I would suggest calling up whomever you plan to buy your panels from and get their input on the right set up for your application. al. I’m dealing with it now. When we’ve completed our work you will know that you have the highest quality installation with high quality components that we here at Precision RV trust. Needless to say we were sold on the upgrade. Thanks for the info Cheri and the link to your research. Did you have to buy both “kits” or can you hook up extra panels to your Extreme kit? Aust ask around, take, your time and never buy a kit, Hi My Wife and I are Now Full time we Have A 36′ Class A & We Really Want To Go Solar All The Way & Are Willing to Take A Step at A Time to Do it One Time Right, Thanks to everyone for All Your Info Please Keep it Up Great Stuff Rich & Terrie Vahsholtz. and do you recommend the 100 amp model? We are considering the extreme solar kit but we would like to be a little bit more “in the know” about what battery upgrades we might want to consider to optimize it. -scratch and dent panels for 75 cents a watt. You haven’t missed it and it is a very important topic (and one that we will be covering soon)! Click the button to see our most recent upgrades: A look at our new 600 watt RV Solar System; the gear, the power and the cost. For us itâs 4 times more power than we had in 2011 and way safer for our gadgets. Iâm envious and jealous. Their 5 year warranty is better than any other I’ve found and indicates they stand behind their claims. -5 x 100 watt Extreme Solar system package fully installed, includes 5 x 100 watt mono solar modules with a 10 year warranty, 40 amp mppt solar regulator with a 5 year warranty, all brackets, sikaflex, mc4 connections, cables, conduit and fuses. Hi Jason/Nikki, 2 Quick questions: re Go Power! I have been using a mere 410 watt inverter in our conversion van for the laptop and sometimes a desktop PC while traveling and came across a link which brought me to this site and I have been glued to it since. Yep, that’s the one we’re using in the Excursion, however we’re getting a new inverter for our next RV. Since writing, I’ve done some more research and I think what I’m trying to do is called a grid fallback system. So total cost over time is way lower than any other battery. whaaaat haha. AGMs outsell Gels by about 6:1. ( I have 2 banks of 4-6v golf cart batteries in my Monaco) … regards John. And of course, the 3000W pure sine wave inverter is a big plus. I think the fact that the panels were lying flat allowed the hail to bounce off with out any damage to the panels… The refrigerator vent didn’t fair so well…. RV solar panels aren't cheap and you have to be the one to decide if they are the right value for you. Now, not all UPSes are created equal. While the initial investment may seem costly, think of the long-term savings. ⢠No fuse protection on the inverter cabling, also I don’t see how much cabling comes with the kit either. I just finished my system with 490 watts on the roof pulling 25 amps laying flat and 12 on a cloudy day. We don’t have a cookie cutter kit or one size fits all solution. ⢠No transfer switch option so this could not be hardwired into an RV power system. !!!! We used to have one on board for our desktop computer, it was great because when the shore power failed we had 15 minutes to safely shut down the computer thanks to the built in battery. Also, you can’t mix new batteries with old so that’s another reason I went with 6 from the get-go. I checked the standard testing for hail, and our 160 watt modules meet this standard: Check out Master Luck video on his solar he got a 30% Fed discount on his system. We recently purchased an old 1983 Jamboree that sat more than it was used, with only 45,000 original miles on it, but from sitting and neglect I have done a lot of remodeling and repairing. Back when we had a boat (42 foot Grand Banks Classic) the inverter (it was sine wave too) ran off of two 8-D gel batteries. Nice solar setup but battery technology is where we finally have arrived Li-Ion that are totally RV friendly and your Magnum Pure Sine wave panel can set it up to work efficiently with this green technology. We were 100% happy with our installer, but we just randomly selected a dealer that was near us. Hey Nikki, thanks for that! Fantastic to hear! Your site is wonderful chock full of great info, thanks for all you put into it. Precision RV - Marvin Braun (206) 276-2462. I do like how they hold a charge and how they charge. It is made to work with any battery system and can be combined with the Extreme Kit. I also purchased 2 more batteries of the same that came with the RV when purchased as an aux power supply. Oorah! Our previous solar setup used 4 AGM (Lifeline) 6V batteries ~ 480 Ahrs capacity. You should try Rain-X on ONE panel and see if it stays cleaner, like a well waxed coach! I’m thinking I will fork for Oydessy when time comes as if all else fails on one of my adventures I should still be able to crank the 330 HP diesel and get out of town (or back 1nto town as case may be!!). Hello Wynns, You gave me lots to think about in your boondocking video. I guess I’m just not green enough… With 600 amps of solar, 5500 watt Onan and a composting toilet the only weak spot is water. This means that the LFP system which weighs 160# is equivalent to over 1000# of LFP. Sure, they include everything you need, but they’re also ridiculously expensive (the lone exception being Renogy Solar’s Solar Power 100 watt Starter Kit available on Amazon.com. They upgraded my converter to 4 stage charger, soon will provide me my Samlex Pure Sine Wave 1500-2000 watt inverter. Thatâs what we had on our last RV (4 x 150) which had more real estate on the roof than our Vesta. