Solar pay off?

shelbfv,

I use far less energy living full time in my RV than in a house. My total energy for a 24 hour period on Oct 15, 2016 was 17 KWH. That included hot water, heating, fridge, cooking and entertainment. The worst energy hog was the fridge at 5.7 kwh.

+1 azrving. Environmentally our hobby is indefensible. We should recognize this, do the things we can to mitigate it. Solar, EV for our "other" vehicles,fewer kids, etc. Seems as if OP isn't really contemplating solar after all....

suprz wrote:

To clarify i was just asking what folks thought about their solar systems.

This wasn't your question, but I hope you've got the answers to whatever you wanted to know :)

Almot wrote:
Let me draw the members attention to the original post.

"our single deep cycle and generator work well for us. Im just curious because i see videos and read articles about folks just going crazy adding solar to their rv's. One guy spent $5000.00 on Lithium batteries alone"

Will be happy to hear the OP clarifications if I got this wrong, but... conclusions that seem obvious:
Little knowledge about how things work, how much they cost or what is needed. 5K Li is only relevant to big systems and/or if you are trying to run A/C on it. One can have a solar with the same 2*6V at $250 cost as somebody who has no solar.

Unclear energy needs (or again little knowledge about battery charging and inverters). Could be single battery with inverter and, say, 1 hour generator time because their energy needs are low. (Battery will likely remained undercharged then). Or - single battery, no inverter, generator running all day or whenever they need, for example, to charge cellphone (yes, I've seen people doing this) or to watch small TV. Or - single battery, no inverter, generator running all day to power many 110V devices. He never explained.

To clarify i was just asking what folks thought about their solar systems. I'm not in the market to add solar on my RV. My generator and single battery is fine for us.

Let me draw the members attention to the original post.

"our single deep cycle and generator work well for us. Im just curious because i see videos and read articles about folks just going crazy adding solar to their rv's. One guy spent $5000.00 on Lithium batteries alone"

Will be happy to hear the OP clarifications if I got this wrong, but... conclusions that seem obvious:

Little knowledge about how things work, how much they cost or what is needed. 5K Li is only relevant to big systems and/or if you are trying to run A/C on it. One can have a solar with the same 2*6V at $250 cost as somebody who has no solar.

Unclear energy needs (or again little knowledge about battery charging and inverters). Could be single battery with inverter and, say, 1 hour generator time because their energy needs are low. (Battery will remained undercharged then).
Or - single battery, no inverter, generator running all day or whenever they need, for example, to charge cellphone (yes, I've seen people doing this), or to watch small TV.
Or - single battery, no inverter, generator running all day because their energy needs are high.
He never explained.

Only the end user knows if it truly has paid for itself no justification needed. A properly set up solar system just operates in the background nice and quiet day after day disturbing no one.

shelbyfv wrote:
I doubt most of us go to solar because of financial benefits. Generators are disturbing to us and any neighbors. Solar is quiet. I'll also mention the obvious environmental benefits, though given the demographics of this hobby there are some here who are proud to ignore those:)

If any of us were truly worried about the environment we wouldn't be traveling all over in fuel guzzling RVs. We would be staying put while living in very small efficient homes.

About as environmentaly concerned as building an electric car that does zero to sixty in 3.5 seconds and 150 mph. Then on top of it give a rebate to high income people while the working stiffs who actually use the car alot and would probably have more of an impact on reducing emissions helps pay for the rebate. Lol. Ya gotta admit it's all crazy if you're honest about it.

Edit: Also, I'm not pointing at others, I ride around in circles on a motorcycle in the desert for fun along with millions and millions of people on boats, personal watercraft, dune buggies and on and on. Insanity if you ponder it.

I doubt most of us go to solar because of financial benefits. Generators are disturbing to us and any neighbors. Solar is quiet. I'll also mention the obvious environmental benefits, though given the demographics of this hobby there are some here who are proud to ignore those:)

Right. I forgot about portable kits. Given their small wattage, they are expensive - $350 for Renogy suitcase? don't remember - but this is an easy entry for those who hesitate.

How much is silence worth? Silence and privacy are the main reasons that we seek out boondocking sites. So it is hard to put a price tag on that intangible benefit. I wish I had gotten solar sooner than I did, but I was too cautious -- penny wise and pound foolish.

By the way, we have just a 120 watt portable setup, and it fills all of our needs, except after a few days of clouds. We carry a Honda 2000 generator just in case and have almost never used it (except for monthly maintenance at home).