Solar

[Fireman2]

We are getting our 2006 Rockwood 2603s on Monday. We like to dry camp so we are thinking about installing a 75 watt solar panel on the roof. Does anyone have any experience with this type of install?

[NWJeeper]

Originally Posted by Fireman2

We are getting our 2006 Rockwood 2603s on Monday. We like to dry camp so we are thinking about installing a 75 watt solar panel on the roof. Does anyone have any experience with this type of install?

First of all, we need to know for how long you intend to dry camp, and what you want to run. In climates that will require even light use of the furnace at night, the stock batteries are not up to the job for more than 2 nights max and from experience with 260W of solar panels on our roof, a single 75 watt panel will hardly do more than trickle charge the batteries and very slowly at that. Remember that the rated output of 75w is at full sun and only if you can tilt the panel towards the sun. If you have filtered sun of any sort you can expect the output to be cut in half or even less. Consider that the best charge I got with 260W of panels on a fully sunny day was about 19amps. With only 75W you will only be getting at best around 4.5 amps charge. Over a 10 hour period you will be doing good to replace 50amps per day and that is under full sun. It's quite easy for some people to eat up 50 amps or more everyday in normal power usage.

Sustaining yourself dry camping for more than 2 nights without a geneator requires an investment which can easily get expensive really quick. Once you really get into the math involved behind it you really start to see how inefficient solar or wind power can be.

The install is not all that bad but you really need to figure out your power needs before you spend money on a solar panel. You don't want to be throwing money away and wasting roof space on a panel that will be too small for your needs.

[PumaPro]

Most of those solar panels aren't much good for more than keeping your battery topped off while in storage. Want REAL energy savings? Look into LED light builbs. They just came out I think this year. They cost about $30 each, but they draw about 10% of the energy even of fluorescents. I have some on order to test the brightness myself. They make them to replace the 1141 bulbs (200 lumens) and the 921/922/912 bulbs (200 lumens0, dubbed "the wedge." I'll keep you posted.

[NWJeeper]

Originally Posted by PumaPro

Most of those solar panels aren't much good for more than keeping your battery topped off while in storage.

Actually you have to size the solar array to the amount of amperage you need to replace in a days usage. It requires some math to figure out but you can install solar panels to allow you to be self sufficient and make use of the generator very little. Most of the guys I have seen with modest inverters and a good battery bank are running something around 450watts of solar panels and doing quite well with that. The LEDs are only one part of making up a really good dry camping setup. My only problem with them is that all of the lighting in our living room is the recessed hallogen and while I can get replacement LEDs for them, they are on a dimmer. LEDs like this cannot be dimmed so it's a bit of a tradeoff for us. Florecents have the same problem though. Can't have it all I guess, YET.

[PumaPro]

How big of a roof do you have? And don't forget - if it's cloudy you're pretty much S.O.L.
I also find that for the cost of the solar panels, wiring, and monitoring, you can have a pretty decent inverter (quiet) generator that really doesn't burn much fuel.
I've heard of a whole bunch of people that want to run the air conditioner/microwave on solar only. Good luck. In that case, how big of a yard do you have?

[NWJeeper]

Originally Posted by PumaPro

How big of a roof do you have? And don't forget - if it's cloudy you're pretty much S.O.L.
I also find that for the cost of the solar panels, wiring, and monitoring, you can have a pretty decent inverter (quiet) generator that really doesn't burn much fuel.
I've heard of a whole bunch of people that want to run the air conditioner/microwave on solar only. Good luck. In that case, how big of a yard do you have?

I have a 37' motorhome so I have plenty of room for 4-130w panels. Yes if it is cloudy you get diminished charging and then you will need to run the generator a bit. However it isn't beyond possibility and lots of RVrs are doing it just fine. Personally I don't like the noise or the smell of a generator runnnig for 8 hours to recharge batteries. I don't try and run the microwave or A/C on inverter, you have to be realistic.

It's not a matter of luck but of doing the math and figureing out how much power you use in a day and how much needs to be replaced. Choosing the right panels is a matter of accounting for the loss of sun for a certain amount of days but with a proper battery bank you should be able to last at least a couple of days without sun or with diminished charging to get by without running the generator. Cutting down on power usage is important and thus the change to LED lights.

There is a guy with a boondocking website that has lots of good info and comparisons who pretty much lives this way. He explains all this and what it really takes. I don't have the link handy as I am at work but his site is a wealth of information on the subject.

[Fireman2]

Hi all,
Thanks for all the usefull info. All I want is to run lighting and mabey watch the odd movie on a rainy night. If I decided on an Inverter gen. what size would you recomend?

[NWJeeper]

Originally Posted by Fireman2

Hi all,
Thanks for all the usefull info. All I want is to run lighting and mabey watch the odd movie on a rainy night. If I decided on an Inverter gen. what size would you recomend?

If that is all you want to do a small 1000W portable will do just fine. Won't run the microwave or A/C but will do fine for watching movies like you mention.

[steveqvs]

I use a combination of a solar panel and a generator for my weekend camping. Solar panel really keeps the 2 6 volt batteries charged up during the week. When I am there on the weekend the first night I use the batteries for what I need. Then the next day I run the gen usually less than an hour to top off the charges again. You might verify how your tv/dvd are installed. Mine only works with the generator (or shore power). I would need to add an inverter and haven't done so yet. When its hot outside, to run the A/C i have to use the generator. For running an A/C you will probably need at least a 3k genset. I have had pretty good luck with a Kipor. Its much cheaper than some of the other popular brands and just about as quiet.

[Fireman2]

Originally Posted by PumaPro

Most of those solar panels aren't much good for more than keeping your battery topped off while in storage. Want REAL energy savings? Look into LED light builbs. They just came out I think this year. They cost about $30 each, but they draw about 10% of the energy even of fluorescents. I have some on order to test the brightness myself. They make them to replace the 1141 bulbs (200 lumens) and the 921/922/912 bulbs (200 lumens0, dubbed "the wedge." I'll keep you posted.

Where did you buy them?

[yvesm]

Check this place out

http://www.solarstik.com/