Full Timing with Solar and Shore Power

[Nathanbates114]

Hey everyone,
My wife and I just bought a new 2023 Rockwood TT. It came equipped (from the factory) with an inverter, 2 200w solar panels and we added two Lithium Ion Batteries (100ah). I was under the impression that the inverter would work for everything in the trailer but I guess that is not the case. My wife is a travel nurse and we will be full Timing for the next 8-10 years and wanted to save on our electric bill. My question is, should we add another inverter that would make it to where we can use everything in trailer with the solar and lithium ion batteries and then plug into shore power every once in a while if the batteries and solar can't keep up? Or, if we're plugged into shore power, would the solar and the lithium ion batteries save us any money on our bill? It's very confusing to me as I know the solar keeps the batteries charged but I believe once we are plugged into shore power, that will trump our solar if I'm correct. Thanks for any advice and tips. Much appreciated.

[Cptnvideo]

See our signature. With the money we spent on solar, we could buy a LOT of park electricity. Even over a 10 year period. We spent that money so we could have the convenience of boondocking whenever we want without having to listen to a generator.
It sounds like the OP has a residential fridge and small inverter that just powers the fridge.
I chose to have our 3kw inverter feed the entire AC panel, so I just have to watch what I try to run when unplugged. BTW, our solar/battery/inverter setup will run a soft start A/C unit for a good part of the day.

[valhalla360]

nickthehunter wrote:
How much money are you willing to spend today, to save $10,000 over 10 years?

In 6 months last summer, not being shy with the aircon, our total bill was $200.

Unless the OP puts on 3-4kw of panels with a comparable size battery bank, he's not going to be saving much. Also the battery bank will be heavy and bulky and eventually need replacement.

If staying at rv parks, just plug in because it will be cheaper.

[CA_Traveler]

The only answer to your question is for you to do a energy audit to determine your usage that solar can replace. Perhaps plug the RV into a Kill A Watt device to measure the power used. Or a battery monitor can provide usage. Measure without shore power.

My guess is that your solar savings vs total cost is small. A/C power usage is high, is your heat, HW and refer propane or AC?

Monthly sites w/o a meter result in no savings. My experience is that metered sites rates are high. Figure perhaps $0.20/kWh, might be less today but more down the road.

[nickthehunter]

How much money are you willing to spend today, to save $10,000 over 10 years?

[Nathanbates114]

Hey everyone,
Thanks for the quick responses. I understand everyone's concerns and also understand everyone's input. I guess I shouldn't have been so vague when I said I want to run everything on Solar. I understand you can't run the A/C and other electronics that draw a lot of power off of the two solar panels that came pre installed on our TT. I guess what I'm trying to figure out, is whether my wife and I can convert our Travel Trailer in a way that won't have to run off shore power. Reason being, she's a traveling nurse and we'll be living full time out of it on the road. We'll always be at an RV park, we're just trying to figure out if it would be worth while to upgrade our TT with more Solar... that way we don't have to spend money on a monthly fee for power. As someone else in the comments stated, it might not be worth it because the electric bill would be so insignificant. However, we would be living full time for ten years, would be doing laundry and would be staying in areas where the A/C would be necessary. I'm so new to the RV lifestyle, I don't even know if this is doable off of Solar alone. I'm just looking for advice and any tips to save some extra cash. And if it's not reasonable or it doesn't make sense to get more Solar, please let me know. Thanks in advance

[Nathanbates114]

Hey everyone,
Thanks for the quick responses. I understand everyone's concerns and also understand everyone's input. I guess I shouldn't have been so vague when I said I want to run everything on Solar. I understand you can't run the A/C and other electronics that draw a lot of power off of the two solar panels that came pre installed on our TT. I guess what I'm trying to figure out, is whether my wife and I can convert our Travel Trailer in a way that won't have to run off shore power. Reason being, she's a traveling nurse and we'll be living full time out of it on the road. We'll always be at an RV park, we're just trying to figure out if it would be worth while to upgrade our TT with more Solar... that way we don't have to spend money on a monthly fee for power. As someone else in the comments stated, it might not be worth it because the electric bill would be so insignificant. However, we would be living full time for ten years, would be doing laundry and would be staying in areas where the A/C would be necessary. I'm so new to the RV lifestyle, I don't even know if this is doable off of Solar alone. I'm just looking for advice and any tips to save some extra cash. And if it's not reasonable or it doesn't make sense to get more Solar, please let me know. Thanks in advance

[pianotuna]

rule of thumb 5 hours @ 400 watts = 2kwh per day on a yearly average.

For me that would be a savings of $0.28 cents per day.

If you are lucky there may be room to add more panels.

Consider adding a diverging load, such as a 12 volt element for the water heater.

[nickthehunter]

You are not going to full time, comfortably, for 8 - 10 years, on 400W of solar. You’re going to need to be plugged in regularly.

[TechWriter]

Nathanbates114 wrote:

My wife and I just bought a new 2023 Rockwood TT.

Is it 30A or 50A?

[naturist]

400 watts of solar panels will yield around 1.5 kilowatt-hours of power a day in bright sunshine. This is well matched to the 200 amp-hours of battery you have. On a cloudy day, maybe 1/10th kWh is about all you can expect.

That being said, it is not enough to run "everything." The house lights are 12 volt, thus run directly from the battery. Make a pot of coffee, charge your phones, laptop, and listen to the radio or watch TV. CPAP overnight, all should be fine.

I came across a youtube video in which a guy had a tiny 5000 btu ac he claimed to run on 1,000 watts of solar. 400 watts of solar is not "nothing." It is just not "everything."

BTW, it is necessary that your inverter and shore power never meet up in the outlets in your rig. Explosions and fires result.

[CA_Traveler]

120V devices take a lot of power and you have a small solar battery setup. For example a 10A A/C would require the inverter to draw 100A from the battery, hence you have 2 hours of run time plus a few minutes if the sun is out.

You could save a little but it's very dependent on your AC device usage and DC usage.

Your charger and solar controller don't trump each other. Each contributes to the house loads and any remaining power charges the battery.

[valhalla360]

Generally, the inverter is not wired to run everything. Heavy power use devices like the aircon and hot water heater are usually not included as most systems can't keep up with those. 400w of solar with 200amp-hr of battery bank certainly are not going to keep up.

Where solar/battery shines is if you are staying in cool climates where you don't need aircon and you keep your other power consumption to a minimum.

So what exactly are you thinking of when you say "everything"?

The next question is how much do you really think you are going to save in electric bills? Most short term stays include electricity, so it's use it or lose it. Monthly stays are hit and miss in terms of using a meter but even so, it's often pretty darn cheap, particularly when you consider the usable life of a battery bank. Assuming you aren't running the air/con & water heater much, $20-30/month for electric wouldn't be unusual.

[rk911]

assuming your TT is wired like all of the others your batteries will charge when plugged into shore power. be careful, though. some chargers will continue to pour energy into the batteries even when they are fully charged. be sure your converter/inverter is ‘smart’ (multi-stage) and will transition to a ‘maintenance’ or ‘float’ when the battiries finish charging.

our MH has a 2000-watt inverter which runs many but not all AC systems, the roof air cond being one. and not all of the AC outlets are connected to the inverter.

good luck and safe travels.