Is solar really worth it?

[AtomicNo13]

Yiikes!!!! $4k is a lot me thinks!

[lewster]

Interesting assortment of comments and experiences.

Let me state unequivocally that as a solar professional, the overall output and thus satisfaction with your system is wholly dependent on the system design, components used and primarily, who installed it and how it was installed.

I have systems providing many usable amps of charging to a variety of battery systems 200 watts/2 group 24 batteries up to gargantuan RV systems with 2000 watts of solar providing up to 120 amps of charging to their 1200 amp/hour lithium battery bank and just about every conceivable combination in between.

These systems vary in intent from simple battery charging to full-on off grid use INCLUDING operating a roof A/C with no generator.

'Worth it' is a highly subjective question directly related to your personal objectives and of course........ the depth of your pockets !!!!!!! :-))


Lew Farber
RVIA/RVDA Nationally Certified Master Tech
ABYC Certified Master Marine Electrician
Master Tech Energy Systems, Inc.
AM Solar Certified Installation Center*AMS Lithium Batteries
Lifeline AGM Batteries**Magnum Inverters***Victron Energy Components
541-490-6357

[Larry49684]

My take is your decision point for solar is the style of your travels. Our current travel schedule is three months a year on the road. Our adventures often center around National Parks or boon docking with plenty of day trips hiking and biking. Most of the Parks we hit do not have shore power. So we travel with a small Honda generator and Zamp portable 160 watt solar panel. Many of our stays are more than a week so keeping the batteries charged is a requirement. Many parks have very limited times when you can run a generator and a lot of the time conflicts with our day trips. In the last couple of years we have found we use the generator less and less. Last year on our Utah trip we never used the generator and used the solar panels about 50% of the time when there was not shore power.

The Airstream life-style is great...enjoy!

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by Larry49684

My take is your decision point for solar is the style of your travels. Our current travel schedule is three months a year on the road. Our adventures often center around National Parks or boon docking with plenty of day trips hiking and biking. Most of the Parks we hit do not have shore power. So we travel with a small Honda generator and Zamp portable 160 watt solar panel. Many of our stays are more than a week so keeping the batteries charged is a requirement. Many parks have very limited times when you can run a generator and a lot of the time conflicts with our day trips. In the last couple of years we have found we use the generator less and less. Last year on our Utah trip we never used the generator and used the solar panels about 50% of the time when there was not shore power.

The Airstream life-style is great...enjoy!

What do you do to secure your panels while away on day trips?

[Rpatrick16]

Originally Posted by Jjarman

I can tell y'all are a wealth of knowledge. I am probably not getting the camper for at least 4-5 years from now so will investigate and think on it more.

Holy Cow......4 or 5 years out! Any response to the value of "Solar Power" today will be archaic by the time you get your unit. Like computers...."todays best solar set up at x dollars" will be a dinosaur in four or five years.

Anyway...have fun exploring, figuring and dreaming!

[ke6gkv]

As a ham operator i us 400 watts of remote panels,300 amps of battery: never plugged in after 2 weeks using radios. In the Sierras in late oct ;keep a gen set handy. 3 foot of snow puts a cremp on solar

[drboyd]

...as the basic system. (2) 100 Watt panels on the roof and (2) group 27 marine batteries. (which reminds me - I have to check the water before we take off!)

We're able to run the furnace as needed, plus (2) CPAP machines and assorted lights - all of which are now LED.

A big chunk of the installed price is labor. If you are comfortable with wiring and able to route conductors so they won't abrade on sharp edges and short out in a week, you can do it for less.

[slpiotro]

Robert:
Ann Arbor Bob hit it on the head. The only real answer, is... it depends. We had AM install ours five years ago, we do both boondocking, Nat. Parks/forests/and whatever place lets us park, plus a fair number of full service rallies etc. It works for us. Does it pay back in less cost? not sure it does, but it does pay back in freedom and longer stays in beautiful back country places. I hate the noise of a generator when there is only the sound of the wind, birds, and animals around you. It is all about what you are into. Find out how you use your airstream first, then decide on solar or not. We had ours for about a year and a half before we KNEW we wanted a good solar system. And it is much harder for THEM to sneak up on you when you don't make noise....

[AnnArborBob]

I continue to be amazed at the misinformation posted on Airforums about solar capabilities!!!

