Need help from the solar experts

[Alwims]

I highly disagree with anyone who says it is too expensive and you will never recover those expenses. We just passed the one year mark with our system and with what we have saved in the last year we fully expect to recoup all our costs in less than 2 more years, maybe/probably sooner. We spent right at $3000 on our system. We run everything except the air conditioners and the chest freezer in the kitchen on our solar system. We do run the water heater and fridge on propane and yes we do figure the cost of propane into our savings schedule.

All that being said, we are planning on adding approximately 480 more watts of ridged panels as these flat panels are not tilt able in the winter when the sun is lower in the sky. They will be mounted on a setup similar to Bigboomer's tripod setup. I've got to do more research to see if it will work, but I think it will.

[Bigboomer]

quote:Originally posted by Alwims

I highly disagree with anyone who says it is too expensive and you will never recover those expenses. We just passed the one year mark with our system and with what we have saved in the last year we fully expect to recoup all our costs in less than 2 more years, maybe/probably sooner. We spent right at $3000 on our system. We run everything except the air conditioners and the chest freezer in the kitchen on our solar system. We do run the water heater and fridge on propane and yes we do figure the cost of propane into our savings schedule.

All that being said, we are planning on adding approximately 480 more watts of ridged panels as these flat panels are not tilt able in the winter when the sun is lower in the sky. They will be mounted on a setup similar to Bigboomer's tripod setup. I've got to do more research to see if it will work, but I think it will.

I have to agree that over the long haul you can recover most of your expenses on a solar panel system depending on overall usage. We noticed savings the first month we had the system hooked up of just over $30 a month and we had not fully dependent on it yet. This savings I am attributing to the disconnecting of the converter off the shore power so that it no longer has to convert the 110V to 12VDC. We also keep our frig and WH on propane which we have found more efficient, especially in the northeast where the electric is ridiculously high per KW/H.

We just moved this past weekend to our winter campsite in the Catskill Mtns in NY. This coming weekend I will get the panels down off the truck and set them up on the tilt lift. Right now the angle of the sun in the Catskill NY region is about 30 deg. and we have a clear shot of sun all day from sunrise to sunset so the batteries will stay charged all the time.

[halfwright]

Alwims,
If you consider the savings of boondocking over paying for a campsite, yes, you will pay out in less than three years. But, just considering the cost of electricity, the pay out goes past the life of an RV. That is, unless you are paying the jacked up price that some camp grounds charge long timers for electricity. Then, the payout is 7 to ten years.

Les,
Let's say the savings went up to $40/month. Now, divide the cost of your system by 40 and see how many months it takes to pay out. I installed my system for the ablility to boondock and have enough power to run the microwave, TV, laptops and coffee pot. It does that very well. And, I would do it again. But, it is the boondocking with electricity that is the payout, not the cost of electricity..

[Jolu]

I guess I never gave a lot of thought to how long it would take to recover the cost of the system. If I did that I would have to consider the cost of all the RVs I have had over time including the one I have now. And that would be a loosing investment. I do love RVing and my bride is sure happy to just push a button and she has all the power we need.

In the beginning I used to carry a generator as back up. I have not carried the generator for almost three years now. With a properly installed and operating system one does not need all that many panels to provide for all the power he needs. It is true any system has it limits and the system needs to be designed for one's needs.
You do have to conserve at times.

Most of us that spend a lot of time in the Southwest or the South would have an advantage with the solar gain aspect of a system.
Not having to feed a generator and listen to it is good thing for us. I discovered I did not like my generator the morning I had to go out and feed it and it was below freezing.
Another reason I don't like generators for us is, many places we go to there are generator hours. The solar eliminates that issue.

If anyone is installing a solar system I would recommend studying Jack Mayers site and Handy Bobs site. Handy Bob and Jack will give you some tips and prod you on what you really need to do to accomplish what you really need.

Joe

[Bigboomer]

quote:Originally posted by halfwright

Alwims,
If you consider the savings of boondocking over paying for a campsite, yes, you will pay out in less than three years. But, just considering the cost of electricity, the pay out goes past the life of an RV. That is, unless you are paying the jacked up price that some camp grounds charge long timers for electricity. Then, the payout is 7 to ten years.

Les,
Let's say the savings went up to $40/month. Now, divide the cost of your system by 40 and see how many months it takes to pay out. I installed my system for the ablility to boondock and have enough power to run the microwave, TV, laptops and coffee pot. It does that very well. And, I would do it again. But, it is the boondocking with electricity that is the payout, not the cost of electricity..

Halfwright,

I agree and you are correct in the fact that if you only factor in the savings as I mentioned and do not come off the grid entirely. When we factor in the complete savings based on our monthly expenditures for grid power then we can save on average about $1,800 per year. Now, will we see that each year, every year? Probably not. One of the reasons I designed the system to be removed from our present rig is so that we can take it from rig to rig and therefore realize the savings over the lifetime of the system.

