Can I Live in a Solar Powered RV?

[xilikeeggs0]

Is it possible to power an RV to live in with solar power? It's a 30 amp trailer. I'm trying to find something that costs less than $3,000 to power it, but I haven't had any luck.

Could anyone give me some advice? I know nothing about electricity, especially solar powered stuff.

I basically just need to run the fridge, microwave, lights, power mine and occasionally my boyfriend's laptops and cell phones. I'll also need to run the air conditioning until it cools off, but I'll keep it at around 80 degrees and won't need it in the fall. I can't imagine that that would use more electricity than I'd be able to gather from the sun, amirite?

edit: Also, I sleep with the windows open, so I'd only need to run the AC during the day, and even then only when I'm home.

[Xlite]

The sun won't be visible on the sky all the time, and in order to store power you are going to need one of them solar batteries.

I think 3k might do it for ya though.
The batteries ain't that expensive.

The panels are going to cost.

[xilikeeggs0]

Originally Posted by Xlite

The sun won't be visible on the sky all the time, and in order to store power you are going to need one of them solar batteries.

I think 3k might do it for ya though.
The batteries ain't that expensive.

The panels are going to cost.

I live in south Texas. I don't need to worry about the sun. What are solar batteries? I thought you just used marine batteries.

[xilikeeggs0]

Originally Posted by muffins

I run solar for my well and lighting light electrical. The cells on e bay are decent, you'll need some deep cycle marine batteries for a storage bank and a decent charge regulater and inverter.

HEres a decent primer on it all


http://www.solar4power.com/solar-power-basics.html


If you werent running an air condition you could get by real cheap. if you need help let me know

Remind me to thank you later. It's almost 5am so I'm going to go to sleep but I'll read that link tomorrow. Thanks.

[Xlite]

Originally Posted by xilikeeggs0

I live in south Texas. I don't need to worry about the sun. What are solar batteries? I thought you just used marine batteries.

Marine batteries is bad combined with solar panels.
You don't want one of those exploding in ye van.

[CountBlah]

[Xlite]

Even if its only a small 12-volt DC 5-amp solar charge controller powered from a single 50-watt solar photovoltaic module, it can easely make enough energy to gradually overcharge the battery and evaporate all of the electrolyte even if the battery is “sealed.”
A low electrolyte level can expose the plates which will gradually warp or “grow” in thickness as they oxidize. This can cause an internal short circuit and ignition of the hydrogen gas.

The solar batteries are made for a reason, i suggest using those.

But w/e, its not my shit.

[Sir Cornwell]

I don't know how good they are, but you can buy windmills for RV's. You're just keeping it in the same place so you could get a bigger one to put on the ground instead of the roof. They're still more efficient for the cost than solar I think.

I listen to a solar powered radio show and the dude has spent many $1000's for his cells and deep cycle batteries to run his cabin. Maybe you could do both. It would be interesting to do your research and see what would cover your needs best. Solar sure is quieter and doesn't whack any birds.

[jimany]

I know nothing about solar for rvs, but I will say run the fridge on propane if it's an option. From looking around a bit of rv forums, people only get a few hours of fridge use on battery power. I payed like $10 to fill a 20# tank that'd probably last 2 months just running a smaller fridge.

You'll be buying a fair bit of propane anyway to keep yourself warm once it cools off.

[xilikeeggs0]

Originally Posted by jimany

I know nothing about solar for rvs, but I will say run the fridge on propane if it's an option. From looking around a bit of rv forums, people only get a few hours of fridge use on battery power. I payed like $10 to fill a 20# tank that'd probably last 2 months just running a smaller fridge.

You'll be buying a fair bit of propane anyway to keep yourself warm once it cools off.

The fridge might be propane powered. I knew the stove, heater, and water heater were, but I'll have to see about the fridge. That would be awesome.

[jimany]

It should be. I don't think I've ever heard of an rv fridge not running on propane.

[Mor3BL7]

What about setting up 2 1000 watt HPS grow lights in one of these using solar power...can i grow dope in a trailer without getting busted, if i take care of the smell

[xilikeeggs0]

Originally Posted by jimany

It should be. I don't think I've ever heard of an rv fridge not running on propane.

Badass. So all I need to worry about are the AC, lights, microwave, and outlets, right? How much power would I need to run those?

[jimany]

I don't know...lots. I think most people use a generator to power the ac(It might not even work on battery power), I'd guess it'd use more power than a fridge, but a decent sized rv would probably have an on-board propane generator. Probably goes for the microwave too, but it'd be easy to limit microwave use.

Laptops and cell phones, lights, and the heater fan could probably be kept going on a pretty simple solar setup, lots of people do it. I'm no expert, but if the mood strikes me tomorrow I'll find some of the info when I looked into rv power. I'm sure the first google hit for 'rv solar power' will give you an idea of what you'd need.

[ilovechronic]

Originally Posted by Xlite

The sun won't be visible on the sky all the time, and in order to store power you are going to need one of them solar batteries.

I think 3k might do it for ya though.
The batteries ain't that expensive.

