Solar or Generator??

mena661 wrote:
Of course there are CG's that don't allow generators that fit RV's (that includes motorhomes). There are even CG's that say they allow generators but highly discourage their use (ie they don't allow them). It seems to be a slowly growing trend.

Of course, statistically there are "some" campgrounds that don't allow generators but can still squeeze in RVs over 22 feet or larger. "Some" is more than zero, but these kind of campgrounds are in the minority on an overall national basis - especially in the Southwest U.S. and Southeast U.S. where extreme heat and/or extreme humidity are common. With gl*b*l warming and the volatile weather that accompanies it coming to the forefront the need for camping in the shade with A/C due to heat or charging batteries with no sun is only going to increase, IMHO. Good luck with those scenarios in an RV sporting only solar on board. Of course one can always try, by guess and by golly, to always tailor their RV trips so as to try and miss these situations. We prefer and need more flexibility than that during our RV trips.

We have indeed camped inside Yellowstone in the forest in our Class C in one of the park's no generator campgrounds in the Northern end of the park. We didn't spend enough time camping in the shaded campsite to need our generators, or an idling V10, and of course Yellowstone is rarely hot enough for air conditioning anyway, due to it's average altitude. In fact we'll never camp inside Yellowstone again - it's too crowded inside the park boundaries. If we get there again, we'll camp outside and come in during the day to visit.

I'm in no way against solar - just not for having only it along to charge batteries and otherwise supply electrical energy when parked. If we add solar, it'll be movable solar so we can keep the rig in the shade whenever the weather is warm on sunny days and a shaded campsite is available.

Generous relatives, who no longer needed them, gave us the two portable Honda generators that we have (we carry only the EX650 in the RV due to it's very low noise level when delivering 30-35 amps). Hopefully fuel cells will come down in price - especially propane powered ones - so as to be more competitive with equivalently sized solar RV setups. :)