Solar Power

[Montana_4155]

We are full timers in our 34RL Montana. I've been wondering what the general consensus of opinion is about solar panels to augment electric power. We're in Tucson right now and plan to follow the sunshine for the rest of our RV days (which I hope will be a long-long time). We rarely if ever dry camp anymore. But would solar help drop the utility bills a bit?
Thanks for any information!
Karen

[adelmoll]

Good question Karen. We are in the same boat as you as far as full timing and very rare dry camping. We have thought long and hard about solar panels but decided against them for the following reasons.
1- I hate the looks of them
2- Something else to carry
3- Our Honda 2000 generates should work if we really need extra power
4- I've seen how much work it is to set them up
5- I really hate the looks of them
But that doesn't answer your question does it? Sorry, I do not know if you would save money on the utilities. I'm sure someone will be by that knows a lot more then me and maybe they like the looks of them. :}, :}

[Sweetfire]

IMHO, if you seldom dry camp it probably wouldn't be worth the added expense, and unless you're hooked up somewhere with your own power meter you're just going to be charged a flat rate anyway. I think you need about 60 watts of charging capacity per RV battery to keep them charged during moderate use, but that would depend on what you are running. As for appearences you can mount them on the roof where they can't be seen easily but they would not be as efficient as if they where focused on the sun through the daylight hours, so then you need more panels to compensate for length of day, weather conditions, angle of sun, obstructions like trees, position of RV, etc. Lastly, if you have, say, two batteries, that's 120 watts and that would be around $1,000.00-$1,500.00 worth of solar panels if you can find them, they seem to be getting scarce lately. These where things that came up a few months ago when I was looking into solar myself so I may have screwed up the numbers a bit. I'm sure there are people out there with more technical knowledge that will be along shortly to add more info. and/or correct my mistakes.

This whole scenario changes if you're doing alot of dry camping in relatively cloud free (read desert here) areas, and you are aware or your power consumption needs. Solar power has the potential of being cheaper and much more durable than a generator in the long term, and a lot greener approach too.

[owenwetzel]

I know the battery is used for slideout pump and ignition for water heater and fridg. As well as furnace. we've had our monty for 5 years. First 3 replaced battery 4 times and even hooked up to park electric furnace quit on several occasions because battery could not be recharged fast enough.
I the changed furnace wire to fuse for 12v slideout lights and have had no problem in 2 1/2 years with furnace or battery going dead. We use water heater on park electric as often as possible.
Had thought of solar but don't see need now.

[ols1932]

We have 4 solar panels on our Montana. There is no setup needed--no work required. I leave them lying flat on the roof where they are mounted. They are not unsightly. They do allow us to do a lot of dry camping. We also have a Honda 2000i generator that we use when we have cloudy days. We wouldn't be without them. My wife really enjoys the capablilit of stopping somewhere where there are no hookups and still have her appliances.