Have a question for RV setup's wanting some info?

[Sunking]

Son and daughter have around 7 kW solar and run air conditioning in NM. Daughter averages $60/month back from power company.

But that is grid tied, not battery.

What the OP states his purpose is to save some money using Off-Grid Stand Alone Battery system while running his two air conditioners on his RV. Th e only correct answer to that is NOT POSSIBLE. The exact opposite is true, it would cost a fortune.

[jimindenver]

Lets start over I started this. I started this with the fuul intuition of no going off grid,, look I live in my camper about 360 days ayear I am in dallas tx. I don't wont to go off grid just want to help with my 12 system,,, everyboby tell me I need off grid, why? I want to cut my power rating down,,, remembers rv is based on a 12 system,,,, only tv ac an microwave or 110v might could catch the tvs once in s while \,,, now y;all keep telling me I need a massive power grid well no ****,,, that's not my goal ... I said cut down my bill not cut it off, I have many ideas to that this can work for more than gaining power like over my slide outs there is no cover and poor insutlation over them I can gain shade, wich internes shade and cooler spots,,, thatss why I said on grid,,,, now some please tell me where to start not on a complete off gride but to help u know the word help,,, if I am on rhe wron site then tell me I want be b ack,,,, I am not saying this is not a good site,,, just remember yall started some where , right or was there was no trail and eearror.... just looking at my part of going green,,,, and I have no trees around me at all its freaking texas,,, bottom line HELP OR NO HELP..... thANKS

So do as I suggested, throw some panel up, turn off the converter and let the solar charge the battery while it runs the 12v side of the RV. With enough battery and a inverter you can even watch TV or zap a tater. The value of the electricity if it came from the grid is miniscule compared to the cost of the solar but you will be going green.

The only reason we have solar for our RV is because there is no grid to plug into where we go. The expense was worth it because not having to listen to a generator every day is priceless. That's a good thing because it will be years before I would have bought enough gas for the generator to cost as much as the solar did.

[russ]

Lets start over I started this. I started this with the fuul intuition of no going off grid,, look I live in my camper about 360 days ayear I am in dallas tx. I don't wont to go off grid just want to help with my 12 system,,, everyboby tell me I need off grid, why? I want to cut my power rating down,,, remembers rv is based on a 12 system,,,, only tv ac an microwave or 110v might could catch the tvs once in s while \,,, now y;all keep telling me I need a massive power grid well no ****,,, that's not my goal ... I said cut down my bill not cut it off, I have many ideas to that this can work for more than gaining power like over my slide outs there is no cover and poor insutlation over them I can gain shade, wich internes shade and cooler spots,,, thatss why I said on grid,,,, now some please tell me where to start not on a complete off gride but to help u know the word help,,, if I am on rhe wron site then tell me I want be b ack,,,, I am not saying this is not a good site,,, just remember yall started some where , right or was there was no trail and eearror.... just looking at my part of going green,,,, and I have no trees around me at all its freaking texas,,, bottom line HELP OR NO HELP..... thANKS

If you tried posting while you are sober it might help. The post is rambling and contradictory.

[reed cundiff]

Is there some requirement that one must be snarky on this thread? Someone asks legitimate questions and is shot down. There are a number of respondents in Solar Panel Talk that would rather rant and dissemble than provide information and help.
Reed

[SunEagle]

The only reason we have solar for our RV is because there is no grid to plug into where we go. The expense was worth it because not having to listen to a generator every day is priceless. That's a good thing because it will be years before I would have bought enough gas for the generator to cost as much as the solar did.

Which is the point I have been trying to make to the OP from the beginning.

[russ]

Is there some requirement that one must be snarky on this thread? Someone asks legitimate questions and is shot down. There are a number of respondents in Solar Panel Talk that would rather rant and dissemble than provide information and help.
Reed

Read the post - it make little to no sense and is contradictory. No one can provide help when there is no target.

[reed cundiff]

I have read his posts, and every post in this thread. His questions seem to be what can he do to ameliorate his electrical bills. He wants to know how to start working with solar, not to go off grid.

He does not want to go off grid nor does he plan to run his a/c off solar. He merely wants help with his 12 V system which merely means enough solar to keep the batteries charged and perhaps watch TV on 110V. He can do this with 300 to 500W of solar, two batteries and a 1 kW inverter. The important thing is to answer the questions he has asked.

There is little cause to go off on rants why he cannot run two air conditioners when he did not ask to do such. JiminDenver noted that akadrakkar could place a shade/palapa over the rig to reduce heat load on rig and I agree. Some posters do not seem to read what has been written previously on the thread but are far more interested in appearing the brightest person in the room.
Reed

[SunEagle]

I have read his posts, and every post in this thread. His questions seem to be what can he do to ameliorate his electrical bills. He wants to know how to start working with solar, not to go off grid.

