Is a solar assisted camper hybrid possible?

[toms89]

Hi guys,

So my dad has a crazy idea to for a hybrid solar assisted electric RV.

So that's a hybrid RV that has assisted solar too.

I understand that this is ambitious - but is it even possible?

Thanks!

[16ACE27]

Possible? - Yes
Practical? - No

We can barely supply an RV's electrical needs by solar for boondocking (without air conditioning) but to help power it down the road is pretty much a pipe dream.

Let's suppose you could put enough panels on the roof to supply 3000 watts consistently. That would give you the equivalent of 4 mechanical HP, a mere drop in the bucket needed to move that RV down the road. So, not a lot of help.

But, hey: it could still be a marketing point for the gullible.

[toms89]

Originally Posted by 16ACE27

Possible? - Yes
Practical? - No

We can barely supply an RV's electrical needs by solar for boondocking (without air conditioning) but to help power it down the road is pretty much a pipe dream.

Let's suppose you could put enough panels on the roof to supply 3000 watts consistently. That would give you the equivalent of 4 mechanical HP, a mere drop in the bucket needed to move that RV down the road. So, not a lot of help.

But, hey: it could still be a marketing point for the gullible.

Brilliant, thanks for the speedy reply.

Ok, so that sounds like a lot of work for not much return!

So am I correct in saying that solar would only really be beneficial for the leisure battery in practical terms?

I'm thinking of encouraging my dad to go down the leisure battery route to save the headache. It would be a DIY project if he was to do it, but I suspected his plan was a bit too ambitious in the first place. He saw the solar assisted VW Camper concept and has been stuck on it since!

Maybe one day in future if solar tech improves we might see his dream come alive, but in the meantime, I think we will be sticking to powering lights etc!

Even this is pretty daunting though. Does anyone have any beginners advice for starting an RV DIY solar project?

[RACarvalho]

If you look Youtube you will find videos of people towing Airstreams with Teslas (model Y if memory doesn't fail me).
That is the best you will get in terms of RV aerodynamics for both the towing vehicle and the camper are the best in their category at it.

From it you learn that, in that aerodynamic ideal situation, you will be burning 0.8Kwh / mile of electric energy while towing.
Assuming you want a range of at least 300 miles towing, you will need to have a 240Kwh battery to tow 300 miles....

That is more than double the battery of the Tesla model S, a vehicle the size of Chevrolet Impala but costs $100K....

Assuming you want to "help" that battery with solar, you will need 3Kwh solar system to try to get 1.5Kw of usable energy WHEN the sun is available and if you can get 5 hours of charging in a day that will be 7.5Kwh that big system can help the battery with which means, with all that solar cost you added, you added less than 10 miles to the vehicle range and that in ideal conditions....

Most RVs don't even have the space in the roof to have a 3Kw system installed there.

Now, if you go to a more realistic aerodynamic profile (truck + taller camper or Motorhome), you will probably be "burning" 1.5Kwh/mile or more and that will require a 450Kwh battery... just to tow 300 miles and the 3Kw solar system will add only 5 miles to the range...

Now go after the information about how long it will take to charge 80% of that 450 kwh battery and you get the picture on what battery/solar can do today.

[Bob Denman]

Welcome to our campfire!!
With enough money and elbow grease: anything is possible!

[Lt Keefer]

With the technology that's currently available it is not possible. Look on youtube and see the setups people use just to have minimal A/C usage and occasional microwave or coffee pots. It is also very costly. But this is just my opinion.

[Chateau_Nomad]

It's true it's impossible with current technology... but technology is always improving - sometimes in amazing large strides. Today's innovations developed from yesterday's "pipe dreams". And if all the "Negative Nellies" were in charge, we'd still be cruising dirt streets in horse and buggies.

I GUARANTEE if you took a cell phone back in time 55 years and dropped it onto a NASA engineer's desk, they wouldn't react by saying "That's IMPOSSIBLE!" ...because today we KNOW differently that it's NOT impossible! While 55 years might seem like an eternity to some people, in terms of technology advancement, building out a complete telecommunications infrastructure - complete with handheld devices... it's the blink of an eye.

Kudos to your dad for being a forward thinker! It's people like him who aren't afraid to think outside the box - people I call "contributors" to the world we live in.

[ducksface]

Dad can't wait your fifty years, therefore dad will fail.
For your dad, it isn't even remotely possible.

[Chateau_Nomad]

"Get busy living, or get busy dying. - Andy Dufresne" (The Shawshank Redemption)

[RACarvalho]

"In a foxhole a Sargent ask one of the soldiers for a situation report. The Sargent needs that in order to decide if they keep fighting or surrender.
The soldier knows they are outnumbered 20-1, almost w/o ammo and bleeding badly but he believes the fantasy that somehow they are superhumans so he reports to Sargent that they are ready to win. The Sargent gives the order to advance and 2 minutes later all of them are dead w/o having killed not a single enemy soldier."

Ignoring problems doesn't make them go away.
Facing them and taking the right approach does.

Many people today are spending good $ on solar just to quickly find themselves frustrated because the reality doesn't match the fantasy they where sold. They paid good $ and are not receiving the benefits.
That frustration tends to turn into anger and kill any possibility that that person will sometime soon consider that technology again....

[Bob Denman]

Take a look at the thread discussing Tiffin's Cahaba. It's their new Class B that uses the Volta system.

[Frankomd]

Not quite an RV (), and not marketed yet, but the upcoming Aptera may get up to 40 miles on a solar charge only.

[Chateau_Nomad]

When Steve Jobs had a meeting with Springboard (ex- Palm founders) he thought it was a silly idea to have a handheld web-connected platform... he was completely focused on the new iMac PC at the time. We ALL now know he quickly changed his focus. Most likely he had a "holy crap!!" moment in that meeting.

The evolution of the "smart phone" in a VERY short 20 years (15 for iPhone) was due to forward thinking pioneers. The people who thought it couldn't be done...

[Frankomd]

I will be happy to see EV makers like Aptera, Arcimoto, Lucid, Rivian, etc. push the limits.

[MJC62]

You could tow a 35' trailer full of solar panels...

[Chateau_Nomad]

Originally Posted by MJC62

You could tow a 35' trailer full of solar panels...

Same principle as when trains had "coal cars"?