How much SOLAR?

Do an energy audio so that you have an ball park idea of your requirements. This will help to estimate your needs otherwise it's just a wild guess. You could be in the 400-500W range.

Non LED sights and furnace may be your biggest draws and maybe the TV.

I decided to first install a battery monitor to get a reasonable estimate.

I have LED lights and tv, I will try to get the amp draw of the furnace.

Furnace is about 7 amps. The best answer I can give is 400, or, all you can afford and have room for. I did ok on 360 for years, but, just ok.

Check on line insolation tables for that location at that time of year to see how much sunlight to expect daily.

Need to know if panels will be flat on roof or if you can tilt them up facing South where you are parked. Or will they be ground mounted (portable) so you can aim them South tilted up? Can you move them around during the day to aim at the sun plus have them tilted up?

Big difference in AH haul per wattage of panel depending on your set up.

Most have flat on roof so it doesn't matter which way you park, and no fuss with portables, but it means more panel watts to get the job done.

But if the roof has too many obstructions so you can't get many panels in the open spots, you have a limitation there. You might have to use several small panels instead of a few big ones.

2oldman wrote:
Furnace is about 7 amps. The best answer I can give is 400, or, all you can afford and have room for. I did ok on 360 for years, but, just ok.

X2
I think you would get by just fine with 400 watts.

I don't want panels on my roof.

500 watts and 8 batteries. Like most of these things, it is just a wild guess without facts and measurements.

Gulfcoast wrote:
I don't want panels on my roof.

So we are talking portable. Is this for one parking spot you will be staying at, or for stopping while travelling? Has to do with the physical practicalities.

You can carry it all on the bed and set it out on arrival, but it has to be able to go through the door and be light enough to carry. Often better to have two smaller panels instead of one big one.

You have to place the array far enough from the trailer so the trailer does not shade the panels, which might mean moving the array to the other side of the trailer during the day. Means parking so the array will still be in "your" site, not in the next door one.

You need a long enough wire to carry the DC from panel to controller, so that wire has to be fat enough. Clamps on the wires are better for quicker set-ups and put aways.

Gulfcoast wrote:
I don't want panels on my roof.

Portable that you can tilt up against the RV or a rock.... I would go with a single large 24v panel in the range of 300 watts. Need an MPPT controller mounted near the battery. Create some cables for quick connect and you are good to go.

I assume you have a generator if you get low on power.

If one is considering parking facing the sun and putting a solar panel behind windshield, I found wattage was cut by slightly more than 1/2 through my windshield as opposed to resting at the same angle on top of it.

200 watts of portable altered to face the sun several times a day might be enough for you. The furnace fan is likely to be a big variable.

There are much cheaper battery monitor options recently available so one can know their actual use with some accuracy.

Even the best ones are not 100% accurate and still need regular rezeroing once the batteries are known to be truly full, to be in the 90's.

Its gonna be hard to have too much solar, and quite easy to have too little. Too much, means happier batteries and less stress. too little means worrying about every load and reaiming the portable panels more often.