That being said, putting an RV solar panel system on your coach is not simply for savings but it allows us to use the National Park and Forest and BLM systems to their potential by not having to worry about hook ups. It also gives us lots of options while on the road to be able to use the AC appliances without having to fire a gen up.

It also gives us immediate back up and usage during potential loss of grid power due to storms, etc. Take for example last year on the east coast with Hurricane Sandy where most of us were without power for a better part of a week and there were no fuel at the gas stations to run generators. That no longer an issue for us.

One thing I failed to mention that helps with the cost is that since for many of us our RV's are our homes or second homes we are able to take full advantage of the Federal and some state tax credits for installing a solar panel system on the rig. See this link for more info and consult your tax guru for proper filing advise!

http://www.solar-electric.com/soentaxcr.html

[Alwims]

I'm not in the mood to argue with anyone today, but we fulltime in RV parks with very inflated electricity prices because we travel for my wife's job and she likes and deserves her comfort. We spent 6 months in a park last year that charged $.26 per kilowatt. Using both air conditioners, as an experiment, 100 degree + days, we shut off the solar for 30 days. Our electric bill was over $300 for that period. Next month, solar on, our bill was $86. Doesn't happen every month, but does 9 to 10 months a year.

We are heavy electricity users. Carol uses her 110v hair dryer that draws 126 amps every time she turns it on. Our television isn't a little 10" model, it's a 32" full size LED. We run a full size security camera system with 4 camera's and a 24" LED monitor, 2 laptops, CPAP, Satellite TV, bedroom 26" LED TV, LED lights, etc., etc. Please feel free to believe what you want, put it on paper, whatever. At this rate, it WILL NOT take 7 years to pay for itself!
We are very pleased with our system and would do it again in a heartbeat.

[Bigboomer]

quote:Originally posted by Alwims

I'm not in the mood to argue with anyone today, but we fulltime in RV parks with very inflated electricity prices because we travel for my wife's job and she likes and deserves her comfort. We spent 6 months in a park last year that charged $.26 per kilowatt. Using both air conditioners, as an experiment, 100 degree + days, we shut off the solar for 30 days. Our electric bill was over $300 for that period. Next month, solar on, our bill was $86. Doesn't happen every month, but does 9 to 10 months a year.

We are heavy electricity users. Carol uses her 110v hair dryer that draws 126 amps every time she turns it on. Our television isn't a little 10" model, it's a 32" full size LED. We run a full size security camera system with 4 camera's and a 24" LED monitor, 2 laptops, CPAP, Satellite TV, bedroom 26" LED TV, LED lights, etc., etc. Please feel free to believe what you want, put it on paper, whatever. At this rate, it WILL NOT take 7 years to pay for itself!
We are very pleased with our system and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Alwims,

Agreed. As I noted, based on our average monthly use of electric and that savings combined with the tax credits it will take us approx. 3 to 3 1/2 years to recover all the costs of installing the system.

The better part is that we have peace of mind that we are technically free of the grid and are not tied to a specific area or campground type in order to live the lifestyle we love!

[Bigboomer]

quote:Originally posted by Jolu

I guess I never gave a lot of thought to how long it would take to recover the cost of the system. If I did that I would have to consider the cost of all the RVs I have had over time including the one I have now. And that would be a loosing investment. I do love RVing and my bride is sure happy to just push a button and she has all the power we need.

In the beginning I used to carry a generator as back up. I have not carried the generator for almost three years now. With a properly installed and operating system one does not need all that many panels to provide for all the power he needs. It is true any system has it limits and the system needs to be designed for one's needs.
You do have to conserve at times.

Most of us that spend a lot of time in the Southwest or the South would have an advantage with the solar gain aspect of a system.
Not having to feed a generator and listen to it is good thing for us. I discovered I did not like my generator the morning I had to go out and feed it and it was below freezing.
Another reason I don't like generators for us is, many places we go to there are generator hours. The solar eliminates that issue.

If anyone is installing a solar system I would recommend studying Jack Mayers site and Handy Bobs site. Handy Bob and Jack will give you some tips and prod you on what you really need to do to accomplish what you really need.

Joe

Joe,

Don't discount what you did and the information you provided with your system regardless of where you got your info from. The great thing about this forum is the level of sharing that is done which is what makes all of us better!

Les

[Alwims]

I've said this before and I'll say it again. We are not prepers but "when you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail". You never know when the main power grid is going to fail, terrorist's knock it out, wind blows it down, etc.

Sure is nice when the guy next door is outside cussing the power company, because the power went out during the Nascar race and we never missed a turn. While we were in Santa Fe this summer, the power went out several times and we never knew it till we realized it was getting warm in the Monty, because the air wasn't kicking on.

That kind of independence is priceless to us.