Solar Rv awning -- does it pencil out?

$10 per watt=ridiculously expensive.

“You get charging-while-driving from the engine in the tow vehicle or motorhome anyway…”

Not that much goes through that tiny little wire, Ski.

Timmo solar is under $1 per watt installed.

Where are you buying fuel at those prices today?

You have not factored in maintenance. My Yamaha wants oil every 50 hours. If I relied on it totally and ran 24/7 that's every two days, two hours.

pianotuna wrote:
Timmo solar is under $1 per watt installed.

With batteries and AC inverter?

pianotuna wrote:
Timmo solar is under $1 per watt installed.

Where are you buying fuel at those prices today?

You have not factored in maintenance. My Yamaha wants oil every 50 hours. If I relied on it totally and ran 24/7 that's every two days, two hours.

Not in Canada but in a lot of the USA, it's still a reasonable long term assumption.

Odd, my Yamaha calls for oil change every 100hr.

If you just need to charge the batteries, solar is a good option. Generator's make sense when you need high load, longer duration output.

pianotuna wrote:
Timmo solar is under $1 per watt installed.

Where are you buying fuel at those prices today?

You have not factored in maintenance. My Yamaha wants oil every 50 hours. If I relied on it totally and ran 24/7 that's every two days, two hours.

I am not the author of that excel spreadsheet, but the variables can be changed easily. Just saying this analysis indicates the financial breakeven is years for heavy users...probably never for weekenders. If my conclusion is wrong, then please correct me with your facts.

My Honda 2000 cost me about $750 a decade or so and is running strong (equivalent cost of $0.375 per watt (2000w) and $0.469 (1600w)...about 2-3 times lessor than your $1/watt system). In my world, it takes me less than 2 hours each morning to fully charge a pair of 6 volt golf cart batteries. We use our TT about 60-70 days each year.

time2roll wrote:
$10 per watt is on the high side. Pass.

ya the very very high side, its only about 0.60/watt up here and probably cheeped down there.

Steve

Timmo! wrote:
Here is a link to Solar vs Honda financial breakeven analysis that will help determine which source of power is cost effective. This analysis indicates for the Honda 2000, it will take about 5.5 year breakeven, or around 1954 days of usage.



https://www.nroa2003.com/download/Miscellaneous/Cost_of_Solar_vs_Honda.xls

Of course the breakeven analysis for carbon emissions is a different story all together. At what point does the accumulated emissions from the generator's manufacture and operation match that of the solar panel emissions? If we take a page from the BEV's breakeven analysis, then it probably is several years away for heavy RV users and probably never for the occasional weekender.

thats kinda of a outdated table, must be from the 90's. I did a complet 325 watt system for 600 cdn, probably would have been about 3-400 down there if that. also you would never be able to charge your batteries enough to totaly recover from a 60AH draw in any offical campground up here as you limited to to hours of generator use in the morning and 1 to 2 at night in most places. some will give you and extra hour here to there, some say no generators period, and more are going that way.

the other thing they have in that graph is the unrealistic charge rate from the generators, if you have a 45 amp converter in your rv, all your getting is 45 amps and that is if everything else is turned off and dependent on the stat of charge of the battery. if a flooded battery is down 60 amps its you can assume probably 4 to 8 hours of charge to get to 100% depending on the equalization phase and how much actualy amprage your 45amp converter is actualy sending to the generator.

Well bless your heart StirCrazy...

325 watts @ 12 volts = 27 amps. (The worksheet calculates 300 watts = 25 amps)

My Honda generator produces 133 amps (this has not changed).

Yes the table may be a decade old, but that does not change the accuracy of the breakeven results...5.4 years if the generator is used 1954 days.

How many years do you calculate as your breakeven number?

If I were entering data on that spreadsheet, I would need a separate column for an intangible cost: the noise and smell that accompany generator use.

I have a Honda 2000 and almost never use it (except at home when "exercising" it during routine maintenance). For us, silence and the smell of the forest are both very valuable -- we live in the dense suburbs of Southern California, and escaping that environment is one of the reasons we go camping.

That's especially true since we are avid boondockers.

So how to quantify that variable?? I don't know. The Honda is a "sunk cost" -- we have to have it in case the sun does not shine and our panel does not produce juice.