Ready to get my feet wet with Solar power
Thought I would post my idea here and let the experts tell me what I am missing. First off, I own 2ea RV's. 1 is a gooseneck horse trailer with living quarters and the other is a bumper pull prowler....
Forum Discussion
lc0338 wrote:
Thanks for all the input. I have not pulled the trigger on anything yet. I have read a lot of stuff about people starting off small (12volt) and soon realize they needed to step up. That is the reason I was kinda starting off bigger. I have dry camped a lot but always run the generator when needed. I'm just trying to minimize having parts I have to throw in the corner to get rigged up differently. And it may be right that a "solar cart" may be a little out there. At minimum if I have a cart made that I can load with my bale bed I can leave it on the truck and park my truck in the sun. I am planning to full time RV for awhile, until the wife gets homesick, so I want to live as cheaply as possible. I was looking at the solar panels up to 250 watt and they said for 24 volt I needed 2 panels and reason I went with 2 panels for my initial setup. In reality I guess I could initially set up the system 12volt and only purchase 1 250 watt panel then switch it over to 24 volt, if needed, and only have to purchase the other panel and rewire my batteries from 12 to 24 volt.
Not saying you haven't thought about it, but just going with how it went for us. You do need to start somewhere, and max flex is the rule as usual.
Eg, I have two 100w 12v panels in a swivel /tilted contraption that takes only a few minutes to set up some distance from the trailer.
If desired, those two panels could be wired in series instead of parallel to make a 24v 200w panel. Same equipment. Still 200w. Difference would be now with 24v, we would need a $250 MPPT controller instead of a $39 PWM controller and it would only gain a few more AH than we get now. (and we get more than we need as is)
24v in the rig has some wiring advantages if you need that. However, we don't need any such advantages, since the 12v system works great. So why fuss with it? IMO wait on that for later if it still seems like a good idea.
Unclear if you are taking both RVs or just the horse trailer. since DW prefers the real RV, maybe take that and just a smaller horse trailer and two tow vehicles. You don't need two living spaces, and you need the horses but not the second living space. How would that work for your set-up, for instance? Are you allowed to double-tow where you will be? Many places you can't, but some you can. How would that affect things?
