BrotherBear said:
Tell me about your solar application for boondocking. What kind of equipment does it take? How bulky is it? Is it permanently attached to the RV? How much energy will it generate in direct sunlight? How much in not so direct sunlight? Etc. Etc.
Thanks!
Well BrotherBear...you are my namesake on my given name for hiking the PCT!! what a coincidence...
Anyway my setup is pretty simple...and relatively inexpensive...
its objective is to trickle charge the batteries during non-use times...
The system consists of 4 panels, frame, 3 batteries, 1 800w inverter and 1 2000w inverter
plus a 3 stage AGM smart charger with temp sensor.
The batteries are two 80ah deep cycle and one 220 ah AGM battery (the 135 lb one!!)
The panels are 4 ea 12 volt models--
(13.6 VDC nominal when charging) 15W each for 60W total or about 5 amp
DC charging capacity....we hike and
backpack for several days at a time...so in about 3 days = 24 hrs charging if the
sun holds (and sure hasn't this year) I can recover close to 120 amp hours into the
batteries....since it is not a main-bus type solar system, I connect the panels (in
parallel) directly to the batteries..normally one would use a charge controller
but with such a small system and low charge current I opted for direct battery connection
since it charges when we are away there is no other draw on the panels...
More complex systems (read that expensive on the order of several thousand dollars
could power your lights and heat and tv without a generator...) require a lot more gear and dedicated
controller....home systems such as my neighbors.. take you off the grid per se
--but required almost $30,000 investment. My total cost including frame for the
panels was about $300...I figure it took about 6 months of charging to recapture
the initial outlay (in terms of purchasing gas for the generator) We also used this
system for car/tent camping to power lights, video player, laptop, tv sat and cells...
The frame is simple PVC pipe with adjustable angle...everything else fits in
the Tundra bed wired up with #4 wire and #12 from the panels...
under a heavy lockable toneau cover.
Main "shore power" during generator hours is an Honda 3000i generator...
the batteries last several evenings of lights,heat and movies before the generator
needs to be run...(depending of course on total power consumed and solar
charge time available)
One warning...if you go with a "bare" panel setup like mine..be careful what you connect
the panels to as the open circuit (unloaded) voltage can be as high as 15-20 volts
in high sunlight....(no regulator there unless you buy one)...and it can blow out things
like the front end to an inverter...always connect to a battery if you do not want to
buy the full controller....
It is connected to the RV only during charging (I put a cutoff switch and charge plug on the
RV battery box for this purpose)....it remains in the truck along with the generator so we
can take it car camping and leave the RV at its site-- power output I guess is fairly
linear with sunlight availability to the panels...be sure to clean your panels regularly
as it can cut down output sometimes over 30% (I monitor charge current with an
in-line amp-meter)...