Hi folks, I'm still exploring Solar power for my new TC. In another thread I shared a rooftop system I was considering and several people suggested I go portable instead. I had not considered portable because of the limited storage space in TCs and my fear of damaging them during travel. However, if I can make that work I would also be able to use it with Fiver so that would be a win/win. I don't have any experience with this but it seems to me having to transport and setup a portable system frequently may be a pain compared to a rooftop system's low maintenance.I'd like to hear what you experienced TCs use and any specific products and/or sources you recommend. The main use will be keeping the batteries charged, charging electronic devices, a cpac machine and a couple hours of TV occasionally. I'm thinking 200-300 watts, a good controller and a quality inverter like the Morningstar 300W pure sine wave inverter.What do you guys think?

Go permanent roof top. Why would you want to mess around with a portable system? Portables only work when they are set up. A permanent mounted system is working while you are driving from destination to destination. A permanent system is always stored on your roof and out of the way. Portable systems have to be carried around, stored somewhere, set up, and and taken down. Plus a portable system can give someone another thing to steal.

kerry4951 wrote:Go permanent roof top. Why would you want to mess around with a portable system? Portables only work when they are set up. A permanent mounted system is working while you are driving from destination to destination. A permanent system is always stored on your roof and out of the way. Portable systems have to be carried around, stored somewhere, set up, and and taken down. Plus a portable system can give someone another thing to steal.x2 Kerry is right on. Go permanent.

What if you usually try to park under trees? Wouldn't portable be more useful?

MKish wrote:What if you usually try to park under trees? Wouldn't portable be more useful?Shade is always a problem for solar. Now you can rationalize that portable gives you the capability to move the panels to where there is sun, but that will mean at best a longer run of your cables from the panels to the battery. One thing you want to do with solar is to minimize that distance. I've looked at several portable systems and if recollection serves me correctly the topped out at about 100 watts and too boot they were not any less expensive then a permanent setup. For the OP, both my wife and I use CPAPS. If you use a ResMed CPAP check out this link for battery usage. We run ours when camping without the humidifier and heated hose. For our S9s, that is about 8 amp hours for an 8 hour night total for both CPAPS. Put the humidifier and heated hose on and your amp hours soar.Jim

Best single resource I found was Amsolar.com for solar installation products and information.I installed two panels on the roof and once installed they require none of my time and work whenever there is daylight whether the truck is parked or on the highway or the camper is being stored. They start recharging the two camper batteries as soon as it is daylight and I need to do absolutely nothing. Nothing to setup and nothing to put away and nothing to get stolen. Nothing could be easier to operate once the system is installed.It if is raining the panels get cleaned of road dust. If it is windy they are still working and still secure from damage. No matter what our usage has been during the night by noon the following day the batteries are back at 100%. A 100 Watt panel will provide 5-6 amps per hour to recharge your batteries. If your digital monitor or Trimetric indicates you are now using 25% of a 100 AH house battery you know that the solar panel providing 5 amps will need 5 hours to get the battery back to 100%.There is a tendency toward overkill. In the example of the 25 amp hours of consumption that takes 5 hours to replenish, there is no advantage to having 10 amps of panel output and charging the panels in half the time. In most situations only 3 amps will recharge the panels by nightfall. But you are flying blind without an accurate digital charge monitoring device like the Trimetric. It is like trying to decide on whether to buy a larger fuel tank when you don't know how many miles per gallon your truck consumes. The factory provided gauges are marginal and can be off by 20% or more. If you know how much battery capacity you actually need it may be enough to add a second battery to cover the period of time when your truck alternator is not charging the camper battery or you do not have shorepower available to recharge it. With our 220 AH battery bank we have 110 amp hours available and that is enough to go 3 days before needing to have any means of recharging whether it be the truck alternator or shorepower.

TCS with Solar - Rooftop or Portable | Good Sam Community

23 Replies

full_mosey
Explorer
Jul 30, 2014
Mike@Asheville wrote:

...
Does anyone have experience with this inverter: Morningstar 300W pure sine wave inverter.
...

I have one. It is for my wife's heating pad which needs PSW. I also run the satellite reciever. No worries about harming any electronics.

I also like that it is fanless and quiet. Our TT is only 14', and with the AGM battery and the MS 300W inside, quiet is good.

HTH;
John
joeshmoe
Explorer
Jul 30, 2014
Yep. Sounds like a PITA. I wouldn't want to lug that thing up and down, multiple times.
brholt
Explorer II
Jul 30, 2014
Super_Dave wrote:
Why isn't there a hybrid that clips into a frame on the roof but can be made portable when circumstances dictate?

I suspect not much demand. How often are people going to be willing to climb up on the roof and manhandle a 100+ watt panel down. Then back up again?
Super_Dave
Explorer
Jul 30, 2014
Why isn't there a hybrid that clips into a frame on the roof but can be made portable when circumstances dictate?
wintersun
Explorer II
Jul 30, 2014
As has been stated several times the first step is to install a Trimetric digital charge metering device so you know exactly what your usage is on any given day and how fast your truck's alternator can restore the charge level.

