rbertalotto Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 Last year I installed 280 watts of solar on my 20' toy hauler. I also outfitted this trailer as a mobile office. You can read all about the details here:www.rvbprecision.comI'm what you might call a "Reverse Camper"......I camp Tuesday to Thursday, back in the house for the weekends. This works out great because I rarely have an issue getting a great camping spot mid week.Usually I'm camping in state parks. Nice accommodations but lots of trees and shade which really limits my solar generation.This week I'm on the beach. Horseneck Beach State Reservation in Westport, MA....Which BTW is a fantastic place to camp and about 7 miles from my house! A bit strange as everyone parallel parks along the roads. No backing in or pull through. Huge sites with lots of space between campers. The sunsets are simply magnificent! And zero trees! LOTS of sun....Working out of the trailer I have the following devices operating off the batteries at least 10 hours per dayVerizon HotSpotWeBOOST Cellular Booster or ALFA 36 WiFi Booster28" 12v TV or Radio12V Laptop charger12V Cell Phone chargerWorking intermittently I also use:Kureg coffee machine off inverter (5-6 cups of coffee a day) (56amps for 2 minutes each cup)water pumpLED lightsdvd player (3 hours a day)So I decided to run a test. Usually my batteries never get below 80% according to my TriMetric monitor. And even in the shade, by 5pm the batteries are usually back up to 95-97%This week with no shade, no clouds and being the summer solstice, I couldn't ask for more sun. So I decided to run a best situation test.I turned both TVs on and left them on all night. I had my laptop totally discharged and connected it to the 12V charger same with my phone and the MiFi hotspot. And I left the WeBOOST on all night. I also left the ALFA 36 WiFi booster on all night.So we can do the math....These devices draw:Each TV 2ampsWeBOOST 1.4ampsMiFi 0.3ampsMacBook Air Charger 2.3ampsALFA 36 0.3ampsIphone 5s charger 2ampsAll the above was verified through the TriMetric monitorThe test was started at 10pm. When I woke at 6am, the TriMetric was reporting my battery voltage at 12.2v and 55% battery capacityI cooked breakfast with no electrical use except intermittent water pump. 25 seconds total use. I then left the trailer to run a couple errands. I returned at noon and the batteries were charging at 14.4v and the solar panels were dumping 4.7amps into the batteries. The TriMetric reported 92% battery capacity. (I've witnessed the solar cells dumping a max of 17.8 amps into the batteries at 11am the day before this test) As the batteries reach total charge, the Bogart solar controller adjusts the current and voltage as needed.Not using any 12v devices, the solar cells tapered off to 2.3 amps and then 1.7 amps and voltage was at 13.7v and the TriMetric reported 100% capacity by 1:30pm.I then started using 12V devices and I could see by the TriMetric, that although I was charging the laptop and running the radio, the solar was more than keeping up with the demand up until 5:30pm where I started to see negative numbers as I was using more electricity than the setting sun could replace.Although I've not run my generator since I've installed this solar system, I expect that now with full leaves on the trees, the next time I'm in a shaded park, I might need a bit of generator. Usually this trailer is a means to an end......I don't usually camp to just camp. I use the trailer to attend motorcycle events, shooting events, grandkid sporting events where I'm usually out on a grassy field or in a parking lot with no shade. All around me, here at the beach, the generators start at around 4pm and run until 10pm. There are no trees to block the sound but fortunately the crashing waves mask it quite well.When I hear these generators starting up, I just smile.......Loving my solar! RoyB South of Boston 2021 Dodge 2500 - 6.4L Forest River 19RR Toy Hauler Roofnest Falcon Rooftop Tent www.rvbprecision.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Mayer Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 Nice job, Roy. Seems like the system is perfectly matched to your needs. Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member Living on the road since 2000PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail 2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it) 2022 New Horizons 43' 5er 2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units 2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck -------------------------------------------------------------------------See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar powerwww.jackdanmayer.com Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldjohnt Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 GREAT to hear such detailed analysis and congratulations on your system. I'm not too surprised based on your modest energy use you can pretty much be energy self sustained unless