pianotuna wrote:
200 watts may do an average yield on a yearly basis about 1000 watt-hours per day. I would go to 400 watts with a controller which would allow for growth of the panel "farm". Why? Because an RV may use about 500 watt hours per day for parasitic loads.
What components do you already have?
My TT is a 2007 Komfort Kampsite 26BHS. The only parasitic draws I am aware of are the propane detector, audio unit memory, water heater ignition and to a lesser extent, when the fridge is running on propane and has to re-ignite. Beyond that, I'm not aware of any other parasitic draw and don't suspect there are any. My fridge is only Propane or AC.
Parts I've already bought: Renogy 2x 100W solar panels, Renogy PWM digital display Charge controller (400W), mc4 connectors/wiring, GO POWER GPCEP Cable Entry Plate, Adjustable Solar Panel Mounting Brackets, 30A DC disconnect switch, 30A inline fuse.
Per the TT, all inside lighting has been changed out to LED but generally I only use a couple of lights for a few hours a night. Other DC draws are the water pump and a RV Media bluetooth speaker hard wired to my DC circuit. Where I go is usually above 9000' so if needed, opening the windows to create a draft is all that is needed for cooling. I actually live at 8000' and do not have AC in my house. If I need to run the furnace, then yes, that will be my biggest draw for the fan on the furnace. I'm currently pretty light on battery usage. I do not currently own an Inverter and do not have short term plans to buy one... yet. :)
There is desire to go all in for a solar setup, meaning a much larger battery bank and more panels. That would also entail buying a different and better charge controller and a quality inverter probably at least 2k watts if not slightly bigger. The current issue I'm faced with is we may be looking into selling our TT in the next couple of years and going with a TC. If we do that, then yes, I want my boondocking limitations to be my dump tanks and not electrical or electrical dependency on a generator.