You may find that adding a second battery is all that is needed. Or that the alternator takes you to 80% but still keeps the camper battery above 50% so all is OK. Deep cycle flooded lead acid batteries are designed to handle partial recharge and then a discharge situation which is common with their use in an RV.

The Trimetric data will also make it possible to use your actual amp hours of demand and battery capacity requirements to make it through the night to determine how much solar panel output you need to recharge the batteries the following day.

I have two 100 Watt panels and two 110 AH 12v batteries and it is overkill and double what we need in actual use whether it is in the summer or the winter months that we are traveling and camping.

One rapidly reaches a point of diminishing returns on the money spent for a system. If a system recharges tht battereis 100% of the way 90% of the time and recharges them to 80% DOD the other 10% of the time, that is more than good enough.

What I like about the roof top solar panels and permanent installation of the charge controller and charge gauge is that once it was installed it required no time at all to keep it running. I check the metering gauge once in a while and see that the batteries are at 100% and that is it. If the camper sits for months the batteries are always going to be at 100% charge level when I load the camper on the truck for a trip.

The less we have to do when we get to a campsite the more we enjoy the overall experience. Having to setup a portable solar power rig and then put it away each evening and then out again the next morning or before we head off to go fishing or take a hike, and then put it out again when we return and then put it away again for the evening - this does not make any sense to me. Might as well have a generator.

I also know from our travels that at least 1 night out of 5 we will be somewhere that has shorepower for charging the batteries. At least 1 day out of the 5 we will be driving and the truck alternator will be charging the batteries. The solar takes care of the batteries the other 3 days and all we really need is one 100 Watt panel and not the two that I installed.

The second panel added about 10% to the total cost of the system I put together and I had the space on the roof and wanted to use a rack approach to securing the panel(s) to the roof so the difference in installation labor was negligible. The got the biggest bang for the buck though with adding a second battery.
AnEv942
Nomad
Jul 30, 2014
Geewizard wrote:
You're right, I drifted. Installing a PSW inverter made the microwave work fine. Then I found I didn't use the microwave very much at all anyhow so I removed it. I kept the PSW inverter. Clear as mud?

Thats what I assumed, Just had me all but rolling on the floor when I originally read.
Geewizard
Explorer
Jul 30, 2014
AnEv942 wrote:
Drifting a bit off topic but you lost me geewizard..
Microwave didn't want to work on MSW inverter, so
you install a PSW.
Which solved your problem- installing the PSW or removing the microwave?

That folding panel is very interesting, the compactness & security for storing. Hmm why is convenience so expensive. But as an addon just seems more could be gained.
I set our solar panel up with the intension of adding another panle. But the single generally meets our needs so it moved down the list- but faster recoup times or more amps in would be nice. Because it would have to go toward front of roof-which we at least try to nose in a bit where we can to partially shade camper.
That suitcase just offers some intriguing possibilities, no install, set in the sun- track, especially winter.

But in regards to OP- roof install-its always there, always working. Especially considering the possible needed panels, I wouldnt want to be setting up 200-300 watts worth of panels...

You're right, I drifted. Installing a PSW inverter made the microwave work fine. Then I found I didn't use the microwave very much at all anyhow so I removed it. I kept the PSW inverter. Clear as mud?
AnEv942
Nomad
Jul 30, 2014
Drifting a bit off topic but you lost me geewizard..
Microwave didn't want to work on MSW inverter, so
you install a PSW.
Which solved your problem- installing the PSW or removing the microwave?

That folding panel is very interesting, the compactness & security for storing. Hmm why is convenience so expensive. But as an addon just seems more could be gained.
I set our solar panel up with the intension of adding another panle. But the single generally meets our needs so it moved down the list- but faster recoup times or more amps in would be nice. Because it would have to go toward front of roof-which we at least try to nose in a bit where we can to partially shade camper.
That suitcase just offers some intriguing possibilities, no install, set in the sun- track, especially winter.

But in regards to OP- roof install-its always there, always working. Especially considering the possible needed panels, I wouldnt want to be setting up 200-300 watts worth of panels...
Geewizard
Explorer
Jul 29, 2014
I suggest permanent roof mounting and a MPPT controller. They get much more out of any solar panel than a regular PWM controller. Well worth the price IMO.

Regarding the PSW versus MSW inverters: my microwave barely heated a cup of water with a MSW inverter. It sounded terrible too, like gravel in a blender. Some appliances/devices want a 60 Hz sine wave. What I did was get a pure sine wave inverter (Xantrex Prosine) and remove the microwave too.
DesertDave100
Explorer
Jul 29, 2014
One could do both roof-mounted and portable, as I did. The portable runs through the same controller as the permanent solar (size it properly in advance) then you decide based on circumstances whether to deploy the portable.

Since I use the flexible Renogy 100 W panel, I have a pretty easy transportation and deployment situation, and I can place it on the roof easily, or on the windshield or the picnic table or against a tire or... (these are all ways I have used it in the last six weeks). That panel without controller weighs only 3 pounds I think.

Overall, with only one controller and two panels I think I ended up with a fairly decent solution for my circumstances. It may or not be useful for someone else.