Looking for an RV solar vendor in So Cal

I think you will find Discount Solar and Solar Bill's in Q are shut down for the season. But keep in mind, there is no sales tax on solar products in Arizona.

Thanks for letting us know. It certainly is great to hear some good news.

I just realized that it's been slightly over a year since we added solar to our fiver. This is one of the best investments we ever made.

We've spent probably 4-5 months out of the past twelve in the RV and the constant solar made a huge difference. We hardly use our generator anymore except for a little top-off in the evenings when we're boondocking in the winter.

I typically turn on the inverter at the beginning of a trip and leave it on the whole time--partly because I'm too lazy to turn it off and partly because there's always an iPad or something charging. I also like to set the clock on the microwave as a way of showing me if there have been any power interruptions. I couldn't run the inverter this much though without the solar.

I love it that the batteries are always fully charged when I pick up the trailer from storage. I love it even more that I don't need to deal with plugging in the shore power cord to charge up when we bring it home to pack.

I haven't gone up on the roof to clean the panels, but we drive through the Blue Beacon truck wash every other month or so to wash the fiver, so the panels get a good bath.

I think the only fault we've had so far was that the bluetooth module stopped working. There's no on/off switch to cycle it, so I had to remove the cover to the controller and unplug/replug it to restore connection. That bluetooth module and app are amazing. It's fun to lie in bed and see a crack of the sun coming up and check the monitor to see the system already beginning to charge. The signal is strong enough that we can monitor it from outside in camp or in the truck on the road.

All in all, I couldn't be happier with this. I wish we'd done it sooner.

dedmiston wrote:

IAMICHABOD wrote:

dedmiston wrote:

IAMICHABOD wrote:
I have not used them but when I asked a mobile RV tech a while back about solar he gave me a referral to ***Link Removed*** You might give them a call.

He told me he had referred others and he had great ***Link Removed*** as did my RV Tech

Perfect. That’s very close to home. Thanks!!

Great If you do use them please come back and let me know how it worked out,I have been toying about this idea myself.

FOLLOW UP:

"These people" turned out to be "this guy" Dave. He installed my system for me yesterday and I'm happy so far.

The install started off a little rocky. He was supposed to meet me at my RV storage yard at 10:00. I went up early to take care of some other things and got a text from him just before 9:00 that he was going to be a few hours late. I wasn't thrilled, but these things happen.

It turns out that he lives out in Palm Springs (not North Hollywood like the website says) and he had to swing by the factory in Ontario to pick up the parts for my job. That's a ton of driving (over 150 miles plus the detour through Ontario).

He was a good guy though and he was ready to hit the ground running. He took a few minutes to scope out my setup and talk with me about where I'd like the panels and the controller. It took us 10-15 minutes to brainstorm on the best spot for the controller. I'm happy with the spot that we ended up with.

He wasn't crazy with the ladder on my 5er (neither am I), so he used his own extension ladder. I figured he'd need a hand to get the panels up to the roof, but he never asked for help.

Once he was done, he walked me through the concepts and the functionality. I had read the controller's documentation while he was cleaning up and had some questions. One question was about the automatic 28 day desulfation/equalization cycle: the docs said not to use any load during that automatic cycle. I asked him if that meant I couldn't run any lights or appliances? He said this was news to him and that I'd need to call the manufacturer.

I appreciate when an expert admits that he doesn't know instead of tap dancing around the question.

He had one boo-boo during his wiring run (we all have issues during our DIY projects) and I was impressed with the way he made it right.

The finished result was a very clean wiring job. My wife is a reasonable woman, but she gets pretty peeved when things don't look right. She will never see this controller unless she's looking for it. Perfect.

I drove up to the storage yard this morning because I'm a geek and I wanted to check up on everything. I knew I'd forgotten to turn off the fridge and I didn't want to be using LP unnecessarily. But my real motive was to see what the numbers would look like in early morning light on a cloudy morning (it's very overcast today). The controller was controlling and the panels were charging. It wasn't much, but 1.5A seemed pretty good for those conditions.