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Be very careful with Flood Acid. We are also adding 3 more of the Walmart batteries today to bring the total to 6 giving us 732 ah of power. We are going to have to bite the bullet soon! Now I got a fully charged battery any were go. I have a 2,500 watt inverter that came with the Country Coach Magna. From all of our research the best type of battery is Lithium, however for most people it’s cost prohibitive…prices are dropping so hopefully in a few years we can all afford them. Thanks! A Day in the Life Boondocking in an RV – https://www.gonewiththewynns.com/boondocking-video. More money but a lot more available AH. Awesome Rocky! He has told me many times that Johnson Controls batteries are one of the best (they make many brands including Walmart’s higher end, DieHard (some) and several others under various names. Now I can’t wait to begin the upgrades and use solar for my energy and learn to live with necessities and space management. If adding or upgrading solar to your RV is something you are about to do may I suggest a website that is very informative. Any ideas? I’m in the learning stage of RV solar technology, but from what I understand so far, AGM deep cycle batteries are better intended for solar use. Any reason that I cant connect to this system? Cheers! Long story short, I went with 6, 6V golf cart batteries because they can be discharged down to about 50% without being too hard on them. Good luck, let us know what you find out. We have an onboard Generater which isn’t very efficient and also runs off the main fuel tank, not a good idea when wild camping far away from fuel suppliers. Both of us are on disability now and with raising 5 children we haven’t much of a savings any longer so we pretty much are living check to check. We also have a smaller super efficient Morningstar sure sine inverter that is on all the time for the satellite receiver, internet hotspot, computers and cell booster, TV, electric bike as well as chargers for an array of other items. I was in a hurry and made a typo regarding the price of the Fullriver AGM battery. http://www.lithiumion-batteries.com/lithium-rv-deep-cycle.php. Solar power for RV. Go Power! When the time comes, I’ll definitely lean toward a Go Power system! “What’s the cost of solar for my RV?” It’s a legitimate question that requires some explanation. Oh well. A few years ago, one of our RV dealers in Alberta had a costly ordeal with a hail storm, resulting in heavy damage to multiple RVs, however, our solar was able to withstand the abuse on the roof. Cable. You can see our solar upgrades here, the newest being our 900+watt setup: https://www.gonewiththewynns.com/solar Im rather handy on a grill so i dont NEED power for the stove and oven. After pages of reading about all the different batteries used by all who have visited here, I still haven’t read a quantity of batteries in any ones banks. Best of luck. We will add it to our store soon, but for now you can search online for “Magnum MSH3012M” If you decide to purchase please click over from the Amazon link at the bottom of any page of our website, we get a tiny commission for anything you purchase on Amazon within 24hrs of clicking and for that we are VERY thankful. Bit pricey but who cares. Ken. Not having to run generator means that wildlife seems to accept us and we have had coyotes, deer and elk come within 15 meters of rig while dispersed camping aka boondeocking (and this is we do) and had two young Bull Moose fighting with 25 meters of our rig at Vedauwoo, Wyoming last year. We had the Solar Kit installed just over a month ago and weâve been working our hardest to drain the power in full sunlight. So far, no matter how much we try to drain the batteries, we simply canât run out of power when thereâs full sun (on a sunny day weâre bringing in over 25 amps). On the other hand, with heavy usage we were able to âdrainâ the batteries at night and during a cloudy day (surprisingly even in clouds weâre still bringing in 10 or so amps). The reason I say âdrainâ is the charge controller has built in protection that keeps the batteries voltage from falling too low, so you canât literally drain the batteries. This has us realizing we have more than enough solar coming in, just not enough batteries to fill with that power. Also thereâs a cool feature built into the solar controller called âMaximum Power Boostâ that supercharges the batteries to 14.4 V so your batteries will last longer through the night (extremely helpful but don’t expect to run a bunch of high draw appliances without sun or lots