it were to rain with no sunshine for days on end. I'm in the process of "solarizing" yet another Class C and am debating on whether or not to provide a safe (NOT ever go up on the roof) sound secure tilting method, but based on my own experience and your good news, if I run 480 solar watts and have 460 amp hours of battery energy storage, with my modest energy consumption, I don't think I need to mess with tilting, although sure, it increases harvest. Thanks for the fun post and analysis, it was a fun read and I agree its sooooooooo sweet to be able to dry camp indefinitely with little or no need for firing up the generator which I hesitate to do when camped in a quiet peaceful Natl Forest or BLM camp high in the mountains......... Best wishes and good job John T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemsteadc Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 Excellent write-up. Does your Weboost get as hot as mine? After a while it's so hot I can barely remove the antenna wire fastener thingy. Ouch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yarome Posted June 25, 2016 Report Share Posted June 25, 2016 Roy, GREAT write-up! It gives an excellent picture of 'normal' consumption's in real life camping situations that most 'will' encounter.Someone should 'sticky' this somewhere so it doesn't get lost over time.John, I know your energy needs are very modest and the system you're suggesting should be more than ample. Even with a couple days of cruddy weather you shouldn't have any problem staying in the +70%'tile.For anyone that knows me... I'm not at all a fan of tilting (or generators.. even though I carry dual Yamaha 2000's). In lieu of titling.. adding a bit of surplus wattage up top will give you addition "free" charging time in the afternoon for your devices on a 'good' day and help make up shortfalls during less than ideal arcs or inclemental weather. In my book, another $150-$200 of panels is much cheaper than running through battery banks and a whole lot safer to boot.That being said.. if you're real estate is maxed, you're pushing 50% SOC on a near daily basis and/or having to run your genny every 2-3 days to keep up with demand.. then by all means.. TILT (there's nothing taboo about it).. or.. add a portable "plug-in" to pick up the slack."..its sooooooooo sweet to be able to dry camp indefinitely with little or no need for firing up the generator.. - crustyjohn"No truer words!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbertalotto Posted July 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 SOOOOO......This week I was at a state park on the Massachusetts / New Hampshire border. Beautiful, sun filled days.......And lots of SHADE!!! No nearly the performance I was seeing at the beach. The only saving grace was that I was not working out of the trailer. I left the campsite at 9am and returned at 5pm.....so all day there was no demand on the system (other than CO2 and gas detectors). I didn't see the gains I was seeing without shade......but the system still came back to 96% each day. Still used all the "stuff" at night and a couple cups of coffee. I don't believe tilting the panels would have gained me much in this scenario. And yes, the WeBoost does get quite hot. RoyB South of Boston 2021 Dodge 2500 - 6.4L Forest River 19RR Toy Hauler Roofnest Falcon Rooftop Tent www.rvbprecision.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldjohnt Posted July 1, 2016 Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 rb, Thanks for the update. I also noticed my cell phone booster runs fairly "warm" and I need to measure its current even though its operating fine. Yeppers, if you're in the shade tilting isn't much help lol, but if you get back to 96% sounds great. Its the old problem when dry camping in warm temps. Sit in the sun to better harvest solar energy but then the RV heats up grrrrrrrrrrrrrr If a person doesn't have permanent mounted panels and could set them out in the sun away from the shade that's one method, but I don't want to mess with that myself. Subject to where I'm camping and how close any neighbors might be located, if the wife wants to run the genset for hair dryer or extended microwave time etc and were in the shade, I might let it run a while so the 80 amp smart charger replenishes my batteries. Hey, it's a hard life out there roughing it in the boonies lol How did we make it in tents with coolers and sleeping bags and no power and 3 kids ???????? AH SOME OF THE BEST MEMORIES A FAMILY HAS. Happy Fourth of July, God Bless America John T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemsteadc Posted July 1, 2016 Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 CO detector. Scientists work with Co2 detectors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RV_Fan44 Posted July 6, 2016 Report Share Posted July 6, 2016 This sounds wonderful. Great work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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