So all in all, I'm happy with the equipment and the work he did.

Wow, thank you for the great review!! It was a pleasure doing your solar and I'm glad you're enjoying it :D
here's a shot of your roof :)

IAMICHABOD wrote:
I have not used them but when I asked a mobile RV tech a while back about solar he gave me a referral to ***Link Removed*** You might give them a call.

He told me he had referred others and he had great ***Link Removed*** as did my RV Tech

thanks for the referral! :D

Thanks for coming back and telling us all how it went and answering the questions from the others.That gave me a lot of good insite if I decide to do this.

Wow I really thought that he was closer to you when I relayed what I knew about him,I have to say he must be dedicated to his job to do that and it seems that you got exactly what you wanted.

If I decide to do this I will definatly give him a call,he is much closer to me than you. :B

pianotuna wrote:
dedmiston,

Please share the system with us? I.e. how many watts? What controller? Size of battery bank?

Renogy 12V 700W RV Solar Kit

In place already are four 6v batteries and a 2000W inverter.

The new panels are overkill for the batteries, but I can only afford to upgrade certain components at one time.

dedmiston,

The reason to not draw power during equalization is that it may be higher than 15.4 volts. If it is, then the various control boards (fridge, water heater, furnace, air conditioner) may be at risk of letting out the magic blue smoke.

dedmiston,

Please share the system with us? I.e. how many watts? What controller? Size of battery bank?

IAMICHABOD wrote:

dedmiston wrote:

IAMICHABOD wrote:
I have not used them but when I asked a mobile RV tech a while back about solar he gave me a referral to These People You might give them a call.

He told me he had referred others and he had great Yelp reviews as did my RV Tech

Perfect. That’s very close to home. Thanks!!

Great If you do use them please come back and let me know how it worked out,I have been toying about this idea myself.

FOLLOW UP:

"These people" turned out to be "this guy" Dave. He installed my system for me yesterday and I'm happy so far.

The install started off a little rocky. He was supposed to meet me at my RV storage yard at 10:00. I went up early to take care of some other things and got a text from him just before 9:00 that he was going to be a few hours late. I wasn't thrilled, but these things happen.

It turns out that he lives out in Palm Springs (not North Hollywood like the website says) and he had to swing by the factory in Ontario to pick up the parts for my job. That's a ton of driving (over 150 miles plus the detour through Ontario).

He was a good guy though and he was ready to hit the ground running. He took a few minutes to scope out my setup and talk with me about where I'd like the panels and the controller. It took us 10-15 minutes to brainstorm on the best spot for the controller. I'm happy with the spot that we ended up with.

He wasn't crazy with the ladder on my 5er (neither am I), so he used his own extension ladder. I figured he'd need a hand to get the panels up to the roof, but he never asked for help.

Once he was done, he walked me through the concepts and the functionality. I had read the controller's documentation while he was cleaning up and had some questions. One question was about the automatic 28 day desulfation/equalization cycle: the docs said not to use any load during that automatic cycle. I asked him if that meant I couldn't run any lights or appliances? He said this was news to him and that I'd need to call the manufacturer.

I appreciate when an expert admits that he doesn't know instead of tap dancing around the question.

He had one boo-boo during his wiring run (we all have issues during our DIY projects) and I was impressed with the way he made it right.

The finished result was a very clean wiring job. My wife is a reasonable woman, but she gets pretty peeved when things don't look right. She will never see this controller unless she's looking for it. Perfect.

I drove up to the storage yard this morning because I'm a geek and I wanted to check up on everything. I knew I'd forgotten to turn off the fridge and I didn't want to be using LP unnecessarily. But my real motive was to see what the numbers would look like in early morning light on a cloudy morning (it's very overcast today). The controller was controlling and the panels were charging. It wasn't much, but 1.5A seemed pretty good for those conditions.

So all in all, I'm happy with the equipment and the work he did.