Solar Panels on an RV

[snowyegret52]

I have a 1985 Fleetwood Bounder which is permanently parked on land we own in Vermont. We don't live in it full time, just use it for camping and a place to stay while we are building a log cabin using the wood there on the land.

We have to buy a new house battery and our generator works when it feels like it so we'd like to not have to rely on that to charge the house batteries.

We'd like to buy a small portable solar panel kit and two (or more) 6 volt golf cart batteries to use to power the RV while we are there (usually only weekends). We need it all to be portable because we have to take it with us when we leave because there has been some theft in the area and I'm afraid if we leave it, it will be stolen. So, we need to be able to take the whole solar panel kit and golf cart batteries home with us everytime we go.

Can someone suggest a good small portable solar panel kit with charge controller and inverter (maybe we don't need an inverter if the RV already has one) and golf cart batteries that we could use for something like this?

Thanks so much.

[earlvillestu]

For two golf cart batteries, you're going to need a considerable amount of solar to keep them charged, if you're using any significant portion of their capacity and relying on the solar as the primary charging source. As a (very rough) rule of thumb, consider one watt of solar for each 12V battery capacity amp hour as the bare minimum - and double that if you want to give your batteries a fighting chance of a decent lifetime.

So for two GC batteries, you'll need at least 220W or so of solar, and 400 would be really advisable.

[bsinmich]

Duplicate

[bsinmich]

An '85 Bounder wouldn't come with an inverter from the factory. 12V is needed by your lights, furnace, refrigerator and maybe your water heater, unless it is DSI. Changing your lights to LED will cut power use considerably.

[pianotuna]

Consider AGM batteries and store them inside the RV. Do a permanent install of the solar panels. Size at 60 watts per 100 amp-hours of storage.

[Golden_HVAC]

You could put a large solar panel across your leaking section of roof. Then use something to tie the solar panel to the roof, so that water will not get under the panel to the roof.

SunElec.com

They had a 140 watt solar panel on sale for $229 recently. It is 12 volts. You can use a very low cost PWM controller with a 12 volt panel, but would require a more expensive MPPT controller with 25+ volt panels.

For mounts, I have used 6" long 2" angle aluminum from Home Depot. This keeps the panel about 1" above the roof, for cooling. The cooler the panel is, the more power it can make.

My RV used about 35 AH daily to run the CO meter, propane detector and refrigerator. This is about what one of the 120 watt panels that I have will make in one day.

You might try to patch your leak with washing the roof, spray on contact cement, then cover with a sheet of plastic. 6 mil plastic about 8' square might work well?

Good luck,

Fred.