Another SOLAR question!!!
We have been living in a TT full time for well over a year. Now its high time we start weaning ourselves off of grid power. We will be moving our camper onto land without shore power. So we plan to ge...
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SunElec.com had a 140 watt 12 volt solar panel for $229 a few weeks ago.
I would recommend spending the money on a PWM controller, not a more expensive MPPT controller. They are only about $35 for a 20 amp controller, good for 2 of the 140 watt panels.
Your RV will consume about 35 AH daily just to run the refrigerator, CO meter and propane leak detectors. This is about what one 120 watt panel will make in one day.
I lived full time in a RV with 400 watts of solar panels, and 4 golf cart batteries. Normally I did not need to run the generator, but might if I used more than 120 amp hours overnight. I liked to watch a lot of satellite TV each night.
I would also recommend a small inverter, like 200 - 500 watt size. It can plug into cigarette lighter, and run small things like a laptop, DVD player, TV set, all at once. I would not recommend a larger inverter, as they discharge the battery to quickly, and are not nearly as energy efficient.
I have a built in 1500 watt inverter, but normally use my portable 300 W inverter instead. It will use about 2 AH less than the larger one.
Good luck,
Fred.
I would recommend spending the money on a PWM controller, not a more expensive MPPT controller. They are only about $35 for a 20 amp controller, good for 2 of the 140 watt panels.
Your RV will consume about 35 AH daily just to run the refrigerator, CO meter and propane leak detectors. This is about what one 120 watt panel will make in one day.
I lived full time in a RV with 400 watts of solar panels, and 4 golf cart batteries. Normally I did not need to run the generator, but might if I used more than 120 amp hours overnight. I liked to watch a lot of satellite TV each night.
I would also recommend a small inverter, like 200 - 500 watt size. It can plug into cigarette lighter, and run small things like a laptop, DVD player, TV set, all at once. I would not recommend a larger inverter, as they discharge the battery to quickly, and are not nearly as energy efficient.
I have a built in 1500 watt inverter, but normally use my portable 300 W inverter instead. It will use about 2 AH less than the larger one.
Good luck,
Fred.
