Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-24-2019, 05:24 PM   #1
Site Team - Lou
 
Herk7769's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: South Eastern PA
Posts: 23,268
Solar Powered RV - NO FUEL NEEDED

This Solar-Powered RV Runs Without Fuel Or Charging Stations | Home Design, Garden & Architecture Blog Magazine

Wow! How cool is that!
__________________
Lou & Freya the wonder dog
2008 GMC Sierra 3000HD Allison Duramax
2019 Flagstaff 8529FL
Herk7769 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-24-2019, 05:34 PM   #2
Site Team
 
Flybob's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 15,266
Interesting, But not sure I would trust something designed by someone who put a solar panel on the underside of the cab over bunk.
__________________

2015 Freedom Express 248RBS
TV 2015 Silverado HD2500 Duramax
TST Tire Monitors
Honda 2000I + Companion
2 100W solar panels
Flybob is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-24-2019, 05:59 PM   #3
Site Team - Lou
 
Herk7769's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: South Eastern PA
Posts: 23,268
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flybob View Post
Interesting, But not sure I would trust something designed by someone who put a solar panel on the underside of the cab over bunk.
True. Maybe a mirror on the ground ...
__________________
Lou & Freya the wonder dog
2008 GMC Sierra 3000HD Allison Duramax
2019 Flagstaff 8529FL
Herk7769 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-24-2019, 06:10 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Dayton Ohio
Posts: 3,567
Same problem as the first electric cars in the 1800’s. Battery capacity.

No way the panels supply enough juice to get very far very fast. No output on a cloudy day much less rain.

Other impossible problem. No way to transfer power from us in ohio to the folks out west. No way. Line loss. Solar panels are not efficient enough. No way to store electricity. Solar panels are great with a coal fired back up plant next door. Double the cost.

Most of us will be on the wrong side of the sod before electric trucks are the norm.
tomkatb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-24-2019, 07:25 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
CAT-RN's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 7,363
Wonder if that front might hinge up when parked??

Russell
CAT-RN is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-25-2019, 01:26 PM   #6
Dahagen
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Cascade Idaho
Posts: 562
100 miles per charge? Wow. Right now I am almost 90 miles from the nearest Walmart. I guess a shopping trip would require an overnight stay in their parking lot.
dahagen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-25-2019, 01:28 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
Dbrote's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: St. Helena, CA
Posts: 186
While this is clearly not really workable, I personally think battery powered rvs are just around the corner. 5 years from now the solid state battery may be in production and a battery powered RV would make a lot of sense. Give a range of about 400 miles, then plug in at a campsite or charging station. This is the way things change so I wouldn’t dismiss this idea too quickly! You could even see charging stations that you could sleep at while charging.
Dbrote is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-25-2019, 01:31 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 415
This is awesome. Things like this are in their infancy, and of course it's going to have limitations.

But have some faith folks. Dang.
kfergiez is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-25-2019, 01:46 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 3,290
I also think that there's not enough info here:

A) is the Vehicle's battery(s) charged from SHORE POWER, like any other electric vehicle, or are we 'assuming' that these solar panels on the exterior are for the vehicle, and not simply solar panels for the HOUSE batteries?

B) the statement of "...in total 334 square feet of thin-film solar panels which can deliver up to 3,000 watts of energy" can certainly be true, BUT the reality is that the sun will NEVER shine on both sides of the coach at once, or both ends, etc., etc., so the amount of wattage is far less - FAR, far LESS.


while the solar panels might be a good concept, the idea of needing the Solar power while traveling is probably far less important than while PARKED. If you really want to add so much solar, the best idea might be to incorporate flexible solar panels on the AWNINGS, which will be much better suited to capture the sun than panels integrated into the sides of the RV, especially if there is an awning on both sides, and even the rear.
__________________
The Turners...
'07 Rockwood Signature Ultralight...
two Campers and two Electric cars : )
formerFR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-25-2019, 01:56 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 395
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dbrote View Post
...5 years from now the solid state battery may be in production...
I've been hearing this for at least the past 15 years. The cruising power boating community has been having this discussion for at least that long.

I think this is a 'proof of concept' demo more than anything else. 100 miles per charge is probably using every watt of power available. How long to recharge enough to do anything - 10-12 hours? And that would be in daylight. You would arrive at your destination (maybe) with nothing left for anything except what your propane could power. If you arrived at dusk or night you would have to wait until the next evening to have enough power to do anything.

And how stout are those panels? Strong enough to take the wear and tear of road travel? Rocks and stones tossed up from passing trucks? Parking lot dings?

Great concept and it will be wonderful if/when you can travel 250-300 miles and recharge in 30-60 minutes instead of hours or days. Both solar panels and batteries need a lot more work before they are ready for effective transportation use.
gastan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-25-2019, 02:11 PM   #11
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 442
But you have to admit, it's ok to dream....



__________________
2018 Rockwood Signature Ultra Lite 8311WS
2014 Coachmen Apex 215RBK

2018 GMC Sierra 2500HD SLT Duramax
Chazman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-25-2019, 02:25 PM   #12
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 395
I dream of winning a lottery at least twice a week.
gastan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-25-2019, 03:28 PM   #13
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 442
Quote:
Originally Posted by gastan View Post
I dream of winning a lottery at least twice a week.

Four times for me, twice with Megamillions, twice with Powerball.




__________________
2018 Rockwood Signature Ultra Lite 8311WS
2014 Coachmen Apex 215RBK

2018 GMC Sierra 2500HD SLT Duramax
Chazman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-25-2019, 03:32 PM   #14
Senior Member
 
BandJCarm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Between Pickles Gap and Toad Suck, AR
Posts: 6,070
Electric vehicles!! Wow........so great, since all electricity is solar or wind powered, easily transported long distances, and don't ever use more coal or fossil fuels to be generated than they produce, right???
__________________
"Next to prayer, fishing is the most personal relationship of man" Herbert Hoover
"American by Birth, Southern by the Grace of God"Lewis Grizzard

FROG AR-0019-242
2016 GMC Denali 3500Dually--2017 CC 36CKTS
BandJCarm is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
fuel, power, solar

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Forest River, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 02:45 AM.