How many of you use solar?
Thought about using solar when we buy our RV. I have not seen to many used RV for sale that have any solar on them. Is this because they are removed before selling, no one using them, or they just cos...
Forum Discussion
We do a lot of boondocking as the primary use for our RV is as our mobile observatory for astronomy. We use it to get to, and camp at, dark sky sites. At remote sites like this, I can't stand the sound (and smell) of generators, including ours, so we use solar cells to charge the coach batteries as well as to charge the batteries that run the telescope mounts, computer and imaging gear.
Our motor home is relatively small, at 30', and I have replaced interior lighting with LED's (half of them red for night adapted vision) so we have relatively modest 12v power needs. We have a total 450 watts of solar, all of it mounted on portable stands (not mounted on the coach).
The configuration of the solar panes break down like this.
2 - 165 watt panels (330w total) with stands that fold out from the frames and wheels to make them easy to move around. One benefit of this is that the panels can be moved, to track the sun, and the stands have three settings for the angle to the sun depending on season. These are used almost exclusively, with a charge controller, to charge the house batteries. The house batteries consist only of two Interstate GC2-XHD which I've found to be superior than my old Trojan T-105s.
2 - portable stands with 2 30 watt panels each (60w) that are used to charge the batteries used for telescope mounts and equipment. These power supplies consist of 2-Duracell Powerpack 600 (28Ah each) and two 60Ah AGM batteries in trolling motor cases. One of the 60Ah batteries is also used to power my wife's BiPAP when we're boondocking.
I have wiring, plugs, and adapters that allow to me to hook any combination of these cells together depending on my needs.
Unless weather is bad, we're almost always doing astronomy at night when boondocking so we really have no need to power the TV, satellite receiver, or other high draw equipment in nighttime hours. In daylight hours, if we wish to, the 330W (2 x 165) panels have more than enough output to power the AV gear and keep the batteries charged.
The cells all ride in the bedroom, between the wall and one side of the bed, when on the road. Hey, it worked in our old Class-C and I've never seen any reason to change.
Our motor home is relatively small, at 30', and I have replaced interior lighting with LED's (half of them red for night adapted vision) so we have relatively modest 12v power needs. We have a total 450 watts of solar, all of it mounted on portable stands (not mounted on the coach).
The configuration of the solar panes break down like this.
2 - 165 watt panels (330w total) with stands that fold out from the frames and wheels to make them easy to move around. One benefit of this is that the panels can be moved, to track the sun, and the stands have three settings for the angle to the sun depending on season. These are used almost exclusively, with a charge controller, to charge the house batteries. The house batteries consist only of two Interstate GC2-XHD which I've found to be superior than my old Trojan T-105s.
2 - portable stands with 2 30 watt panels each (60w) that are used to charge the batteries used for telescope mounts and equipment. These power supplies consist of 2-Duracell Powerpack 600 (28Ah each) and two 60Ah AGM batteries in trolling motor cases. One of the 60Ah batteries is also used to power my wife's BiPAP when we're boondocking.
I have wiring, plugs, and adapters that allow to me to hook any combination of these cells together depending on my needs.
Unless weather is bad, we're almost always doing astronomy at night when boondocking so we really have no need to power the TV, satellite receiver, or other high draw equipment in nighttime hours. In daylight hours, if we wish to, the 330W (2 x 165) panels have more than enough output to power the AV gear and keep the batteries charged.
The cells all ride in the bedroom, between the wall and one side of the bed, when on the road. Hey, it worked in our old Class-C and I've never seen any reason to change.
