Solar Panel Question

[80 Cruiser Rod]

I do some dry camping and I'm thinking of buying a solar panel to keep by battery charged while camping. I'm guessing I'll only be using the lights in the camper and maybe the 12 volt outlet to charge a cell phone or two. In another post I'm trying to find replacement LED bulbs for the 921 incandescent bulbs. Can anyone suggest what size panel I will need?

[bankr63]

You'll get lots of opinions on this.

I use a simple crystalline 40W panel and controller. For a smaller hybrid it keeps my battery topped off when dry camping in the Adirondacks. Our usage is similar to yours, evening lighting and charging phones/tablets. A bit of pump use too, and a couple of hours of radio.

I place it on the roof while in the storage yard but like that I can move it around the campsite to follow the sun when camping. Since I like to park in the shade, I like a portable better than something that is attached to the roof.

[Mustang65]

Before you order any LEDS, there are a few things you need to know.

What type of output do you want (COLOR)
- White
- Soft White
- Natural White

DW likes the Natural White for the living area and the Bright White in the bathroom and over the kitchen sink.

How much light do you need (Lumens)
Incandescent Bulb......... Maximum Light output (LUMENS)
40Watt = 450 LUMENS
60Watt = 800 LUMENS
75Watt = >1,100 LUMENS
100Watt = 1,600 LUMENS
150Watt = 2,600 LUMENS

I would recommend a minimum LUMENS rating of 800, to put enough light in the TT. Some also have dimmer circuits. Since our TT is so dark, we opted for the 1600 LUMENS, Flat Plate type. The only ones that are not used are the ones that are in the ceiling right above the Tv (reflection).

FLAT Plate Type (all LED's face downward (best for ceiling)
Tube Type (over kitchen table, wall lamps..)

A lot of the LED's on Amazon are cheap/made in China, they usually have LUMENS output in the low hundreds (not very bright), and they generalize the part of the color spectrum that their product is in. Granted there are some quality ones, but my past experience gave them a thumbs down.

I use M4 for purchasing my LED's, they have a wide selection of Quality parts. They also have a section on seeing what range of color you want based on pictures of LED output. They supply adapters with each order for the different types of bulb bases.

M4


As with anything else, if you ask 10 people for their thoughts, you will get 10 different reply's.

Good Luck shopping,

Don

My Registry

RVing with SOLAR

[80 Cruiser Rod]

M4 like Superbritelights.com are very expensive, near $10 a bulb. I'm sure the quality is much better than those that are on Amazon and on Ebay $12 for 20 bulbs. Unless someone tells me those bulbs will burn down my camper I think I'll give the cheaper ones a shot.

[bankr63]

Originally Posted by 80 Cruiser Rod

M4 like Superbritelights.com are very expensive, near $10 a bulb. I'm sure the quality is much better than those that are on Amazon and on Ebay $12 for 20 bulbs. Unless someone tells me those bulbs will burn down my camper I think I'll give the cheaper ones a shot.

The ones that Jayco used to put in will burn down your camper. (Look for threads on the LED recall, they were missing a resistor pack and heavily overheated). No heat related issues with the ones I used; they are really cool to the touch.

[Scott91370]

I installed these when I had to redo my roof/ceiling. They are very bright, nice white light as well.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

There is also a single version as well that I put over the sink.

I bought some 921 lights that looked like they would be good but ended up,being very scattered. Worked great as license plate lights on my truck though.

[80 Cruiser Rod]

Originally Posted by bankr63

The ones that Jayco used to put in will burn down your camper. (Look for threads on the LED recall, they were missing a resistor pack and heavily overheated). No heat related issues with the ones I used; they are really cool to the touch.

I checked my model and year and there weren't any recalls for the lighting.

[Artsville]

Originally Posted by 80 Cruiser Rod

Can anyone suggest what size panel I will need?

putting the OP subject back on track....

When we had a pop up with a type 24 battery we used a 100watt panel from Renogy. Worked great....

It was a portable deal but i never worried about the battery any longer. We are pretty conservative but did use the heater when necessary.

I was usually in float mode by 2pm.....4pm on cloudy days.