Solar Powered RV

mlts22 wrote:

qtla9111 wrote:
I don't think it is so much the class of the motorhome but for people to know that there are advances in technology. Whenever a thread starts about solar and A/C it is poo-pooed from the start by many people who are just not in the know.

Solar and batteries have come a long way. I know of three people who power their rvs A/C with batteries and solar but they refuse to post here because they always get shot down.

As someone else said, how about looking for an alternative by using a smaller unit with a smaller draw that will keep you cool in your bedroom at night.

These threads always go bad, they don't need to. Be more open-minded and accept the fact that the world doesn't have to exist solely on 110 and fossil fuel. A big mistake was made over 100 years ago when they refused Tesla's proposal.

There is a Youtube video maker whom I follow, who is running a small (5000 BTU) A/C off of a few solar panels. It isn't the best setup, but it allows him to run the A/C to help cool/dry the air for a couple hours in the evening.

Eventually we will get to a point of being able to run an A/C off a larger rig's solar panels. It will take some inventions such as a slide-out mechanism for more square footage for panels to use, better charge controllers (perhaps each individual cell in a panel would have a small regulator, which would cause the energy loss from shade to be as low as possible), better batteries (supercaps, lithium/air), and maybe even advances in wiring. A superconducting wire the thickness of a thread would replace a pretty thick wire, if room temperature superconductivity can be achieved with a ductile material.

There are some cool innovations coming out now. I forgot the brand, but a hybrid converter/inverter (Victron has these as well, but I forgot the brand that just came out) which allows something like an A/C or microwave to run off a generator, but the inrush current be handled by both the generator as well as the inverter for a brief time, then the generator handles the load.

I've seen that video too. Some cool stuff going on out there. Just a matter of experimenting as well as new technology. Batteries are getting better.