Need for added solar panels

[Freebird1958]

I would like to address a question towards owners of a 2014 Tour or Ellipse owners. That is the coaches (one of the two) my wife and I will be purchasing when we retire. We would like to enjoy boondocking in various areas of the lower 48 states. Does the 100 watt solar panel that is installed on these coaches are sufficient for fulltime boondocking? Also reading the owners manual it says that the inverter is not designed (Quote:The inverter is not intended for steady use while “dry camping”. Batteries will deplete quickly with use of the inverter.) Would someone shed some light on this statement from the owners manual! Thanks for the help.

[Rossi6998]

Short answer is "No". You will need more than 100 watts. I'm sure several will jump in with more knowledge than me; however, a lot depends on what you plan on using. I like my satellite TV and the all the comforts of home. On my motorhome, I have 320 watts of solar and a 1500 watt inverter. I only have two six volt batteries and do not have room to expand my battery capacity. There are a lot of things you need to consider. Strongly suggest you do your research on this website and google the issue.

[Tony Lee]

A typical setup for "moderate" boondocking capability might be at least 400 watts of solar panels and about 400Ah of batteries. This would allow some use of a 1500W inverter plus general use of lights, TV and computers.

BUT of course that depends on climate, sunshine, your living habits and expectations, whether you have a generator of not, how many propane appliances you have, whether you can charge the house batteries from the engine alternator as you drive etc etc etc.

Because there is no magic list or table you can refer to, a firt step is to get yourself educated in all things to do with RV electrics - plenty of stuff available on the web - and then sit down and draw up a realistic listing of what you want to run and how you can recharge batteries and then come up with a design for your system.

Big factor is your proposed RVing lifestyle. Boondocking every second night, or a maximum of two or three nights in a row needs a much less capable system than if you want to spend weeks boondocking. Reliance on a generator means you can get away with relatively small solar systems. Need peace and quiet and you will have to vastly increase the solar capability.

http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volt.htm will get you started. Handibob's site too https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/...-other-things/

and the battery university etc etc

One thing in your favour is that solar panels now cost less than $1 per watt which makes it quite easy to afford to fill up all spare roof space with solar panels. Few years ago they were at least five times more expensive.

[lajuene]

We did the desert last year with 750 Watts of panels and 900 Amp Hours of batteries. (six AGM 6volt 300AH lifelines).

In about 5 or 6 weeks we only ran the generator twice for an hour or so. Both were cloudy days. All the other days the inverter was on at least 12-16 hours a day and the batteries were charged to 100% by early afternoon. We had the panels tilted too.
We use AM solar.

RV Solar System Buyer's Guide
and
AM Solar's Educational Pages for RV Solar Systems

are good info sources.

And at our blog....
http://walkaboutwithwheels.blogspot....ar-system.html
and
http://walkaboutwithwheels.blogspot....em-update.html


Good Luck

[John Hilley]

Take a look at lajuene's links and BLOG. That same size installation would be just what you need. You may want to use larger solar panels, such as 260 watt. AM Solar seems to only use 12 volt panels, with 160 watts being the largest they sell.

[smack2020]

No, the 100 watt panel on the Tour/Ellipse will not keep the batteries charged while boondocking. We have to run our gen for about an hour in the morning and about 1-2 hours in the evening. Our Ellipse is a power hog. We are new full timers and if we end up spending a lot of time boondocking, we will add more panels.


Scott

[LeeOts]

Like everything in life, the answer is, "It depends."

Our previous 24ft 2006 WGO View 23J had 2xTrojan T105 and one Kyocera 135W panel with a Solar Boost 2000E controller and PDI 4645 3 stage charger. Boondocking about 90% of the time, we ran the generator just 300 hours in 8 years, most of that in the 2 years before we got solar. All our bulbs were LEDs and we never watched TV but we constantly used our laptops and tablets. We traveled mostly in the southwest (AZ, SoCal, NV, NM) and the T105s were usually fully charged by 10AM. On light overcast days, it might take until noon and on heavy overcast days, it could take until 3-4PM. When it rained or snowed we could go 3 days on batteries. We took several long trips to IA, ME, NoCal and OR where we experienced 2-4 days without appreciable sunshine and the T105s got us through with no problems.

On our new 30ft 2010 WGO Vista 30W we installed a single 245W panel and, this time, we went with a pair of Trojan T145. We also installed a PDI 4645 and all LEDs. So far, we haven't even seen the voltage meter show a drop. The T145s are fully charged by 10AM on sunny days. Our usage hasn't changed and we haven't experienced any really cool weather where we had to run the furnace overnight.

So, if your usage is like ours, a single 245W panel, Trojan batteries, good 3 or 4 stage converter and LEDs should be more than adequate. As you can see, there are lots of variables to juggle. Start by figuring out how much you want to use the inverter. Inverters can be power hogs just sitting there. Good luck.