Especially the one guy who claims to run his AC for 18 hours solely on AC for weeks at a time! He probably also reports getting 50 MPG when towing uphill into the wind.

Buyer beware!!!

For the record, we have 740 watts of solar on our roof (4 X 135 W + 2 X 100 W) PLUS 600 AMPS of Lithium Phosphate batteries and a 3,000 watt Magnum Hybrid inverter (total installed cost for this is well over $10,000) and at best, we can run the AC off of the batteries for about three hours.

[AtomicNo13]

Bob.... sorry you aren't getting better performance from your install. I have been running 27 months now. How about you on your new system? Sounds like you spent a boatload.

[AnnArborBob]

Originally Posted by atomicno13

bob.... Sorry you aren't getting better performance from your install. I have been running 27 months now. How about you on your new system? Sounds like you spent a boatload.

lol!

[Yachthalo]

With all LED lights, no use of AC, furnace up to a few hrs/day we've been fine for many days as long as not full shade. 200 watts solar, controller, group 27 AGM all for $600 and a few hours of my time. Mounted 100 watts at each end of roof to minimize shading.

[AtomicNo13]

Indeed. A well thought out and executed system can yield superior results.
This need not break the bank.

[Jjarman]

So is it feasible to have solar panels to 1) charge up the batteries and 2) use exclusively for a/c, water heater, fridge, television, stove?

[lewster]

Originally Posted by Jjarman

So is it feasible to have solar panels to 1) charge up the batteries and 2) use exclusively for a/c, water heater, fridge, television, stove?

Absolutely!!!

The run time of the A/C just depends soon the depth of your pockets!!!!

[Rpatrick16]

Originally Posted by Jjarman

So is it feasible to have solar panels to 1) charge up the batteries and 2 ) use exclusively for a/c, water heater, fridge, television, stove?

The solar panels that I use are 120 watt portable. They keep my two group 24 batteries charged on a "sunny day". Although they do provide some power on a bright moonlight night. As far as running AC....normal batteries such as come standard on a AS "will not" run AC. However, the other items you mentioned....water heater, fridge, stove are all "propane" powered. With the addition of an AC Inverter (pure sine wave) you can run at minimum a TV when plugged into the inverter. I use this myself. My inverter is small 1000 watts. It provides "clean" ac power thru the night for medical devices and runs a small 22 inch flat screen tv. The onboard battery system 150 amps is sufficient to operate all other "DC powered" devices thru the night in addition the "AC inverter". Included would be the fan requirements for the furnace with the thermostat set to 60 degrees when the outside temp is in the high 20's. In the morning when the other
AC devices are unplugged the inverter will supply the required AC to operate a small coffee maker. The above has been my recent experience.
Like another person has stated...."solar 'today' does give you a certain element of 'freedom' from depending on "shore power". That makes the $650 I have invested in "my solar" setup "worth it".
However,as I stated based upon "your earlier post"...being a AS purchase 4 or 5 years out....a great deal "will change" regarding solar between now and then. The best advice I can offer you is....."at the time you do buy....you need to 're-do' your research based on those "future values" as to whether or not "solar power" is worth it for "your needs".

[NWGetaways]

Originally Posted by Yachthalo

With all LED lights, no use of AC, furnace up to a few hrs/day we've been fine for many days as long as not full shade. 200 watts solar, controller, group 27 AGM all for $600 and a few hours of my time. Mounted 100 watts at each end of roof to minimize shading.

Yachthalo, questions for you from a fellow 22 Sport owner:

Can you post a roof picture of your install?
Did you use the factory solar pre-wire? Where did you find the wires?
Where/how did you route the wires from the roof?

Thanks!

[Yachthalo]

Yes, I used factory prewire on our 2016 22 Sport. Found it by dropping roof fan trim inside coach. Ran cables from panels through the vertical lip for the fan, avoiding leak potential. I mounted the regulator on lower sidewall of coach by bed just near the water heater, close to wiring and where I can see the indicators on regulator.

The three closer pictures are before I taped down the cables.

[NWGetaways]

That's great, I had scoped out the same spots.

In the first picture, is that where the yellow/green wires connect to the MC4? Outside?

[NWGetaways]

Originally Posted by lewster

Absolutely!!!

The run time of the A/C just depends soon the depth of your pockets!!!!

And your roof area...