Who's got solar?

My living conditions are about to change. I'll be "summering" at NAF El Centro (when the peak load of snowbirds will be in cooler climates) and wintering on a BLM LTVA. On the base I'll have more power than I need, but once I get to the LTVA I'll be on 12v, propane and generator. I'm looking to go "solar" for some of my power needs but don't know alot of what's out there. I'm looking to get into a small modest system that will take care of my lighting needs. Propane will be for fridge and hot water and generator for a couple hours in the evening for tv and in the morning for heater (when needed).

Anyone have aknowledge they want to share?

I now have 1000watts (1KW) of solar on my rig. We boondock quite a bit and have used solar for over 6 years on the motor home. We're heavy electric users, watching TV and computers for 4 - 6 hours a day, and have an electric fridge. All ran from the batteries with solar performing 90%+ of my charging.

You can read about my original solar system at:
www.happy-wanderers.com/technical-articles/109-rv-solar-system
You can read an article on my updated solar system at:
www.happy-wanderers.com/technical-articl...solar-system-phaeton

Do you have an inverter and smart charger in your RV? Or do you simply have a converter? How many batteries (amps) do you have? A small solar system will trickle charge your batteries, if lighting is all you'll be using batteries for. You might also consider a portable propane heater, instead of using the RV heater. The RV heater will wear down your batteries quickly. Running the generator to charge batteries without using a smart charger isn't efficient.

There's MANY factors to consider for serious boondocking. We've been staying in the AZ desert without hookups for the past 6 weeks now.

Right now I have nothing, so it's a clean start. I started reading about some of the set ups out there and I figured I'd better really study up on this before I get in too deep.

Martin64 - Go to this site - RV Solar Electric, and download their Catalog and Design Planner. It should give you enough information to allow you to begin making informed choices and decisions on what you should, or should not purchase. Good luck - John

www.rvsolarelectric.com/index.php?route=...roduct&product_id=55

BTW: you will need to register, but it and the downloaded material are FREE!

Martin64

Go to Irv2.com. There is so much technology info there your head will explode.

NAVYBLUE

Thanks guys, I went to both and downloaded/joined both. The more info the better. The "Design Planner" looks interesting already (though I've only scanned through it) and looks to be very useful. I do like reading forums because they have many views (though it can get confusing if you look to far into some of the info/experiences).