Boondocking suggestion

[S Johnson]

We are thinking of getting a solar panel, where can we get information on what size panel? Also if we have a generator what amps do we need to run our slides if we are boondocking?

[Mr. Goodbar]

Explorist.life is a good resource for info on RV electrical wiring and solar/battery arrays and installation.

Familiarize yourself with the difference between 12 volt DC power (which comes from your batteries) and 120/240 volt AC power, which comes from a shore line or generator.

Your slideout motor works on 12v power, and will use whatever available amperage is contained in the battery. This is why you see batteries with 100Ah, or amp hour, ratings. For example, a 100 Ah battery can supply 100 amps for 1 hour, or 1 amp for 100 hours. Your generator will handle that no problem. The utility converter in your RV will convert the AC electricity from the generator, into DC power to run your slide motor and charge the battery. There isn't really a reason to worry about the "amperage" rating of your generator in this case, unless you're running an air conditioner or several hair dryers.

Your solar panel will take energy from the sun and convert the voltage from the panel into usable voltage in order to properly re-charge your battery. My setup, for example, puts out 80volts and 20 amps, and my solar charge controller steps the voltage down to 16ish volts in order to charge my battery. The amperage rating just determines how fast the batteries are charged. There are a few companies that make panels for your purpose, it just depends on your budget. GOPower is one, but there are others.

Browse the website Explorist.life since its a great resource for beginners and experts alike.

[GHen]

For us, my goal is being able to boondock for 7 days. That’s how long I can go on the water and filling grey tanks and black tanks. Then I need to run to town to dump tanks and refill water.

A good starting spot for us is 7 days is 400 watts of solar panel four 100 watt panels, 400 amp hours of batteries and a 2000watt generator to charge up on the days when we don’t have enough sun.

Renogy just had a sale on Amazon for $150 for 2 100watt solar panels. That’s a great deal. Not sure if it’s still active.
For batteries I’m currently using four 6 volt Golf Cart batteries from Costco .
Honda makes a great 2200 watt generator, very quiet and reliable but expensive.

[Trailgypsy]

If your going to put solar on your roof, which I recommend you do, than put at least 200 watt panels up. I'm not sure why people are still using 100 watt panels when you can put one up with twice the power and leave room from expansion. I would rather put 4 holes in my roof for one panel instead of 8 holes for two panels. The slight extra $ is well worth it in the long run since your roof is very limited on space. Just my opinion.

[demsullivan]

Originally Posted by GHen

For us, my goal is being able to boondock for 7 days. That’s how long I can go on the water and filling grey tanks and black tanks. Then I need to run to town to dump tanks and refill water.

A good starting spot for us is 7 days is 400 watts of solar panel four 100 watt panels, 400 amp hours of batteries and a 2000watt generator to charge up on the days when we don’t have enough sun.

Renogy just had a sale on Amazon for $150 for 2 100watt solar panels. That’s a great deal. Not sure if it’s still active.
For batteries I’m currently using four 6 volt Golf Cart batteries from Costco .
Honda makes a great 2200 watt generator, very quiet and reliable but expensive.

What loads are you running, typically, that let you get 7 days out of that setup? I'm new to this but my cursory calculations suggest, at least for my rig, I need a ton more than 400W of solar and 400Ah of battery to last 7 days. The biggest load for me is that I have a residential fridge that's using 144Ah DC a day.

[GHen]

Originally Posted by demsullivan

What loads are you running, typically, that let you get 7 days out of that setup? I'm new to this but my cursory calculations suggest, at least for my rig, I need a ton more than 400W of solar and 400Ah of battery to last 7 days. The biggest load for me is that I have a residential fridge that's using 144Ah DC a day.

First, 7 days is my target because I can last that long with the full water and filling tanks.
As far as power, 420 amphours will power the basic needs and a little heat at night. If I want to turn the satellite and tv on or use the inverter to a cup of coffee or something, and I’m not getting full sun, I’ll run the generator for a hour or 2.

A residential fridge just won’t work for Boondocking, not even one day. I suggest moving everything to coolers and ice or setting up some kind of propane fridge.

[Trailgypsy]

We started with 4 6 volt batteryies with a total of 450 amp/h but they were wet cell so only good for 225 amph. Along with 575 watts of solar. We never had any problem with electrical needs and very rarely camp at a campground where we can plug in. Even after a cold night with the heater our batt level would be about 80%, back to 100% by noon. Now have 420 amph of lithium batterys. Recommended is 1.5 watts of solar to 1 amph of battery. There are a lot of people who have residential fridges who boon dock, you just need more solor to get you back to a full charge each day. Unless I run the heater I have never get below 90% running the basics which include a kurig coffee pot in the morning. Cooking and water heater are propane along with my current fridge, though I am thinking of going with the new 12 volt ones.

[Kim Gass]

LOL You need sun for solar. I get a kick out of all you AZ dudes!
We are generator dependent. North Maine Woods is a great place to boondock but it has that name for a reason.

[demsullivan]

Originally Posted by Trailgypsy

We started with 4 6 volt batteryies with a total of 450 amp/h but they were wet cell so only good for 225 amph. Along with 575 watts of solar. We never had any problem with electrical needs and very rarely camp at a campground where we can plug in. Even after a cold night with the heater our batt level would be about 80%, back to 100% by noon. Now have 420 amph of lithium batterys. Recommended is 1.5 watts of solar to 1 amph of battery. There are a lot of people who have residential fridges who boon dock, you just need more solor to get you back to a full charge each day. Unless I run the heater I have never get below 90% running the basics which include a kurig coffee pot in the morning. Cooking and water heater are propane along with my current fridge, though I am thinking of going with the new 12 volt ones.

