NM - both hot places), and measured each appliance using a Kill-A-Watt meter to determine the average daily energy loads for solar. I also was sharing an electric bill and didn't know what my real KWH usage was in the RV. The kill-a-watt meter was so accurate that when I left, I found out the impact of my departure was exactly the estimated drop on KWH on the bill.
I'm going to presume you'll figure out the fridge is the most important. The refrigerator will be running off a battery during the late evening and night and early morning. You won't know what size battery you'll need until you know the average amphours it needs to suck out of the batteries during the hottest part of the summer.
The output from the solar panels gets throttled down to what the battery actually requires for proper charging. What that means at the practical level is that during the day, there are a whole bunch of extra watts available for consumption besides just charging the battery (if you have enough solar panels) to run the TV, internet, etc. You'll want to do those things during the day when turning those things on doesn't drain the battery, and leave the battery for the most critical thing after late evening until morning - the fridge. Get some solar lanterns for interior lights if you must.
Even doing things as minimal as possible, you'll still need a charge controller to charge the batteries properly AND for the occassional Equalizing Charge. Since you are off-grid, the only way you can equalize is with a charge controller using your solar panels (as long as your system is fully charged by 1pm and you have a cloudless day) .... or by running a generator (defeats the purpose of sustainability, doesn't it....)
You'll also need some kind of invertor to change the DC current from the batteries into AC for the fridge to use. You don't absolutely have to buy an invertor made for solar systems. I've seen a set up where the guy had a small invertor like you might find in installed in a "guy's truck"; and he just plugged in whatever he needed at the moment into it. The washing machine, a light bulb, a power tool. But he had an LP fridge. I don't know if he could have plugged that in - it depends on watts and Amphours. More than likely it was enough. But you have to measure. His used golf cart batteries probably had enough amps for the fridge, he just never tried it - not knowing how to use his solar system.... (FYI - I helped him get a different charge controller and system/monitor, and now he knows what he can and can't do, and rarely ever fires up the generator.)
That said..... that kind of invertor was not a true sine wave - and you need true sine wave for your computer equipment...
For the air conditioner
I've lived without AC in FL and NM - both hot hot places, but one humid and one not....
In your neck of the woods, you are in a humid area, swamp coolers (evaporative) doesn't work well. Been there, done that. What does help cool the RV a bit is a large roof over the RV/bus to stop direct sunshine on the roof & sides to drop the temperature 10+ degrees, and open the windows. Sit outside in a screened in tent if you have to. It isn't the most ideal temperature, but you can survive. I did for many years that way. But drink a kit more water, electrolytes, and dressing really skimpy helps too! Simply sponging cool water over skin also helps. People lived for thousands of years without AC and somehow managed as a species. People also survived without heating a 2000 square foot home also. It is easy to put on a 2nd blanket or even a 3rd, and sleep in 40 degree weather... you'll probably sweat under 3 blankets...
Anyway, solar cells typically are used to charge batteryies. You can charge them direct without a charge controller, but batteries really don't like that and it decreases the life of the battery. A charge controller regulates the volts/amps/watts to ideal conditions for the battery.
If you ask the invertor manufacturers, they might even tell you that you can't run the house during the day direct off the solar panel without the battery --- something about inconsistent peaks and valleys in voltage output from the solar panels due to changing light conditions from clouds, people walking by, chemtrails, etc. You start to understand this when you watch a system that is connected and watch the voltage changes, and the amp changes and even postive amps (amps flowing into the battery), and negative (amps flowing out of the battery because the load in the house is greater than the extra previously unused amps available from the solar panels).
Assuming you'll figure out that the most critical thing at night time is just the fridge and maybe a light now and then... you'll need to determine how many amphours your fridge needs from late in the afternoon, thru the night, and thru the early morning hours. There are about 6 hours a day (winter) in your area where the fridge would be pretty much running off the sun (thru the solar system equip) as opposing to using any of the amps from the battery. The fridge doesn't run all the time, which is where the kill-a-watt meter will really help you. Leave it plugged in for a week in the hottest part of the summer to get your average worst case load (with and without cloudy days). Once you make note of your avg watthours avg amphours, you can call any solar dealer and ask what is the smallest size battery you can get away with. There are also websites that help you do the calculation once you have those numbers.
The biggest problem I found calling dealers direct is they want to sell you a system they know will work, and not necessarily hold costs down to a minimum. In the end, they are probably right. Improper charging and care of the battery will lead to dead batteries ($$$$$) before you know it. A lot of people kill their batteries in the first couple of years due to improper charging and maintenance (adding distilled water, checking water levels regular, using a hydrometer regular, checking voltage regular, and equalizing charge when stratification is noted...)
I've found the deep chest freezer is more energy efficient than the fridge. During extended months of no power after one of many hurricanes, I used the freezer instead of the fridge. I made ice blocks in it, and then used an ice chest for daily "refrigerated" type stuff instead. I did that before going solar, and wouldn't hesitate to do that again even on solar.
DC refrigerators & freezers are pretty pricey....
plus you still have to buy the solar panels & charge controller & battery....
During the early evening, thru the night, and until the sun is high enough to start charging the batteries, most of the time it is my fridge that is sucking the energy out of the batteries since I pretty much crash when the sun goes down. It depletes the batteries about 10-15% every night.... but I have pretty big batteries.
Also, there are people out there selling used equipment in these hard times. Don't overlook it. Wiring it together correctly and safely is another story
Try to make sure whatever charge controller you get has an LED readout area so you can actually learn what is going on with the volts, amps, battery status, charge status, output from the solar panels, etc. You might not learn it right away, but you'll learn one thing at a time and sooner or later it will stick.
Good luck with going off-grid. Hope you can achieve it, because one of these days electricity is going to be completely unaffordable for a period of time.
If solar is out of your reach - think about getting big LP tanks and getting an LP fridge instead. You can always use old cooking oil for lamp oil and other old world methods.
I know that dealing with the heat after a lifetime of being spoiled was the hardest for me... but I'm still here, still kicking
Even when it is 120 degrees outside (real temp, not adjusted for humidity) - misearable at that temp, but can survive it.
I've also lived in hot & steamy FL, and oven hot NM. A couple of things to note.
The fridge and refrigerated A/C use up the most energy.
