Is solar the way to go?

There are some quality suitcase solar kits that are simple to set-up and easily moved to track the sun more directly. They are available in a variety of wattages, about 100 watts a battery will get your battery bank charged back up quickly if cloudiness isn't an issue.

Now for the eternal question, is solar a better option than a generator? It really boils down to what your energy requirements are when camping off the power grid. As with anything else, both have their pros and cons. Try using the solar option first along with converting to LEDs and see if that will work.

Our preferred method of camping is off the power grid miles from anyone and require reliable charging of our battery bank as well as instant power for high current items that are run momentarily a few times throughout the day. Having both solar and a generator is what we found to be the perfect set-up.

As stated before- it all depends on how you use your rig and your personal situation. For us, solar is wonderful. We boondock for weeks on end without ever needing to fire up a generator (unless we want to use the microwave for a couple of minutes). BUT- it's just the 2 of us, we have converted to LEDs etc.
With our usage, we are generally back to full charge after 3 hours of good sun or 6-8 of partly cloudy (thats with 120 watts of solar and 2 12 volts). You have a lot of research to do, but my advise is- Keep it simple!

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:
........If you want to scale back and enjoy nature, happy with moderate to minimal electric support - solar is great.

And much quieter.

In my case a 2KW generator is a must have option to re-charge batteries. This is my primary use for our generator. My current 255AH battery bank gets discharged over nite down to its 50% charge state and I have to use my generator the next morning when allowed direct connected to the trailer shore power cable using the on-board high current converter/charger unit to do the initial high current demand from the batteries when they first start seeing BOOST MODE charging. Most of us will not have enough SOLAR PANELS to do this without a generator. Keep in mind a typical 120WATT SOLAR PANEL in high SUN will produce around 5-6DC AMPS of battery charge voltage. Just using the SOLAR PANELS lone during the high sun day will not charge my batteries in 6-8 hours of high sun with only 12AMPS of SOLAR CHARGE DC CURRENT.

To charge most deep cycle batteries you will need to use 14.4VDC at around 20AMPS of DC CURRENT per battery if you must get them recharged to 90% charge state in a short three hour time period using smart mode charging techniques. IT would take a many SOLAR PANELS to produce this much DC CURRENT for larger battery banks without a generator.

Once my batteries drop back from their initial 55AMPS of charge current to around 8 DC AMPS of charge current then I can switch to SOLAR POWER where my planned 240WATTS of SOLAR PANELS will take over and get my 255AH battery bank back to its 90% charge state before the end of the high sun day.

If your planned battery consumption over night is small then you can probably get away of keeping your batteries topped off just using the SOLAR PANELS.

Like said above however if you have a shady day due to clouds or bad weather then don't expect the solar panels to keep your batteries topped off. You will need to us a generator during those time.

In my case it took alot of planning to do what I wanted to do when camping off the power grid. First I got proficient on building up my battery bank and other power savings items such as adding LED lights etc.. I then learned how to live with the batteries I had to us. I also learned what I needed to do to get re-charged each morning so that nothing is left to guessing. After five or so years of doing this I am just now ready to install solar panels to keep my generator use down to around an hour a day instead of three hours a day required to get my batteries from the 50% charge state to the 90% charge state using smart mode charging techniques.

To me SOLAR PANELS are not the magic thing like some folks think. Its just another tool to use when available to save resources ...

Just my thoughts here - I'm sure others do it differently. I am no way any sort of expert here. Just know what works for me by planing alot and of course some trial by mistakes haha... I did my first no cheating camping off the batteries sitting in the back yard or at a close by Camp Site. Camping off the power grid is second nature to us now... The first rule I learned was to never touch your TRUCK START BATTERY for any reason - this is the only way to get back home hehe...

Roy Ken

It all depends on your electrictiy usage.
- Minimal usage (a couple lights in the evening, the water pump, fridge on propane), it's a good option and likely cheaper than a generator if you do the install yourself.
- Moderate usage (add a couple hours TV, maybe a couple fans at night, a moderate size inverter to make your coffee or run the microwave {very limited use on both}), a solar system with the batteries to back it up is an option but likely the same or higher cost than a generator after you add in the batteries and inverter.
- Normal usage (add in air/con and run what you want when you want), a generator is really the only practical option.

Keep in mind, larger systems need a lot of acreage on the roof and hundreds of pounds of batteries (along with a place to put them). Batteries are the often forgotten part of the equation. They don't last forever, so when you are looking at the fuel consumption of the generator, balance that against the periodic battery replacement. Likewise, the generator needs a little maintenance (oil change, new spark plug) but batteries need thier water levels checked and connections should be checked for corrosion and other issues occasinally.

campgrl wrote:
Is solar a better option than a genny?

Yes, solar is a better option than a generator most of the time.

You don't have to buy, transport and store fuel. You don't have the mechanical wear. You don't have the noise.

A generator is going to be expensive - likely near the same cost as a good solar powered battery charging system.

However, a generator will work on rainy days, or several consecutive rainy days. A generator is the only way to have a mobile power capacity to power things like microwaves, electronic coffee makers, AC, household fridges, etc.

If you want a boondocking experience to be with all the luxuries of a full hook-up campground - you will have to have a generator.

If you want to scale back and enjoy nature, happy with moderate to minimal electric support - solar is great.