Thor Forums

[TurnerFam]

I think that the solar question, as it relates to most 'weekend' or 'vacationer' type RVrs, is really an expenditure that will never really manifest itself to the conditions that the owner thinks it will/should - but those who really off-grid for days on end, it's a different story, and can well add to your time 'off-generator', if you will.

Solar is not a need, yes, but like you, so many 'want' it anyway.

200w to 300w is probably a good sweet-spot - not too expensive for a 'want', but enough to experience a difference in generator run time. Whether a MPPT or PWS is not an issue for a small array, as the difference will be minimal for your usage.
The other question, though, is battery storage. Solar is fine, but if you have nowhere to store it, you are paying for panels to produce power that you will 'lose' because unless you are using all of it while the sun is out, the only place to store it is in a battery bank. Two batteries are not a lot.

By the time you pay for the upfront costs of solar panels, the controller, wiring, installation, mounting, and more batteries to really be effective, you could have paid for 500 hours of generator run time. That's many years for most RVrs.

But, I also get that folks don't like the 'noise' of generators, which is why solar is appealing.


I have 200w of solar, a 20a PWS controller, directly to my 4 6v stock FLA batteries, and can get maybe 10amps at full sun times, directly overhead, for an hour or so in the best of conditions, but the reality is that I might really only average 6 hours of sun hours per day, and 4-5amps average during that time. That leaves 16-18 hours with no solar.
The generator is a must, unless I want to buy 800 more watts of panels, and double the size of my battery bank. That's not really practical, unless you are truly LIVING off-grid full time.