Ready to get my feet wet with Solar power

lc0338 wrote:

bka0721 wrote:
My contribution to this thread is only from a practical experience tangent, as I have been practicing what the OP has originally opened for discussion, for a number of years now. My solar system
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P.s. Just getting a Generator would be less money than solar and less trouble, if you don’t plan on camping for long periods of time.

bryan

Bryan, you have definitely peaked my interest and yes I want more information / pictures if possible. You have put out a lot of information which will require some time for me to digest and I'm sure I will have many follow-up questions. I was beginning to think my idea was a little too far out there or too expensive / ineffecient. I am currently retired and when the DW retires I plan to full time for awhile. Full timing with horses will be expensive, just for horse feed, so I would like to cut cost by boondocking / drycamping as much as possible to save costs. Thanks for the post.

Don't let the techie guys worry you. They get pretty excited about threads like this and end up talking to themselves and forgetting about the OP and his question. If you follow them enough they are really sharing some great information, but mostly is seems like a foreign language, at times. For me, I am more a big picture guy and work on the concept and put into action, rather than spend a lot of time talking about something. I just don't have the time, when I am full timing and looking for the next place to explore or to find out where the next road goes to. I tend to find a word picture way of communicating to someone in a fashion they can relate. Now remember, my "rover cart" does not resemble the picture I am describing for your "rover" but the concept is the same, as well as function. Solar is really simple, with a few variables thrown in. The big issue I see in your material list, is that you have Wet Cell batteries, as I do. My big concern is that you will be lifting this rover off the flat bed of your truck. I grew up farming and ranching and there is no way you won't, on occasion, tip things and you just don't want to do that with a wet cell battery bank.

The big thing you are going to run into, is splitting the DC portion of your camper from your AC portion. This is why I have two Solar systems. They both can run AC/DC simultaneously and in an emergency, but if you send your rover too far from the mother ship, I mean the camper, you are going to run into BIG problems with your DC demands. The techies will share that DC is an issue in that cable runs need to be short. Just ask Edison and Tesler. So when my Rover is right behind my camper (Truck Camper) my DC cable is not a problem. But when I park it 50', or farther, it is. Plus, I don't want to create a "welding" issue if the cable were to rub the insulation off of itself. I don't have my DC cable installed in a permanent mode as I do my AC cable, which I use my disconnects to move the Rover out and supplement the distance with a thick gauge shore power extension cord.

One of the other reasons I have two solar systems, is for redundancy. So if I have a failure, my equipment is interchangeable.

But, again, remember, Solar is an expensive solution for a problem that can be solved by other means. More than once you have mentioned cost is a consideration, so be sure to consider your other options and if this self discussion, results in an answer of; Solar. Go for it.

bryan