Solar Ready?

[199LIB]

Good morning all,

I recently traded in my older model for a 2019 264BHW that is "solar ready." Never before dealing with solar, what size panel and what type of hookup(s) are needed? What is the advantage of a solar panel and what retailers sell these?

Thanks!

[dee]

Hi there. 1st things first, what are your goals?

-Keep the battery topped off?
-Run 12V equipment for a couple days without plugin power?
-Run the above indefinitely?
-Run AC powered appliances?

Once you have this, you can find various sources about how much power you need, which then translates to how much battery and solar panel you need. Most people are surprised about how little they can do with a solar panel.

Generally, all this solar ready label means is they wired a 3 dollar connector to the battery.

[kweinert]

In my case (2019 28BH) Solar Ready means that it has the jack on the tongue to plug in a battery keeper type panel *and* the roof access port for plugging in larger panels.

In my case there's a sticker on the wall between the front bedroom and kitchen area that indicates it's where a controller would go. If you have a sticker like that then it's likely that you also have the roof port and the wires are available behind that wall for connecting a controller.

The guy that did our walk-through only knew about the tongue jack plug. I was curious about the sticker but didn't know about the roof port until I went up top to install the Maxx Air covers on the vents.

Aside from that, what dee said above is all a good place to start - you need to know what you want to accomplish with solar before you can really know what to install.

[RogerR]

You might use the search function in the gold colored bar above. It doesn't work well but you can find tons of solar advice. Like dee said above you need to figure what you want to do in the sense of how much battery capacity and how much solar capacity to keep it charged.


If we don't use the furnace we can get two days out of a simple group 27 battery for lights and pump use. Barely one day for if we use the furnace.
We don't watch tv or have to use the microwave so that saves a lot of power.



Don't forget if you have special needs such as a CPAP machine or O2 machine that they will need power. Solar is great but you may also need a small generator as a backup.

[Nathan S.]

As Dee said you need to figure out what you want to accomplish. Solar ready means you have 30 Amp wiring in your trailer from the roof to that sticker in the hall and then from there to your battery. You may also have one on the front of your trailer. That is for a portable unit. Your battery bank is the most critical part of your set up. Cause all solar does is recharge it. So once you figure out what you want to power off grid, then size your battery bank accordingly. Then you will have to put in an Inverter to run any AC appliances or electronics.

I new from the beginning I wasn’t even going to bother with the AC, microwave or refrigerator. My trailer and pocket book weren’t big enough to support all the hardware that would take. So it was the entertainment center and wall outlets.

I ended up installing:
4 VMAX 6V 225ah batteries
340 Watts of Solar Panels
1800 Watt Auto switching Inverter

This gives me enough battery power to last through the night while using the TV, lights, and coffee pot in the morning. I have the fridge set to gas. During the day it recharges as we use it. In the morning my batteries are back to full charge in a couple of hours. Generator still comes out if its hot and we need AC.

So figure out what you want to accomplish. My setup ran about $4k. You can save some money if your an electrician or have a buddy that is.

If your a boondocker, it’s a nice way to go. Just remember, cloudy rainy days are not your best friend. You have to learn how to manage your power just like you do your water and tanks.