Solar Panels
Our new motorhome has a 7.0 kw generator. I imagine to run all appliances A/C, refrigerator, tv's, lights, etc. it would take much less than 7.0 kw as not everything is on at the same time. We decline...
Forum Discussion
valhalla360 wrote:
So you are looking at a very large solar array, very large battery array and a large inverter charger...realistically, it will be cheaper to maintain and fuel your existing 7kw generator. Even if you have to replace it every 8-10yrs.
I think you're underestimating the cost of running an RV generator 24x7.
Running an Onan 7000 for 6 months 24x7 would use close to $10,000 of gasoline (0.7 gph at half load), and after 4000 hours running 24x7 in the Arizona heat, it'll probably be time to replace it at the end of each season. (plus he'd be changing oil + filters ever 150 hours (or less) which would cost around $1000/year
So that's probably close to $15K/year in total expenses. A 20KW solar array plus a few tesla powerwalls would cost around $50K. So if he's really doing this long term, he'd break even with solar after 3 or 4 years, and he wouldn't have to deliver 120 gallons of fuel to his site every week.
He'd probably save some money buy buying a small 8KVA prime power diesel since fuel cost would probably be half, it would last a lot longer, and would need fewer oil changes.
If there is power within a few miles of his property, it could be cheaper to pay the power company to run power there.
