To add solar or not?

[DavidG425]

Hi all,

We are finally living our dream full timing in our new 2020 Montana 3813, in sunny Southern California (at least for the foreseeable future).

The RV park we are at is gougins us on the electric bill by chargins us in the next higher tier based on the electric company's rates, so I am wondering if it would be worth the expense to install solar. When we purchased our coach, I did not opt for the Super Solar Flex system because I could not get any information about it from our dealer or Keystone, and thought the $20K price tag was a bit steep.

Our coach has the usual RV DC powered stuff (smoke/CO detectors, almost all lighting), plus the usual AC powered stuff (TV, microwave, fridge, 3-A/C's), plus a washer and dryer.

I am currently working from home, so my laptop plus a "normal" monitor is on most of the day as well. It gets hot here in the summer and I am able to run all 3 A/C's (Coleman power saver models)on shore power, but not sure if I would be able to do that with solar.

From the research that I have done, I'm pretty sure that I want to go with lithium batteries. GoPower solar products seems to be used by several other RV manufacturers, and I have seen some of their components at nearby dealers.

So my questions are:
1. How much of the shore power cord could I cut by adding solar?
2. How much would the solar system cost to do this?
3. What components would you suggest?
4. Would it be worth it in the long run?

Thanks in advance for your help

[jeffba]

http://www.rvsolarsystemsonline.com/wattage-calculator/

You might want to start here. toi figure out your needs

[DQDick]

On our old rig we had 7 panels, six golf cart batteries and a 4500 watt inverter. Compared to 20 grand it was cheap, but while we could run most things in the house, AC and frig were out. In my opinion, it was great for boondocking, but wouldn't pay for it'self in any reasonable time.

[AZ Traveler]

David,

First, welcome to the forum!

I would weigh all your options. A solar system that will run 3 a/c has to be very robust and will not be inexpensive. The solar gear is reasonable priced but the batteries are not. If you were able to cut the cord and live in a free spot somewhere the investment would be returned quicker.

Other options:
-Move to a different park
-Get away to a cooler locale during the warm months so you don't need as much a/c.

[BobStack]

I agree with both of the above. To run even two AC’s you could be talking between 15-20k in equipment depending on the batteries you choose. Unless you plan to cut the cord and try free camping I personally don’t see you ever getting a return on your expense. You also need to remember you’ll never recoup those funds when you sell.

Just my thoughts...

[Daryles]

Is there any tax rebates available to help defray the costs? Federal, California?
Once you run all the numbers it may help to lower your overall costs.
Same with doing an energy audit and figuring out how much solar can reduce your shore power demand.
Then the calculations figuring your return on investment. How long will it take to pay off?
For us it was just for a few days (week) boondocking in weather not needing AC (running the furnace, no problem). Looking forward to Quartzsite one day...

[Slow Hand]

If you are off the grid solar wont do much good. They will charge the batteries but not much else. Just not enough roof. You just saved 20 grand. Marry Christmas to you. You have enough money to buy a good bottle of beer to celebrate.

[DutchmenSport]

Everything I've read for installing an adequate system for Solar on an RV that was not factory installed to begin with will run between $10,000 and $20,000, depending on the number of batteries and the quality of the batteries you want. Not to mention the "price" to have the system installed, either by someone else, or yourself.

That would pay for a lot of electricity.

Now, if you are planning on boomdocking, then no matter what you pay is not too much! Subtract the cost of your campsite and the cost of paying for electricity, and you can probably recoup $20,000 fairly fast. After that, then you'll have savings.

Running 3 air conditions will take a massive system. Most people struggle just trying to get one air conditioner working with Solar, if they ever do at all.

[brooks340]

Interesting questions for sure. I installed 600 watts of solar, charger, batteries, inverter etc, but we installed this primarily for boondocking. Total install costs is around 14K and I did most of the work myself. Like some other comments I'm not sure this would be a wise investment if the only purpose was to displace shore power in your park. You can buy a lot of shore power for 14K.

[66 Galaxie]

Just adding a DC solar system to charge batteries and turn off the converter isn't that difficult. 600w, 50a charger and 400ah of battery.

Running 3 ACs is very difficult. 5kw or more of inverter, 3kw of solar panel, 13kw of battery and a whole lot of wiring.

[BiggarView]

Perhaps you should give us a hint of how you intend on using it, if only to replace CG pedestal power then you are looking at 12+ years to recoup and that is only the initial investment. If you go off the CG power pedestal in a significant way your recovery time will drop as well. Now, imagine instead, putting that money into a mutual fund with an 8% growth rate (reasonable assumption). In ten years it will more than double in value. Or put another way, eg 14K (roughly the cost of an appropriate solar system to do what you are looking to accomplish at 8% will yield $1120 a year... roughly covering your CG power bill when metered. Plus you have the 14K still in your hands. One other item to consider is the federal tax credit for a solar install on your RV. You may be eligible for it and currently it is 26% next year it drops to 22% and goes away completely after that.

The pro for the solar then becomes a lifestyle choice for most people. Only you can decide if it is worth it. Hard core solar advocates will say its worth it but everybody is different and has different needs. We are leaning toward it for our future situation but it is not carved in stone... yet. YMMV as they say.