of batteries). The wife and I are just starting “new” again with full time RV living. Hey Bryn, Did you have the Fleetwood factory do the installation of the GoPower including all of the interior control panel units? And if so, what you went with? The retail price is about $100 more ($450) but of course the final price depends on the battery size and capacity. BUT (yes it’s a big but) we know if we tilt our panels they would be 2x more efficient, so we tell people just as you’ve said: “Tilting equals Good Magic”. Looking forward to it! This system has 1.4 kW of solar, 9.7 kW-hours of Lithium IronPhosphate (LFP) batteries, 4.0 PSW inverter, 1.5 kW of battery chargers and associated controllers, converters etc. I am currently awaiting the arrival of my 5000 continuous and 10,000 watt peak pure sine wave power inverter from Green Power Solutions, $147.50 and free shipping. Supplement with a small wind turbine if you can get away with in and if you’re in an area that gets decent wind. There are some basic items required, and for some installations, a few not so basic items. However last year I helped install a commercial set of 6 AGMs from China in my sonâs motorhome that were only about $150 each ⦠much cheaper. An RV Solar system also requires little maintenance, maximizes your … We have Motorhome Packages available that include solar panels, mounting brackets, roof top wire mounting box, a regulator, wire and maxi fuse pack. Great info here though on building a solar system. Part of a battery managment system. Check reddit’s /r/personalfinance for decent financial tips. After all this reading, I am aware that we may not be able to afford such a glamorous camping life as we once enjoyed, using solar power, and I am now questioning my purchases for the system. I think they require a special charger also. They are said to charge twice as quickly, and hold the charge twice as long. I noticed them throughout my 30 year military career, so they must be built to MILSPEC and that gives me certain comfort. Watt kit and since we love to camp on the beach we will not be inhibited by any pesky trees whil we are charging up. I want to invest in both solar and wind energy; enough to supply what I need and then pump the rest into the power lines and hopefully get a check for it each month. That was 7 years ago so might not even be relevant today, and of course the size of your install will affect the price too. can I use the inverter that I have or will I have to replace it? The portable panel is a great starting point for investing in Solar. After leaving the show we did a little research on the company and found they offer a host of other solar powered products. The item that really caught our eye is the 3000 watt continuous pure sine wave inverter. The Magnum inverter originally installed inside our Windy was a measly 1200 watts (barely enough to run the microwave), it only powered one outlet inside the RV, and due to the modified sine wave several of our appliances wouldnât work when running off solar and the house batteries. They leak gas and are not always reliable. Good luck and please let me know if you have any other questions. We’re new to all this but what about the air conditioner? We want to make sure our customers are aware of the options available to help you in your decision process. In 15 years, we have had less than 1% of our modules returned to us and the only weather-related issues we have heard of were due to lighting strikes. However, you will pay for these benefits. A quality system will run in the thousands of dollars. On RV Solar Store you'll find a top quality modified and sine wave inverters, solar charge controllers from Blue Sky Energy & Morningstar, inverter cables, solar panel installation wiring kits, portable solar modules, and our patent pending dual tilt solar panel mounts for the Kyocera KC line and the KD line. How much was the labor to install your last setup? Have you ever thought of adding an Atmospheric Water Generator (AWG)? How did you resolve the crossover issues of adding a new system? Wow, you guys are doing it! Hi David – great question! It all depends on what you want the system to power, and your goals for your solar solution. Check out the Sun Oven, itâs a great investment for RVers: http://www.sunoven.com/all-american-sun-oven Works like a champ if there is sun (wonât work so well in the rainy pacific northwest), and it keeps your RV from getting too warm on hot days. via email they will be happy to direct you to an installer that would be closer to you. That’s just for major system components. wish there was an easy answer for ya. If youâre dream is to switch to a Sailboat in 2014 why are you investing in more solar? We canât think of a better reason to test out a new solar setup! When we hit the water the last thing we want to deal with is learning more equipment than we need to. Plus a lot of this solar will work on a sailboat too (if itâll fit) ð. Since we launched our new website in the late Spring of 2016, Precision RV has received a lot of inquiries about having solar installed on RVs across the country. 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