Solar: RV Park Grid Tie?

Drycamping without solar sucks, yes. Don is right, battery bank size (and inverter size) are same important as solar panels size in this case.

Hi,

You are in a truck camper? How many amp-hours of battery bank do you have to draw on?

I simply added an additional shore power cord (2 of them actually)

I have a medium size inverter and I plug into that when dry camping. I also use it when on shore power to add another usable outlet in the kitchen.

GordonThree wrote:
I'm not 100% certain, but check the literature on Magnum Energy's Hybrid inverters. I do believe the bigger units have a dual input mode that allow you to run off a renewable source and supplement with grid power as needed. It doesn't back-feed the grid, instead it uses battery power (and power from the sun/wind), and only uses metered grid power when you demand more than your renewable source can provide.

Thanks, that was more about what I was thinking.

Because we live full time with a family in the Rv, dry camping kinda sucks. But I liked my 240w of power we had on the motor home (sold it), and I thought having solar again for when we do dry camp would be nice, then it would also be nice to be able to put it to use at the campground, even if the "break even" investment wasn't worth it.

Thanks for the insight, wasn't sure about how net metering worked, and my electrical physics knowledge is limited in regards to shore power.

Fun topic to consider.

I'm not 100% certain, but check the literature on Magnum Energy's Hybrid inverters. I do believe the bigger units have a dual input mode that allow you to run off a renewable source and supplement with grid power as needed. It doesn't back-feed the grid, instead it uses battery power (and power from the sun/wind), and only uses metered grid power when you demand more than your renewable source can provide.

+15 years break-even period for full-time RV solar that is not grid-tied, sounds about right. I would say - about 20. This is - if you install it yourself. Hardly worth the trouble if you are always hooked up and pay residential rates. With grid-tied - don't know.

I met a guy in Rockport, TX that did this. During the day the electric meter would run backwards. Roof of his 5th wheel was covered with solar and more batteries than I could count.:B He claimed a net gain during the season.
Also was a dealer/installer. Wanted to sell me the same.

I would probably recommend a 24v panel and enphase grid tie inverters.

Probably get away with it on an old analog dial meter but a new digital would probably signal what you are doing to the electric company. And once the utility knows they will require an inspection and permit to generate into the grid.

Hi,

It is quite possible but not cost effective.

By more power during the day what do you mean?

It's absolutely possible but probably not worth the effort.
I build these types of systems all the time but they're on houses and commercial buildings.
To do this properly you have to have a Net Metering agreement with the power company. They install a bi-directional electric meter. If you were going to be parked at a permanent site all the time you could do that but not if you're moving around from place to place.
Most normal electric meters won't run their count in reverse even if you feed power thru them backward. This is to keep people from flipping their meter over and stealing from the power company. So, even if you decide to try a grid-tie system without the bi-directional meter, any power you push to the grid would actually run your meter forward and you would be billed for the power you gave to the grid.
On a home, depending on state tax incentives, it can take anywhere from 5 to 15 years until you break even. That is, when you've saved enough electricity to pay for the solar system. With a small little system like would be on an RV I suspect this time frame would be even longer.