Solar panel
Recommendations on solar panels for my RV
Forum Discussion
Solar panels are not all imported from China although China does make a lot of them. My favorite brands non-Chinese brands are REC, Mission.
Solar panels are mostly a commodity and looked at on a watts per dollar basis. The best price on is typically a 60 cell panel which will be about 40" wide and 66" long. These will put out 30 - 35 volts and are what some people refer to as a "24 volt" panel. These are used by the thousands on homes and businesses and thus usually lower cost on a dollar per watt basis than smaller "12v panels". Yes, you will need an MPPT charge controller. In the residential solar business is pretty much unheard of to install any charge controller that is not MPPT. I think most of the PWM controllers are likely bought by RVers. Nothing wrong with that, it's just that PWM is far from the "standard" used in the overall industry.
Put as many and as large of panels on your RV that you can fit. Solar panels are relatively inexpensive compared to batteries, inverters, and charge controllers. Careful shopping should get you solar panels at around 50 cents a watt. If you pay more than $1 a watt it's an incredible rip off.
Solar panels are mostly a commodity and looked at on a watts per dollar basis. The best price on is typically a 60 cell panel which will be about 40" wide and 66" long. These will put out 30 - 35 volts and are what some people refer to as a "24 volt" panel. These are used by the thousands on homes and businesses and thus usually lower cost on a dollar per watt basis than smaller "12v panels". Yes, you will need an MPPT charge controller. In the residential solar business is pretty much unheard of to install any charge controller that is not MPPT. I think most of the PWM controllers are likely bought by RVers. Nothing wrong with that, it's just that PWM is far from the "standard" used in the overall industry.
Put as many and as large of panels on your RV that you can fit. Solar panels are relatively inexpensive compared to batteries, inverters, and charge controllers. Careful shopping should get you solar panels at around 50 cents a watt. If you pay more than $1 a watt it's an incredible rip off.
