No generator, no problem!

[Wrybread]

> Sunking was speaking more in generalities

He was very specifically saying RV solar without generators doesn't work in this thread for example:

https://www.solarpaneltalk.com/forum...ls-to-rv/page4'

My favorite quote:

Solar is just for show and tell or for extending long stays. You still need a generator or Isolator to get charged up dry camping for extended periods

I love solar and *hate* generators, so I'm glad to be able to prove his advice laughably wrong, through real world experience. Misinformation like that is part of the reason so few RVs have quality modern solar systems.

> Wrybread, you are a lucky one. not all RV's are able to fit 900w of PV on them

My RV is only 24 feet long, which is pretty small. And I've helped a few friends install systems on their RVs, with a little creativity I've found it's pretty easy to fit 3 solar panels, even 4. Roof vents can be covered (the panel becomes the vent cover), you can overhang the side of the RV a little, etc. But even small RVs can take at least two 300 watt panels. Even a single 300+ watt panel with an MPPT charge controller is infinitely better than old style 12 volt panels in any quantity.

> When you are charging well, what sort of PV harvest do you see, 300w? 500w?

I typically peak around 500 watts, sometimes a bit more. My batteries typically go into float (charged) after about 1800 watt hours, or if I'm using a lot of power around 3.5 kWh.

Attached is a screenshot from my charge controller's log. Unfortunately it doesn't show max watts per day for some reason.

Incidentally my batteries are coming on 5 years old and still going strong.

[Mike90250]

Wrybread, you are a lucky one. not all RV's are able to fit 900w of PV on them. Sunking was speaking more in generalities, folks like to park in a shady spot, rooftop vents and stuff shades the panels, never correct orientation.....
When you are charging well, what sort of PV harvest do you see, 300w? 500w?

[Wrybread]

When I was last at this forum about two years ago someone (Sunking) was telling everyone that solar for an RV is good only as a showpiece and that everyone will need a generator. He was telling me it was just luck that I haven't needed a generator yet. Well I'm now a camp host at the campround I keep my RV so am there almost full time, off-grid, and I *still* haven't needed a generator or to run my engine even once. Even through multiple rainy dark Northern California winters.

Either I'm really lucky or solar works fantastically!

I'm at latitude 38 (bit north of San Francisco) with 900 watts of flat mounted panels (three 300 watt panels wired in parallel for shade reasons), 4 Trojan T-105's wired for 12 volts (if I did it again I'd go 24v or lithium) and was using a cheapie 40 amp Tracer MPPT charge controller (which worked great) but someone recently gave me a Morningstar MPPT 60 charge controller.

Just avoid old style crappy solar (12 volt panels and PWM controllers). Install more panels than you need to get you through winter and cloudy days. Check your charge controller's ratings, most can handle more panels than their rated output, though of course they'll only output their max.

I'm glad to list the parts if it would be useful to anyone, but for anyone thinking of adding solar to their campers, don't believe the hype, solar works fantastically for RVs and is the single best upgrade you can make. The expensive part is the batteries, the solar part is dirt cheap these days. I never ever think about power consumption, I use as much as I want, and completely quietly, no stinky dangerous gas, and almost no maintenance. Even the power tools I use regularly (random orbital sander and grinder) work great. No circular saw, but that's more a limitation of my Tracer 600 watt inverter than anything solar specific.

And the compartment that used to store my generator makes fantastic storage for my battery bank and tools.