Solar Panels - worth it?

[Don___Carolyn]

We are looking at a Roadtrek that has solar panels. We have never used them and don't know how they work. For those of you who have them, do you find them useful? Would you buy them again or would you go without them? Have you had to replace them because of damage? Thanks!

[Davydd]

I should add in regard to what I said about solar taking care of the necessary charging for battery drain that is going to occur if you did nothing. The major reason I want solar for dry camping situations is to have the ability to still have full use of all my electrical AC outlets, microwave and coffee maker without having to resort to running a generator.

Air conditioning is a very low priority but since we are adding solar, large battery bank and high wattage inverter/charger we do want that little extra capacity to run an air conditioner for a one to two hour stop during the day (lunch, hiking, shopping, touring, etc,) and leave a pet in the van. If the climate were so adverse to need air conditioning we would simply seek an electrical hookup campground. For a dry camping situation in a forest wilderness I would want neither a generator or an air conditioner running.

As I have said in the past, we have managed for most of a decade to effectively plan and follow the climate and seasons without needing air conditioning in our Class Bs. Part of that has been the use of effective screening on the back doors and huge opening side sliding door as well as five operable windows. That is what few Class Bs have had but are just now waking up to the idea and no Class Cs I am aware of can accomplish to equalize inside temperatures with the outside.

[reed_cundiff]

There are quite a number of us with "excess" solar power and battery bank that permit us to do just about anything without hookup or generator. It is a question of attitude and life-style prerogatives. Got together with another boondocker near Glacier and his system is similar to ours: he has 1200W of solar and 1200 ampdhours of PbS (14 kW-hours); while we have 1420W of solar and 9.6 kW-hours of LFP.

This permits up to 3.5 hours of AC (down 50% DOD and can go down to 80% with no problems), micro-wave, heating pads, etc. A Class B could easily fit 700 W of solar. 4.8 kW-hours of LFP would only weigh 125#. LFP costs have dropped 30% in the year since we purchased ours. First class panels are about 50 cents/watt
Reed and Elaine

[justwandrin]

The solar panels on my Agile produce enough charge to compensate for the electric fridge.

[Arizona_Kid]

As far as an RV is concerned, solar panels don't run anything, what they will do is charge the batteries.

"Before we get started we think you need to know that solar power is not the cure all for replacing spent energy. For example some are trying to recharge batteries for a Trolling Motor, Boat, RV, House, Electric Scooter, Backwoods Cabin, etc. and they want it done in very short time, usually in just a few days. Assume you take a discharged 100-amp hour battery and charge it with a 30-watt solar panel under ideal summer time light conditions. After a full week the battery will be just about fully charged. Using this example you can see that it will take at least 100-watts of solar power to recharge a 100-amp hour battery in a few days. Keep in mind that it takes direct sunshine on the surface of the panel to produce the maximum rated power of a solar panel. Conditions such as an overcast sky, shadows, improper mounting angle, equatorial direction or short winter days will reduce the actual solar panel output to below the rated values".

Source: Battery Stuff

[1775]

A lot depends on what your expectations are of the solar panels. I have looked a lot into adding solar panels for my Roadtrek and also what the panels from the factory on the new Roadtreks will do. They will keep your batteries charged when you are not using the RV and they will be fully charged when you need them. They will not run the A/C. What you get out of use with them depends on if you are draining the batteries faster than the solar panels can charge them. If having a fully charged battery when you need it is something that appeals to you (it does to me) then go for the Roadtrek with built on solar. Adding them on later is expensive.

[cbigham]

I camp off grid almost exclusively. I have a 80 watt panel that charges a AGM battery . Works great. On cold days it kept my battery charged even after a few hours a day of heater use and charging the phone, tablet etc.

Once, after some cold and very cloudy, shady conditions my battery ran down a bit more than 50% after 2 and a half, almost 3 days. No sun in sight. No big deal...time to move on anyway! (Holding tank, water capacity good for 3, 4 days give or take) have the engine wired to charge when driving as well. Couple hours of driving, resupply, good to go again. Also an on board generator.

I used to plug in to charge before a trip. Now it's brainless. Always ready to go...convenient. ..which is why I bought the van. I think I am in the stuff less than $250. Installed myself.


Here you can just see the panel. Not much space..

[mikes47]

Check out this site for more solar examples. http://www.gonewiththewynns.com/solar

[jjson775]

It depends on your travel style. We traveled all over the U.S. and Canada and never missed it. We were out and about almost every day in the Class B and that kept the house battery charged. The negative on solar would be a loss of net carrying capacity. Keep things simple. Good luck.

Jim

[Don___Carolyn]

We appreciate all of your comments. THANKS!

[time2roll]

You need to get into the 100+ watt zone to be worth it.
Not much room on a B so you are not going to be running on solar only.

[TOMMY47]

I think it's worth it. On my class C I put 2x100 watt panels on the roof. One for the house battery and one for an additional 90ah battery. I could have gone weeks without being hooked to electricity. The panel to the house battery kept it up so that I could run all house systems easily without running the engine to keep it charged. The 90ah battery ran all other 110 volt electric gadgets through an inverter and never ran down.

[bobman]

I added a 140 watt panel And a AGM battery last summer it's the best thing I've done I never run out of battery while boon docking

I wouldn't have any rv without solar but I never stay in camp grounds either

[stan909]

If it is a brand new Roadtrek and you are having them add the panels then you will probably be paying way too much but the cost would be in the loan and the warranty would not be a problem. I have solar on my class a and class b.Love em.

[Davydd]

I'm getting solar on our next B with the idea solar, if you are sitting in a campground or home not hooked up, will recharge the amps used to power things that are going to be used regardless like the DC compressor refrigerator and all the other trickle amp consuming devices like alarms. The rest I can take care of by battery management through other charging means.