[Bob and Jeannette]

I have the same rig with 2 ac units, I have In Command and would like to know anything that you can tell me about the 3rd ac install and operation.

I have thought the same thing as you about solar. I don’t see the need for batteries at all.

[GreG L.]

We have the solar that came with our 2020. I use it exclusively to keep the batteries charged when in storage in FL, in other states that may not work so well.
I did all the research into increasing to 600+ watts on the roof and a bunch of LiFe. After looking at the cost (365 days in a good camp ground) I decided I could stay at some really nice resorts for the 5 to 10 years that I will have mine (that investment goes to the next guy with almost no return on the dollar if any). I did swap out the two batteries for Battle Born's so I could run the frig all night at a truck stop or rest area, not into boondocking.

[bcrvman]

Originally Posted by DavidG425

Hi all,

We are finally living our dream full timing in our new 2020 Montana 3813, in sunny Southern California (at least for the foreseeable future).

The RV park we are at is gougins us on the electric bill by chargins us in the next higher tier based on the electric company's rates, so I am wondering if it would be worth the expense to install solar. When we purchased our coach, I did not opt for the Super Solar Flex system because I could not get any information about it from our dealer or Keystone, and thought the $20K price tag was a bit steep.

Our coach has the usual RV DC powered stuff (smoke/CO detectors, almost all lighting), plus the usual AC powered stuff (TV, microwave, fridge, 3-A/C's), plus a washer and dryer.

I am currently working from home, so my laptop plus a "normal" monitor is on most of the day as well. It gets hot here in the summer and I am able to run all 3 A/C's (Coleman power saver models)on shore power, but not sure if I would be able to do that with solar.

From the research that I have done, I'm pretty sure that I want to go with lithium batteries. GoPower solar products seems to be used by several other RV manufacturers, and I have seen some of their components at nearby dealers.

So my questions are:
1. How much of the shore power cord could I cut by adding solar?
2. How much would the solar system cost to do this?
3. What components would you suggest?
4. Would it be worth it in the long run?

Thanks in advance for your help

I just finished installing my solar system. The first thing you need to understand is running AC is NOT something I would consider for boondocking unless you were prepared to either install a fairly large generator for 3 AC's and fuel it with ??? Propane is low power, diesel is much better but needs care so as to not spill ay as the smell will NEVER go away. My cost for one 3000 watt inverter, 4 Battle Born 100AH 12V batteries and 4 170Watt panels plus incidentals would cost you between $10,000 and $15,000 depending on how much you do and how fancy. For what you are wanting the cost would be well north of $20,000. I dis mine so I can boondock 5 days out of 7. The saving in park fees will pay for the installation in less than 2 years. I pay $0.15 per kWh and during the maybe 6 months of decent solar can save a few dollars there. There is a US government website that will tell you for a given latitude and date what the solar will be. I would recommend Victron over any other brand however, the inverter I have will allow me to hook up to a 30A post and still run anything I want but only on one leg. I moved a coupe of wires in the main RV power panel so that my non inverter side of the panel is washer, dryer, elec part of hw, fireplace, bedroom ac, spare. In a boondocking scenario I would not normally use any of those, but I can by plugging into my twin Honda 2000's for 30A service plus another 20 from the batteries. Lot's of wrong info out there, but the truth can be found. Just check everything from multiple sources. Your residential fridge accounts for 1.5kWh per day, that's about 1.5 of those $950 lithium batteries. I have that fridge and 4 batteries. I can't stay my 5 days without sun. I don't like to use the gennie unless it's an emergency. The 2nd or 1st battery pig is the furnace.

[birdphotos]

most of it. I have two panels almost five hundred watts. the only thing we use it for is charging the batteries and watching tv. It will not run coffee pots or microwave or heat water. so we use propane to run refrigerator, heat water cook etc.

[birdphotos]

I spent about $4000 total. two panels, two batteries, big switches plus all the other electronics to run the solar as !!0 volts

[Mel B.]

Originally Posted by birdphotos

most of it. I have two panels almost five hundred watts. the only thing we use it for is charging the batteries and watching tv. It will not run coffee pots or microwave or heat water. so we use propane to run refrigerator, heat water cook etc.

How big is your battery bank? We have 400 watts of solar & 4 6v GCB and we can run a lot more then you described.

[BiggarView]

Will Prowse (DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse YT channel) likes the SOK 206ah LFP batteries. $1029+tax on Amazon. We are tempted to use these vs BBs at $950 for only 100ah. Nearly 50% less. 1200watts solar , inverter, SCC etc will run about $10,000 all in. Even 60 days boondocking a year will recover the cost in less than 3 years. ($50/night in FHU CG) Plus there is a 22% Fed Tax Credit in 2021.

[JoeO]

Northern Arizona wind & Sun, 800-383-0195, may be able to give you an idea.
Check out their web sight. Prices are listed and they have package deals.they seem more up front than a couple other places.
Good luck and let us know how you decide.

[Slow Hand]

You also need to park in the sun. Parking in the shade doesn't allow the solar panels to work. Personally I like to be in the shade as much as possible.