Planning for solar installation this spring
My TT comes with a single Interstate SRM-24 battery. We camped for one season so far and never really lived off the battery in any of the campground except for maybe an hour where I didn't plug in sh...
Forum Discussion
Looks like you got the system you wanted.
My experience camping in an RV with solar is often it relies on the type of climate you're are camping in.
I've camped off-grid for several months in the Pacific NW Cascades with a 125 watt solar panel and three ~100 ah RV batteries didn't suffice.
The 23' motorhome RV furnace with a 7 amp fan drained the three RV batteries to the point the solar and batteries only lasted 2 - 3 days as there wasn't enough sunlight to recharge the three batteries.
Once the batteries fall below 50 percent (which is not recommended) they become more and more difficult to recharge, often taking more than 24 hours at full charge to bring them back. If no sunlight there's no way to bring them back. If you have sunlight there needs to be enough to provide a sufficient charge rate to bring the batteries back.
I think minimally a RV needs 250 watts and true deep cycle batteries to extend for a week or more.
What you really want when planning on a solar system is one that can last longer than a the length of time you plan for a boondocking trip.
If you plan for a one week trip, plan minimally for two weeks or longer to potentially indefinitely. Solar relies on the weather so if you are planning a two week trip and have two weeks of rain, the solar plan for two weeks goes out the window.
If your camping in the desert with lots of sunlight is alot different from boondocking in the mountains with lots of trees and camping where it rains most of the time. One day of sunlight rarely is enough to charge batteries back to where they should be as most of the time you won't be charging near a maximum charge rate, perhaps 50 percent and possibly lower, sometimes charge rate goes up higher than it goes down again. Unless you are in a climate with 100 percent sunlight every day solar potentially varies quite a bit.
The less sunlight there is, more solar panels and batteries are required.
When boondocking I don't use the RV furnace and have installed a secondary catalytic heater.
Either a permanent RV catalytic heater or a Mr's Heater works.
RV furnaces aren't really designed for boondocking as they require a fan to run. Mine uses a 7 amp which causes a significant drain on the batteries.
I suppose if you have enough sunlight, solar panels and batteries the RV furnace fan may not make a big difference.
I also swapped out all my 12 volt light bulbs for LEDs. Then there are the water pump(s) which don't use alot of elect. but can make a difference when the batteries are low.
Once a RV looses 12 volts it dies and becomes a shelter.
My experience camping in an RV with solar is often it relies on the type of climate you're are camping in.
I've camped off-grid for several months in the Pacific NW Cascades with a 125 watt solar panel and three ~100 ah RV batteries didn't suffice.
The 23' motorhome RV furnace with a 7 amp fan drained the three RV batteries to the point the solar and batteries only lasted 2 - 3 days as there wasn't enough sunlight to recharge the three batteries.
Once the batteries fall below 50 percent (which is not recommended) they become more and more difficult to recharge, often taking more than 24 hours at full charge to bring them back. If no sunlight there's no way to bring them back. If you have sunlight there needs to be enough to provide a sufficient charge rate to bring the batteries back.
I think minimally a RV needs 250 watts and true deep cycle batteries to extend for a week or more.
What you really want when planning on a solar system is one that can last longer than a the length of time you plan for a boondocking trip.
If you plan for a one week trip, plan minimally for two weeks or longer to potentially indefinitely. Solar relies on the weather so if you are planning a two week trip and have two weeks of rain, the solar plan for two weeks goes out the window.
If your camping in the desert with lots of sunlight is alot different from boondocking in the mountains with lots of trees and camping where it rains most of the time. One day of sunlight rarely is enough to charge batteries back to where they should be as most of the time you won't be charging near a maximum charge rate, perhaps 50 percent and possibly lower, sometimes charge rate goes up higher than it goes down again. Unless you are in a climate with 100 percent sunlight every day solar potentially varies quite a bit.
The less sunlight there is, more solar panels and batteries are required.
When boondocking I don't use the RV furnace and have installed a secondary catalytic heater.
Either a permanent RV catalytic heater or a Mr's Heater works.
RV furnaces aren't really designed for boondocking as they require a fan to run. Mine uses a 7 amp which causes a significant drain on the batteries.
I suppose if you have enough sunlight, solar panels and batteries the RV furnace fan may not make a big difference.
I also swapped out all my 12 volt light bulbs for LEDs. Then there are the water pump(s) which don't use alot of elect. but can make a difference when the batteries are low.
Once a RV looses 12 volts it dies and becomes a shelter.
