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05-04-2016, 12:22 PM
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#1
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Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Mammoth Lakes
Posts: 2
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Solar
Hi there! We have a 2015 Jayco Ultralite WhiteHawk 20MRB. Looking into getting a Portable Solar Kit. Looking at a few different options. Since our trailer has a built in inverter...what would be the best bang for our buck? Any suggestions? We camp on average about 3 nights every other week or so, so we need a fast charging solar kit. Thanks in advance!
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05-04-2016, 12:41 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Calgary
Posts: 885
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http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f3...its-32700.html
I personally would not go with a portable kit as there is already enough stuff to setup when you get to a site.
Mount one or two panels on your roof and run wires down to your battery. Get a outdoor rated charge controller and you are good to go. Some conduit glued or taped to the front of the trailer will hide the wires and be easily reversible if needed.
MidNite Solar MN-BRAT Charge Controller - Wholesale Solar
Solarland SLP150-12 Silver Poly Solar Panel - Wholesale Solar
Add some wire and you probably have a better system for cheaper than a portable system.
The above links are examples. The panels look pretty expensive there. Shop around and you can get them cheaper.
__________________
2014 Jayco Swift 281BHS, 300W Solar!
2015 F250 XLT 4x4 Crew Cab, Short box, 6.2 gas
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05-04-2016, 02:58 PM
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#3
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Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Mammoth Lakes
Posts: 2
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Thank you for the information. Unfortunately/ fortunately we live in the mountains where it snows a bit so we can't really mount it to the roof. It will get damaged in time. We'll need to be able to remove it.
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05-04-2016, 03:41 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Upperco, Md.
Posts: 807
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I would highly recommend Renogy's 100 watt suitcase. I bought one after a trip out West in 2015. Found out there were a lot of different restrictions on generator run times. I bought a solar suitcase and hooked it up to determine that it worked and then put it away after I got home. Within the last two months I got it out to determine if it was any value or just another man toy. I have 430 AH of batteries on board our 5th wheel. Also have and use a 1600 watt inverter which will use up batteries if you're not careful. Because I want to set in the shade whenever possible, I made up two sections of 25' cable extensions so that I can get the solar panel in the sun without me being there too. Without going into detail, I can assure you that the results of my test confirmed the value of a 100 watt solar panel. I f you are around to position the panel directly into the sun at different times of the day, the results are astounding the amount of power a single panel can make. One of the beauties of it is that it is plug and play. It comes with its own controller. You can virtually take it out of the box , set it up and charge your batteries. As you can tell, I'm really sold on them.
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05-04-2016, 03:42 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Calgary
Posts: 885
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Snow won't damage a solar panel. Just brush the snow off if you need to. Or mount them at an angle so the snow doesn't accumulate.
My panels get snow for almost half the year as well.
__________________
2014 Jayco Swift 281BHS, 300W Solar!
2015 F250 XLT 4x4 Crew Cab, Short box, 6.2 gas
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05-05-2016, 06:57 AM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Saskatoon Sask Canada
Posts: 10,726
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Billy snow will not hurt your solar panels at all. Portable panels do have 2 bad habits.. 1) they blow over in wind storms (or away) 2) Thieves love them.
__________________
Seann
2004 Chev Silverado Duramax optioned past the max. 2009 Jayco Eagle 308 RLS 900watts of solar, Lithium batteries (400amp hour), 2000 watt (4000 surge) whole house inverter.
145days /2023 2022/151 2021[/COLOR]
93/2020,157/2019219/2018 206/2017,215/2016, 211/2015, 196/14, 247/13, 193/12
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05-05-2016, 07:17 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Upperco, Md.
Posts: 807
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Seann45
Billy snow will not hurt your solar panels at all. Portable panels do have 2 bad habits.. 1) they blow over in wind storms (or away) 2) Thieves love them.
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Maybe i'm just lucky but in all the times that we have spent out camping and fishing, I have never had a thing stolen that I'm aware of. There is no doubt that the opportunity is there. I have had fishing tackle and lots of gear left around camp without an incident. There is always a bad apple somewhere but I truly believe there are a lot less of them out in the boonies and campgrounds!! I probably have become too complacent!!!
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05-05-2016, 07:31 AM
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#8
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Site Team
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Clearwater, FL area
Posts: 5,196
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ela1948
Maybe i'm just lucky but in all the times that we have spent out camping and fishing, I have never had a thing stolen that I'm aware of. There is no doubt that the opportunity is there. I have had fishing tackle and lots of gear left around camp without an incident. There is always a bad apple somewhere but I truly believe there are a lot less of them out in the boonies and campgrounds!! I probably have become too complacent!!!
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I may be wrong... but I see it from the point of view that there are more people out there that would buy SOLAR with the 5 FINGER DISCOUNT than fishing gear. Looking at it from the bad apple point of view, he/she will make a lot more money on a SOLAR heist than a fishing tackle heist, and sell it in a lot shorter time
Just my thoughts,
Don
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05-05-2016, 08:31 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Albany, OR
Posts: 692
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ela1948
Maybe i'm just lucky but in all the times that we have spent out camping and fishing, I have never had a thing stolen that I'm aware of. There is no doubt that the opportunity is there. I have had fishing tackle and lots of gear left around camp without an incident. There is always a bad apple somewhere but I truly believe there are a lot less of them out in the boonies and campgrounds!! I probably have become too complacent!!!
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X2
I have never had anything stolen either, don't worry to much about it any more. The great thing about portable panels is that you can park the trailer in the shade, which makes a huge difference in the summer. Also, living in the northwest, almost everywhere I camp has trees, that would, at different parts of the the day, cast a shadow on the panels. With portable panels I just move them if they get in the shade.
__________________
2015 Jayco 27RLS
2015 Ford F250 6.7PSD
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05-05-2016, 12:40 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Upperco, Md.
Posts: 807
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mustang65
I may be wrong... but I see it from the point of view that there are more people out there that would buy SOLAR with the 5 FINGER DISCOUNT than fishing gear. Looking at it from the bad apple point of view, he/she will make a lot more money on a SOLAR heist than a fishing tackle heist, and sell it in a lot shorter time
Just my thoughts,
Don
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I think that you either a thief or your not! Suitcase solar systems are new enough that most thieves wouldn't have a real grasp of its value from a resale stand point. Truthfully , I'm too damn old to set and stew over whether someone might want to steal something I got. It won't break me if something is stolen. I won't like it but I'm not going to change my lifestyle worrying over a possible theft.
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05-05-2016, 02:18 PM
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#11
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Member
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Yellowknife
Posts: 84
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BillyWhiteHawk
Thank you for the information. Unfortunately/ fortunately we live in the mountains where it snows a bit so we can't really mount it to the roof. It will get damaged in time. We'll need to be able to remove it.
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Well I am sure your panels would survive mounted. I reside North of 60. We have winter for at least 6 month of the year, and temperatures can reach -40F/C no problem.
I have had panels installed on the roof of my trailer with no damage. What I do do though is use a tarp to cover them up.
Ingo
__________________
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2015 Jayco Eagle HT 29.5BHDS
2016 Ford F350 Lariat
2010 Ford F-250 XLT (traded)
2013 Keystone Laredo 294RK (traded)
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