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Old 05-04-2016, 12:22 PM   #1
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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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Old 05-04-2016, 12:41 PM   #2
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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.
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Old 05-04-2016, 02:58 PM   #3
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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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Old 05-04-2016, 03:41 PM   #4
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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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Old 05-04-2016, 03:42 PM   #5
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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.
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Old 05-05-2016, 06:57 AM   #6
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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.
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Old 05-05-2016, 07:17 AM   #7
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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.
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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Old 05-05-2016, 07:31 AM   #8
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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!!!
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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Old 05-05-2016, 08:31 AM   #9
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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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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.
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Old 05-05-2016, 12:40 PM   #10
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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
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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Old 05-05-2016, 02:18 PM   #11
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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.

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.

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