How Much solar to Add??
We dry camp as much as wet camp. I have tow Trojan T-125's up front providng a good long draw for 240ah. I am looking to keep these charged up. 300-400-500 Watts? Waterpump and heater are the two larg...
Forum Discussion
Pianotuna's linked solar use spreadsheet is where you want to start unless money/weight is no object. If you tally your power requirements, I'd bet you use more power than an armchair estimate. There are parasitic draws of alarms, radios, thermostat, fridge and water heater circuits to consider. Add in some cell phone and laptop charging, the occasional fan and lights use, and the tally keeps rising. Using a typical RV furnace in cold weather is a lot of draw. After you have a good handle on the power needs as they exist, add in an appreciable "fudge factor" for future electrical use. Once that power is free, you'll find other ways to use it.
An additional consideration may be roof real estate. Higher watt panels are fairly large and shading issues may come into play. Mounting smaller wattage panels may fit better but may take more work mounting (more sets of mounts to get to the needed wattage). If you have an odd parking situation to work around or wish to harvest maximum watts, tilting may come into play.
Hope the above helps.
An additional consideration may be roof real estate. Higher watt panels are fairly large and shading issues may come into play. Mounting smaller wattage panels may fit better but may take more work mounting (more sets of mounts to get to the needed wattage). If you have an odd parking situation to work around or wish to harvest maximum watts, tilting may come into play.
Hope the above helps.