Lee
2006 WGO View 23J (For Sale)
2010 WGO Vista 30W (love the space, hate 8MPG)

[lajuene]

Our 2000 watt inverter is on 24/7 most days. We watch a lot of TV. Our satellite and DVR is up and powered all the time. We record all our TV so we don't ever have to watch commercials. Our 750 watt panels and 900 amp hours of batteries is more than we need on sunny days but we got this large system mostly for non sunny days. We still get solar on rainy days, it's just greatly reduced. We spend most days touring all over with our toad then in the evening we watch TV and Blog our days activities. We love boondocking whenever we can. The eastern states are harder unless we Walmart but in the western states we love being in the desert boondocking for weeks on end with no hookups, 24 hour days of inverter use and still getting up to 100% by early afternoon. When we have cloudy days we sometimes run the genny but not very often. We were in one spot in the Midwest during a 4 day stormy time when we couldn't drive because the weather was so bad. We did use the genny a couple hours a day then but still had full DVR and satellite, internet and computer power even using the microwave for popcorn a few times. If you like boondocking then I suggest getting as many panels as you can fit on the roof and as many batteries as you can hold. If you never watch TV you can probably keep the inverter off most of the time and greatly reduce the solar system but we love TV and all the other modern conveniences so we use all those panels a lot. It really just depends on what your personal needs are.

[Freebird1958]

First of all I want to thank everyone for the input very helpful. I would like to throw this into the mix. Has anyone consider the Lithionics RV Li3 Barreries, the cons I have read is the cost, not cold weather worthly. But the weight savings and faster recharging has to be an advantage doesn`t it?

[Tony Lee]

Originally Posted by Freebird1958

First of all I want to thank everyone for the input very helpful. I would like to throw this into the mix. Has anyone consider the Lithionics RV Li3 Barreries, the cons I have read is the cost, not cold weather worthly. But the weight savings and faster recharging has to be an advantage doesn`t it?

Weight in a largish motorhome isn't usually much of a serious consideration.

Charging in practical situations is often limited more by the charging source than the batteries, especially if you are relying on solar as the main source..

So unless you have special situations and fairly deep pockets and deal with a seller that understands the problems that you can face rather than spouting drivel about fairy tale advantages, or you get particular satisfaction in being an early adopter, I would suggest sticking with what works.

[vsheetz]

Here is a write up of my solar and power system, may be of help.

[caissiel]

Just checked my 3 year old batteries. Perfect and no water required. One is now 18 months old. Installed 200 watt panels and MPPT controler 18 months ago and never seen my battery voltage under 12 volts since. I added a 3rd battery because I could have my batteries charged by 11 am every day.
Never before batteries lasted more then 2 years since full timing started 10' years ago.
Before the installation of solar I found out that I started with a 60% charged battery for boondocking and the truck hardly charged them on the road and by the end of a week all batteries were dead. On the road while travelling south the batteries were never reliable to support the power required for the furnace.
Now with solar the batteries are at 100% everyday and while at a weeklong stay at a fair I was able to charge my bodies batteries after mine were 100%.
I will never have an RV without solars and my 200 watts are plenty for us with the 400 watt inverter to power all our electronics.
Just in battery cost it will pay for the solar installation. No power plant needed since.

[majfrizz]

it was interesting, when we ordered our 14 Tour early in the model year the 100watt solar panel upgrade was optional, the standard was a little trickle charge unit. But i knew that small unit would not do the job for an all electric coach even just for normal use, yet this is a what Winnabago offered. I guess later that year they must have built the larger unit in with the price increase.

[Gocoffeer]

Fulltiming on solar and battery can be a real challenge. Understanding your needs and changing your habits to meet that of solar power production and system limitations is a great learning experience. Every person that has used solar and depended upon battery for storage will offer...it is not like the open spout you find on grid. With that in mind... you can do similar to that of VSHEETS and LaJuene...both have very sound designs for their system and capitalize on habit change and often appliance use change and doing without in order to sustain themselves while boondocking.
I weekend and almost always boondock on my vacations trips with a smaller 500w system with 4 batteries. It would not be possible to use my system year round full timing due to its size and installation. During the winter....with cloudy days and shorter hours I have been falling short of full battery recovery from one day of charging. even with minimal use....the cold temperature...the limited exposure to sun and non tilting system i have installed shows its limitation. But it can be grown and expanded as I want or need. Build for growth and design for future needs.

[Freebird1958]

Originally Posted by majfrizz

it was interesting, when we ordered our 14 Tour early in the model year the 100watt solar panel upgrade was optional, the standard was a little trickle charge unit. But i knew that small unit would not do the job for an all electric coach even just for normal use, yet this is a what Winnabago offered. I guess later that year they must have built the larger unit in with the price increase.

Thank you for your response!
I understand it is to early, but how much increase would you consider to add solar panels on your coach to cover what your need?

[majfrizz]

i guess it depends on each individual and their own need and how much you plan on boon docking. I knew the small tricle charge they orignally had was nothing, the 100W helps for just everyday type use. and I am not an expert in this are at all.