I think I’ve explained my needs pretty clearly, and what lead me to the Redarc charger. Solar won’t scratch every itch, and I don’t claim a B2B charger will either. Especially if your style is to drive a few hours to a destination, then that’s where you are for XX number of days. But if your traveling style includes a fair amount of driving just about every day, why WOULDN’T you take advantage of the charging potential you can harvest from the truck? It’s not like it hurts the fuel mileage, or is killing the alternator. And remember, I mentioned that my Redarc has a solar input built in. I could have bought a B2B that doesn’t have a solar input, but I chose this one because it does. Does that sound like I’m avoiding solar? I just haven’t installed it yet.
What kind of solar system would I have to install to get a minimum of 30 amps of charging potential so my single group 31 battery doesn’t get flattened by the fridge? That works regardless of what the weather is doing? That works at night? For about $450?
There’s not an abundance of available room for solar panels or more batteries on my camper. Yes, I could shoehorn some in here and there, but there’s only so much I’m able and willing to do on that front. Now that lithium is more of a viable option, I could maybe do it with a single panel of the right type, a battery pack of the right size, and an MPPT controller that has both a solar and a B2B input. But not for $450. And there’d still be that bad weather and night thing.
Keep in mind that I said we don’t always know where we’re going to spend the night. Most of the time we don’t, and I need to be able to camp totally without hookups for at least a few nights on a moment’s notice. Do we always dry camp? No, we go with the available and convenient options where we are, but I need dry camping to always be an option. Not having to immediately turn on the built in generator that’s convenient but isn’t quiet, or drag out and hook up the Yamaha 1000 that’s quiet but isn’t convenient, so I can charge the battery up before going to bed is priceless to me.
:):)
