solar power & battery

time2roll wrote:
Stay with what you have until it proves inadequate. You can pick up a battery anytime.

theoldwizard1 wrote:
Concur ! Then get TWO 6V golf cart batteries.

Disagree, because the OP has a brand new trailer with a brand new battery. The number of times one may dry camp each season is irrelevant as it only takes one weekend without shore power to realize the limitations of a single battery. In fact, the OP hasn't even told us what that one battery is that he has but if it's a garden variety flooded G24 then the story is even worse because of it's limited capacity. Since this is a brand new battery I'd ask the dealer to take it back and allow the OP credit on 2 new matched batteries, either a pair of 6 volt GC-2s or a pair of 12 volt G31s, either set of which would offer ~ 220 amps of reserve capacity at the 20 Hr rate. While his 160 watts of solar may be marginal for this size of battery bank he can always improve that later if it proves necessary, in the meantime he always has his genset for recharging those batteries as may be required.

We are all different in our power needs. We find a single 100 watt solar panel and two deep cycle batteries perfectly fit our needs. Just for furnace, fridge, LED lights, phones and tablets. We never plug in to pedestal power or generator. Perfect!

Well, if we had 160 watts of solar we could probably use the microwave oven occasionally.

Batteries can be quickly drained if running a furnace fan or creating heat, like using a microwave if you have a large inverter. You need to be aware of the draw of each appliance and how long you can safely use the battery(s) to power them.

Most batteries are not designed to be discharged over 50% without doing damage damage over the long haul to the battery. We boondock in AZ for months on end and you must learn how to monitor use, especially if you hit cloudy weather which means less stored power being generated.

Solar is great but the real key is how much energy can you store?? Lots of guys here know more than me - hoping they will chime in for you.

We mostly camp with hookups.
February 2017 ice storms caught us at Walmart in Ft Stockton, Texas when everyone else sheltering from the weather had filled the campgrounds. Our one marine starting battery would not run the furnace overnight. We were really cold inside the next morning.
So now we have two 6v golf cart batteries.

Not only do you need to dry camp a lot you need to do so while running minimal electrical.

Once you crank the air/con up, the genny is coming on.

If you camp with hookups then you have no need for any more batteries. If you camp without hookups then you can never have enough battery.

time2roll wrote:
Stay with what you have until it proves inadequate. You can pick up a battery anytime.

Concur ! Then get TWO 6V golf cart batteries.

Stay with what you have until it proves inadequate. You can pick up a battery anytime.

A second battery gives not only additional AHs to use for instance to run your heater extra or watch a long movie but extends battery life by lowering your normal depth of discharge. The 160 solar watts installed may be close to insufficient. Generally you want one solar panel watt for every AH of battery capacity. IMO the most beautiful campsites don't have "full hookups" and I rarely camp with any hookups.

Solar and more batteries are only good IF you dry camp.