The panels are going to cost.

um, all you need is a battery bank of car type batteries as far as the batteries go.

[xilikeeggs0]

Originally Posted by jimany

I don't know...lots. I think most people use a generator to power the ac(It might not even work on battery power), I'd guess it'd use more power than a fridge, but a decent sized rv would probably have an on-board propane generator. Probably goes for the microwave too, but it'd be easy to limit microwave use.

Laptops and cell phones, lights, and the heater fan could probably be kept going on a pretty simple solar setup, lots of people do it. I'm no expert, but if the mood strikes me tomorrow I'll find some of the info when I looked into rv power. I'm sure the first google hit for 'rv solar power' will give you an idea of what you'd need.

I've tried searching, but all I get are $3,000+ solar kits. I just want something cheap that I can put together myself, but I don't know anything about electricity. Can someone school me?

[CountBlah]

[xilikeeggs0]

Originally Posted by muffins

How big is your rv? Is it 230 volt or 110 volt power? let me know i'll see if we can piece components for cheaper

It's 30 amps, whatever that is.

[1983]

I put up this idea somewhere else but what about those roll out 12DC solar panels Crappy Tire sells... That I can't seem to find on their web page...

Either way
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9824394-1.html

The idea is to rig them on your canopy so you use up the space for a little extra power.

Al

[yawanur]

mods, can you please delete the omega/jflc trash?

eggs- if you're setting up a battery bank + power controller for the panels, you could easily tack on a wind turbine for another source during the night/overcast/etc. Obviously you need some height to get consistent wind, so some sort of folding/telescoping tower would be a simple addition you could set up whenever you aren't driving. Like solar panels, the cost of a turbine is all up front but they are very low maintenance. Probably not something you'll add up front what with the cost of the solar array, but definitely something to keep in mind down the road.

http://www.awea.org/faq/rsdntqa.html

[xilikeeggs0]

Originally Posted by Runaway_Stapler

mods, can you please delete the omega/jflc trash?

eggs- if you're setting up a battery bank + power controller for the panels, you could easily tack on a wind turbine for another source during the night/overcast/etc. Obviously you need some height to get consistent wind, so some sort of folding/telescoping tower would be a simple addition you could set up whenever you aren't driving. Like solar panels, the cost of a turbine is all up front but they are very low maintenance. Probably not something you'll add up front what with the cost of the solar array, but definitely something to keep in mind down the road.

http://www.awea.org/faq/rsdntqa.html

I don't think I would get much out of wind power as it's a small area surrounded by woods.

How do you determine how much power you can get out of a battery and how long it will last? I know it varies depending on how much electricity I'm using. But for example, if the battery has 120 amp hours and the trailer is using 30 amps, that means one battery could power the trailer for 4 hours if fully charged, right? Which means I could power the trailer 24/7 at maximum usage with 6 batteries? Also, 30 amps is the maximum that the trailer could use at one point, right?

[CountBlah]

[xilikeeggs0]

Originally Posted by muffins

Amp-Hour Capacity

All deep cycle batteries are rated in amp-hours. An amp-hour is one amp for one hour, or 10 amps for 1/10 of an hour and so forth. It is amps x hours. If you have something that pulls 20 amps, and you use it for 20 minutes, then the amp-hours used would be 20 (amps) x .333 (hours), or 6.67 AH. The accepted AH rating time period for batteries used in solar electric and backup power systems (and for nearly all deep cycle batteries) is the "20 hour rate". This means that it is discharged down to 10.5 volts over a 20 hour period while the total actual amp-hours it supplies is measured. Sometimes ratings at the 6 hour rate and 100 hour rate are also given for comparison and for different applications. The 6-hour rate is often used for industrial batteries, as that is a typical daily duty cycle. Sometimes the 100 hour rate is given just to make the battery look better than it really is, but it is also useful for figuring battery capacity for long-term backup amp-hour requirements..


From http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm



Can you provide like a make model number for your trailer? It might help me figure out the elctrical specs better and i could giive you a straight answer

It's a 2006 cavalier. It's a FEMA trailer.

[CountBlah]

[xilikeeggs0]

Originally Posted by muffins

http://www.freesunpower.com/system_sizing.php Use the size indicator to figure out what wattage panels, inverter you need, then battery bank indacator to see how many batt you'll need then the wire size tool. Then just shop around for the best deal on parts. You can go fairly cheap on panels, and use marine deep cycle batteries. Also You could probably get away without a true sine wave inverter.

Plenty of tools on that site. Basically you're gonna need to look on tags to figure out the watt use of things like the A/c and fridge then add up lights tv computer etc to get your total watt load.

theres so much math involved your head will spin, so try to use online tools.

I also recomend using led light bulbs if you can as they are low wattage.

Thanks for that link. Based on the estimate, I'd need to spend close to $800 just on batteries. I guess I'll just keep killing the earth for now.

[1983]

Originally Posted by xilikeeggs0

Thanks for that link. Based on the estimate, I'd need to spend close to $800 just on batteries. I guess I'll just keep killing the earth for now.

For some reason first thing that popped into my head.


Al