This is really helpful, thanks! Our rig comes stock with 2x 6V 220Ah AGMs, which is only really good for 110Ah I'd guess. And 190W of solar.


Considering replacing the AGMs with 12V lithiums and expanding the solar, just gotta map out what's all involved in switching to lithium first. As I understand it, you need a lithium-specific battery charger and there's some considerations around charging lithium off of the chassis alternator, but I've only recently started going down that research path.

[Trailgypsy]

Figured since the original post was about solor that he was in a place where there was sunshine and not generator dependent. Yes we are spoiled here.

[Trailgypsy]

My batteries are only charged by solar so just need to make sure you solar controller has lithium ability. My converter will charge them but I have no way of changing the settings for a "proper charge".

[RogerR]

Prior to purchasing 200 watts of solar I looked at my demand which is primarily the furnace with small amount for lights (led), laptops, phones. I don't have a converter and if really have to watch tv bought a 21 inch 12 volt tv/dvd player.
Based on that I bought a 100 AH Renogy with bluetooth to monitor the amps available. Should be enough as we got by on one group 27 lead battery for 1 or 2 nights depending on temp. As the battery only weights 28 pounds I could easily add another before I get back to the weight I had before.

But your real question must be what your demand is and space, $ available.

[videoarizona]

We must be of another breed of boondockers. We can go about 5 to 6 days. Limitations are fresh water and holding tanks.
For power, I'm all led lights. Run fridge on propane. Use blankets instead of heater.
Have 1 Renogy 100 watt solar suitcase and a2200 watt Honda generator that runs on gas or propane. The solar is plugged in all day to get whatever we can in the forests of northern Arizona. The generator runs about 4 hours a day to charge up 2 6volt GC2 batteries...100 amps.

All this said, you should make yourself a chart of usages in your rig. Then make any changes you need to minimize your power usage. Then... Decide how to solve your power problem. As said earlier, space and money comes into play as well!

[garywilson]

My wife and I can easily go 7-10 days using two Trojan T125 6-volt batteries.

No AC use, no gas furnace use, propane on refrigerator, cooking, and hot water, LED lights, occasional 12 television use.

Just be conservative. Try it first at a campground with water and electric available.

Your batteries can go to 20% without significant damage. Down to 50% not a problem at all.

If your don't use AC and a microwave at the same time a 2000W generator is good enough. A 3500W generator is right at 30 amps (29.16 amps).

[jimmoore13]

I have this Renology 400 watt Kit. Make sure you get an MPPT Charge Controller. I have the PWM controller in sunny CO, and no problems, but MPPT allows you to upgrade to LiFePo4 batteries...assuming your converter/charger is also compatible.

I have two 6 volt golf cart batteries in series for 12 volts. This gives me 115 USABLE amp hours (AH). In CO, 400 watts of solar can produce almost this much charge each day.

I have 500 watt inverter I use to run an electric blanket (30 amp load) for 20 minutes to take the chill off the bed. If our older son visits, he uses a CPAP, and the inverter handles it nicely...and the batteries have enough AH to run it.

If you're pre-wired for solar, use it. The #10 wire from the roof is adequate for 400 watts in parallel. If your rig is not prewired for solar, run your wire thru a gland, through the roof, probably into a closet or pantry cabinet that goes floor to ceiling, install the controller in or on the cabinet, then run the wire thru the floor and forward STRAIGHT TO THE BATTERY...CONNECT IN PARALLEL. There is NO TRICK TO THIS. Just connect in parallel with your other connections...no harm no foul. WHY? Think of jump starting your car. You connect jumper cables from the running car, the dead car starts, the alternator on the dead car is now charging the battery in parallel with the jumping car...no problems.

As for a generator, any 2000 watt (2KW) genny will do. Run your 120 volt loads on the genny...microwave, other appliances, etc. I happen to have a nice little Generac 3300 watt inverter generator that lives in the gap between the 2KW and 3500 to 4500 watt models. My Generac is as light as a 2KW, but puts out a bit more power...and that makes my microwave and espresso machine happy (hey, we aren't savages!! ) I still need a soft start to run the AC...but you don't need AC in Colorado.

We can boondock indefinitely with this setup, and we are not frugal with power. We aren't foolish, but we do what we want.

ONE PROVISO: You didn't mention your fridge. If you have an absorption fridge (propane/120 volt) you're golden. If you have a 12 volt compressor fridge, they eat 35 AH/day relentlessly...all day every day. You'll definitely want more battery than I have...and more solar wouldn't hurt...or you'll be listenting to the drone of that generator more than you like. I only run mine for 120 volt loads and when the weather sucks...otherwise, not for charging. A 12 volt compressor fridge needs a LOT of amp hours.

As for running slides and tongue jacks, if you can, EITHER leave your umbilical connected to the TV or, better, fire up the genny and connect BEFORE you run the tongue jack and slide. I do a mix...tongue jack on the umbilical to the TV, and genny to run the slide. This is my belt and suspenders approach to conserving power...probably not necessary, because the heavy draws from the tongue jack and slide only last a few seconds.