Solar Generator

[AoG]

I am still in the planning process so I have been doing lots of research. We will be full-timing and I will be working from the road so power is going to be important to us. Plus, with 2 young children and our dog I am sure we will be using the AC sometimes. I cannot see us being without hookups for more than a week or so at a time but will still need power to run laptops, wifi equipment, probably the TV, charge our phones, etc.

My question is...does anyone have experience with these solar generators:
https://www.inergysolar.com/product/kodiak/

Here is a review and comparison of it I found:
http://poweredportablesolar.com/

I am wondering if I could use something like this since it has the 30a connection (even though we will have 50a in the Montana) with an additional battery bank and carry a portable gas generator in my truck for backup. Or, would I be better off going with the standard Onan generator?

I looked around MOC and did not see any threads addressing something like this. I am new here so if I missed something already on here please point me in the right direction. All opinions, thoughts, questions, experience, etc are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[jcurtis934]

If you fulltime, you will be on shore power most of the time except when towing to a new location...in which case you have no need for alternate power sources. If you want to boondock for a week at a time, then you will need some serious solar bank and gas generator/s to provide your power as well as a huge battery bank to accept that solar power and be able to provide quiet 120vac low amperage for a tv. The kodiak is nothing more than a litium battery source driving an inverter that can provide low amperage draws for short periods of time, then needs to be recharged by a special charging circuit to keep the battery source from being damaged.

[Drifty1]

Seems to me that's a lot of money for something that is not very convenient. Now remember this is my thoughts. I would think you would be better off with a 2000 watt Honda and a couple for extra batteries in your battery bank. There is no way to operate an AC unit efficient when dry camping that I know of. Yes you can run the AC off of a couple of Hondas but the fuel and wear and tear on the generators makes it more expensive then having hookups. We spend at least 2 months a year dry camping so I think you would want a solar system that you can expand when you have some extra funds. My opinion only and I am sure there will be more feedback to follow.

[AoG]

Thank you both. I really do not know anything about the solar so I appreciate the input.
It looks like I'm going to scrap this idea.

[WaltBennett]

I installed four 100w panels on our Monty's roof, four Trojan T105's, a Morning Star PWM controller (the other one was too expensive for what I wanted), along with an inverter I got off eBay and a Triminic battery monitor. The whole thread WAS on the MOC but I can't find it (was three years back). If you are really serious about being cost effective (and that was what I tried to do), a system like mine shouldn't cost more than $4k if you install it yourself. We spend many days in the spring and fall when not needing AC with just it powering everything we need. Have to do a little power management if it's raining, but that's all.

The best thing I can tell you to get started is to read Jack Meyer's website: http://www.jackdanmayer.com/rv_electrical_and_solar.htm Much of what he writes is just common sense, and that's what most 'experts' that are trying to sell things don't have.

Found my old posting! http://www.montanaowners.com/forums/...ighlight=solar

[mlh]

Walt these panels you set outside when you need them, are they worth having?
Lynwood

[WaltBennett]

If you want anything that will give you reasonable power, it won't be something easy to move around. I went with the KISS principal and figured that since our Monty would be moving about, sometimes in shade and sometimes not, sometimes pointed in the right direction and sometimes not, and just mounted them along the roof's ridge line. This way they all have a slight slope to let rain run off, and will always get reasonable sun no matter what. Cranking them up or down, moving them about or whatever isn't something I wanted to do on a daily basis.

[scottz]

I agree with the other responses; this is not what you really need. It is nothing but an expensive battery/inverter. Sounds like the solar panels are extra and have to be carried around and set out.

On my last RV, I had 200AH of battery and 210W of roof mounted solar panels. If we had good sun, my wife and I could go many days. However, we were very conservative with power use. I have already installed 300AH of battery in the new Montana; 200-300W of solar panels to follow soon.

You will never be able to run an air conditioner without hookups or a generator.

[WaltBennett]

Originally Posted by scottz

You will never be able to run an air conditioner without hookups or a generator.

Well, the inverter I got off eBay at a ridiculously low price will put out 4kw of power, but then it'd suck the batteries dry in about fifteen minutes. We used to have two Yamaha inverter generators that I could gang to run the AC, but that was getting too complicated and they wouldn't run for long. A single inverter type generator would be well over 100lbs and I didn't think we'd use it that often anyway. Part of paying for the solar was selling the Yamahas, but I did pick up a Harbor Freight 4kw (~$300) for 'just in case'. It's actually not much louder that the two Yamahas together. I keep it in the bed of our truck and after about 30k miles of traveling have only used it four times on the road and once at home during a power outage. Well worth the investment.

[Mel B.]

We just got our solar finished on our 2955RL, 400 watt panels, 40a CC, 4 6 volt 120AH wired series/paralel and a 2000 watt inverter/Charger. runs everything except A/C of course. We spend months at a time boondocking. Right now it's raining outside and my solar panels are putting out over 18 volts to my Battery bank that ran a 26" TV and a DVD all night in my driveway, and at six this morning I brewed a pot of coffee from the Mr. Coffee and still had 12.5 volts left. I would look into a good solar kit if I were you. I'll still bring a genorater for emergency's or days of bad weather.
Mel