Lights on the panel - battery indicator - very inaccurate. Trimetric monitor or a cheaper Victron BMW600 is the best. There are fans of either model.
Heater - go catalytic propane, it will save both energy and propane. Platinum Cat is the best, Olympic is the 2nd best - cheaper but not vented, if you paranoid about air quality and CO, get Platinum Cat.
For a shore power get 120V heater under 1,000W, your outlets might not handle big 1,500W heater.
Solar - a big question. Smkettner has 675W system, and it seems to cover all his needs in SoCal, including high-draw items like microwave. He published his installation with photos here. Without high-draw items like microwave, in SoCal you can live happily off 400-500W system and 500 AH battery bank (4 GC) without a generator, or with very occasional genny run. LCD TV draws very little, sat receiver a little more, catalytic heater - depends on how cold but less than a furnace for sure, this won't be a problem with solar. The problem is high-draw 120V items other than electronics - MW, coffee-maker, hair dryer, toaster, vacuum. If you can live without those for 2 weeks, 500W solar is enough. Materials cost ~$1.50 per watt, including panels, controller, inverter and everything else. Labor may cost a couple grand on top of that.
Most RV solar systems on this forum are
DIY
