Solar discusion thread, is it right for you?
ok so we haven't had one fo these as long as I can remember. lets get a friendly discussion going on the pro's and cons of solar vs other power sources.
I'll start off.
its a given that my p...
Forum Discussion
We "travel" more than we camp using our MH as a rolling apartment. Almost always hooked up or in a pinch use the genny (following any rules). So we don't have a need to add a bunch more solar, a ton of batteries, and all the other expensive things to throw money at when we just don't need it. The point is, this is not a one size fits all scenario. There are great reasons why a genny is better choice and why just about every MH out there comes with one. Clearly others "camp" differently than we do and maybe someday we will too. But for now, it wouldn't be cost effective in any way.
Funny, I use my Mh to get to places where I do some bikepacking trips and live totally off the grid, down to finding and filtering my own water, carrying all my gear and sleeping in a tent.
I'll add an ecological argument. Solar has always been touted as cleaner than fossil fuels. But is it? By the time you mine the finite materials in a 3rd world country - with all it's ecological, economical and slave labor impacts, using fossil fuels to run the machinery, get it to ships, cross the ocean, all the shipping and manufacturing of various components, and all the caustic materials used to produce batteries and solar panels and their waste, massive amounts of water usage, end of life- the list goes on and on. Is it cleaner? Is it better? The media and those in a position to make money will tell you yes. Unbiased opinions aren't as easily convinced. I also find it interesting that someone who has spent a lot of money on an EV or solar and batts on a MH will defend it to death and cherry pick a lot of stats to prove they are being vigilant. Opposing sides will do the same thing. Facts are slippery things often manipulated to suit the agenda.
Would a true test of one’s solar system be having the opportunity to plug-in and not plugging-in?
I am not sure. I think it would be to beable to camp with out power being your limiting factor. the plug in or not would be more if you have enough to run everything or not, but that may not be the intention some one has of installing them.
for example for me, I don't need or want to run a AC when I am camping so I don't need as much solar as some one in a 40 foot motorhome that has the ac's going all day.
do we still rent sites with the 5th wheel that have power, sometimes. If we are in the lower mainland and decide to use the 5th wheel in a 50 buck a night place with full hookups instead of a 300/night hotel then ya I will leave the ac on if we are out for the dog. but when I am camping I am usaly in higher elevations where it may be 100 degrees during the day, but it is cooling off to the high 40's as soon as the sun goes down so there is no need for me to have that much solar. to give and example for the last 10 year I have run 480 watts on my 5th wheel with four 6V batteries and a 2000 watt inverter and I have never not had my batteries at 100% before it got dark. well once I did as I was trying to run my outdoor kitchen bar fridge and found up I was losing about 20AH capacity a day. so, 5th wheel is getting a solar up grade maybe next year. I was going to do it this year but we bought the new truck camper and I have to do that one first as we do a lot more truck camper camping than we do 5th wheel. I don't know what I am going to put on it yet, as I don't get it untill the 9th and I have to get up and measure to see where I can put the panels and how many. I do want to go as big as I can so I can put an inverter in later on.
I am at the point now with 10 years of solar in the 5th wheel and 6 years of it in the truck camper than I would never go with out it. the freedome for how we camp to not have to worry about having power is priceless when you go to national parks at the spur of the moment and all thats open is non power sites, and they don't allow gennys. then there is also the remote forestry sites we are exploring around us that never have power, or anything.. somtimes there is a outhouse and some one will come around selling firewood if there is no ban haha
Not following your question. I don't think it's binary. I think people install what they can to meet their individual needs. Maybe for some the goal is to never plug in. That's not my goal. I don't even have the space in my small MH to accommodate all the batts without giving up the little bit of storge we have and need. Would it be cool to be totally off the grid and never have to plug in? Sure. But at what cost and modification to the way we travel. Our current mode of travel is either friends/family driveway or a layover in a state park. All of which we visit have electric. I'll run the genny occasionally to make lunch at a rest stop.
how many batteries are in your motorhome, and what type for the house supply?
my day has a 42 foot diesel pusher and his batteries are getting old so he was asking me about LiFePO4 the other day. so he has six 6V so this is a good comparison. so he has aproximaly 300AH of usable power if he doesnt want to stress his batteries and to replace them it is about 250.00 each for a half deicent 6V up here on sale. I think I paid 300 each for the ones in my 5th wheel. so thats about 1500.00 plus tax and lugging 70lbs batteries back and forth. if he switched to LiFePO4, say somthing like the wattcycle 314ah mini, they are 500 each and two would double his usable power. knowing him he would want to do 4 of them, as he gets mad he can't go camping with me or my brother and sister with out running the genny. he was asking about solar also, but I told him for the amount of camping he does with out power just go with better batteries that will last a week. we still have to do some 24hour calculations on his motorhome to see what he actualy uses in 24 hours and I told him he needs to do that before I help him do anything haha. his might be a hybred setup where he keeps the genny for running the AC as he is to old to be up on the roof installing solar panels and he is to cheep to pay someone for that. thats why he has kids he says haha.
I have a 24' class C on a Sprinter chassis with 2 12V house batts and no room for any more. Bin space is pretty limited and used up with any gear we need and those bins are roto cast and not robust enough to support heavy batteries anyway. It's just not practical to try and cram a bunch of expensive batteries and solar when I just don't need it. My genny runs on LP so much cleaner than a gas one. In my next MH - thinking of a super C, I'll probably opt for more batts but I doubt I would go as far to get enough to run the AC. We live travel in the south and it gets HOT. last week, here in NC it was 90 F. I like my AC. Is what it is.
