wrote

Thanx for info. West Marine is new to me but it looks like they've got
stores all over this area, so Im going over there in a day or two.. Do
you have any of the smaller units hooked up to deep cycles permantly?
Im planning to put something in that will keep me in light,
water(pumped) and maybe a little heat, with LNG mostly powering the
cookstove, heater and refridg, of a stationary camper. Lots of sun in
SW Washington. Ive got lots of industrial grade power for pumps etc.,
but no easy 120. I want a set up that will support me for 1-2 weeks at
a time between plug in battery recharges. Suggestions?



I put some solar panels on my travel trailer along with a controller ( to
keep them from overcharging the batteries ). I got mine at
NorthernTool.com and am pleased. I run all the normal battery powered
functions of the trailer plus use a small inverter to run 110 volt fly tying
lights and a minimal number of other things. I've never had the batteries
get low using the rig in "lots of sun season" May - Oct. Total cost,
about $400 if I remember right, inverter included. BUT NOTE: I still
function in a careful, minimum usage mode, always aware of need to be
conservative ( aside: strange the word conservative has come to be
associated with the politicians most likely to be reckless and wasteful).
Such conservative usage is something that you'll quickly learn if you spend
much time in an RV "dry camping"


I have 60 Watts of solar panels, put in everything myself ( I'm a clutz with
tools ), and, as I said, am pleased. BUT, I'm likely to add another 45
WATTS ( my controller is limited to 105 ) to this trailer, for added buffer
and ...ah, "because I can." My wife is retiring in March and we may get a
much larger trailer after a long test trip next summer to see if she likes
the lifestyle ... if we do I'll invest ( several thou$and for such
installations, I'm told ) in a professionally installed solar/ inverter
system and extra batteries ( probably 4 - 6Volts wired in the combination of
series and parallel that would produce 12Volt ). I've been unable to find
any official, seemingly knowledgeable, formulas for determining how much
solar to put in, but have heard "a guy that knows told me" style rumors in
the area of 100WATTS/ battery being maintained for maximum usage from those
batteries with minimum risk of running them down ... i.e. long term solar/
battery only living

At least with small inverters ( I'm not sure about the large ones built into
RVs that automatically power the rig's110 outlets ) running devices to
charge electronics isn't very efficient ( it says something about how much
we're slaves to our techy stuff that we spend so much time pandering to it
all ). Example, changing 12 Volt from the batteries to 110VOLT via the
inverter then plugging in a wall-wart that then changes the 110Volt back to
low voltage to charge a cell phone ... suks. Get direct 12Volt chargers
for cell phones, laptops, iPods, etc and keep the 12 Volt available with
solar ....

probably the best part of my summer was going 4 months without ever turning
on a TV, or radio, or reading a paper or using the 'Net for anything but
Skype calls to my son in Chile ... so I can't honestly say about TV ... but
I'd "guess" that one that runs on 12Volt would drain batteries less than
using an inverter, too. I'm investigating replacing my 110Volt tying
lights with 12Volt but running wiring through an RV is a pain and it would
require doing that to get dedicated, fused, 12Volt receptacles to my "tying
room" .... In other words, plan to use the 12 Volt directly as much as
possible for greatest efficiency Motors ( fan motor on your furnace ) use
up battery FAST ... I'd be prepared with a small quiet generator ( love my
Honda ) if I was going to run the furnace much ... I doubt a small solar
system can keep up, especially since "heating season" and "sun season" don't
tend to go together G .