He does not want to go off grid nor does he plan to run his a/c off solar. He merely wants help with his 12 V system which merely means enough solar to keep the batteries charged and perhaps watch TV on 110V. He can do this with 300 to 500W of solar, two batteries and a 1 kW inverter. The important thing is to answer the questions he has asked.

There is little cause to go off on rants why he cannot run two air conditioners when he did not ask to do such. JiminDenver noted that akadrakkar could place a shade/palapa over the rig to reduce heat load on rig and I agree. Some posters do not seem to read what has been written previously on the thread but are far more interested in appearing the brightest person in the room.
Reed

We have answered the OP questions. I even showed him some pictures of my "solar battery charging system" which was very expensive and provided little power at a cost many times more than using the grid power.

Since he has to use grid power for his AC he might as well use it to charge his batteries and just forget about using solar because he will never reduce his costs that way.

A 500 watt solar battery charging system may be able to yield at the most without hurting his battery about 1.2kWh a day. At $0.10/kWh that the Utility charges he will save about $0.12/day or about $44/year. Compare that to the cost of 500 watts of panels and a charge controller (~$750) it will take over 17 years to pay for it from the savings. How is that economical?

[Sunking]

His questions seem to be what can he do to ameliorate his electrical bills.

Which was answered in post # and 18 more times he refused to accept and you missed.

He wants to know how to start working with solar, not to go off grid.

Huh? He is in a RV, it has to be off-grid, there is no Grid Tie option in a RV.

His goal which he stated many times was to save money. If that is the objective there is no chance solar can do that. Used in this manner some 20 to 50 times more expensive than just buying the power on a shore connection, or run a generator.

Secondly he states he is in Dallas TX and lives in his RV. Ever been there in the summer? Try it sometime without a Shore Connection. Bet you will not do that on night 2 if you survive being cooked in your RV Solar Oven. You will be running to a KOA campground with electrical hookup. If you are connected to run the AC, solar will not do squat for you except cost money. Didn't he say his objective was to save money? How should he do that with solar?

[Sunking]

A 500 watt solar battery charging system may be able to yield at the most without hurting his battery about 1.2kWh a day. At $0.10/kWh that the Utility charges he will save about $0.12/day or about $44/year. Compare that to the cost of 500 watts of panels and a charge controller (~$750) it will take over 17 years to pay for it from the savings. How is that economical?

You forgot the battery and replacement cost every few years.

[russ]

Some posters do not seem to read what has been written previously on the thread but are far more interested in appearing the brightest person in the room.
Reed

A self description?

[reed cundiff]

I scarcely consider myself the brightest lad in the room. We are full timers and have some understanding of requirements with solar, LFP, and travel to Yucatan/Belize. We should choose to acquire knowledge from others and sometimes be helpful. We have run into numerous folk on the road that have proven to provide very successful cross-fertilization of concepts. This is what the threads on the varied fora should be.
Reed

[russ]

This is what the threads on the varied fora should be.
Reed

Ok - great - we continue like always.

[SunEagle]

You forgot the battery and replacement cost every few years.

Well he does live in an RV so the batteries will be replaced even if he didn't charge them with solar.

Heck I just replaced mine which were 4 years old and never charged them using solar. Of course I abused them by running them low on water.

[ZoNiE]

It sounds as if he lives in a large toy hauler sorta permanently located in a trailer park, so has full connections. It also sounds like he is trying to get by, and thinking he can save money by installing some solar to charge his batteries. Nothing wrong with that. Not everyone has gobs of money to sink into this stuff.

I agree, he is better off avoiding solar completely unless he can get the stuff for free or used from CL for very little cost. This may very well be the case. People tend to become very resourceful when then have to be.

Wants Grid Tie? No.
Wants Total Solar? No.
Wants to use PoCo for AC only, Sure, Easy.
Wants to use Solar for 12V stuff only. Doable, but expensive. Yeah, 300-500W, 200-400AH, 1-1.5KW inverter would do it, but not worth it at retail. (Around $2K)

What we don't know is that maybe he wants some semblance of self sufficiency no matter the cost.

We also don't know his electric bill is. My electric bill in Phoenix is $400 in the summer, but this is for 7 Tons of AC keeping a modest 2,400 Sq Ft slump block house with zero wall insulation very very comfortable. An expense I am willing to live with and can afford. Cooling a 36' tin box with 2" of crappy insulation and two RV rooftop $#!+ box air conditoners can cost a lot too. He just may not realize the ratio of his total electric to just the cooling. It's about 75-80% for cooling. In his case, solar doesn't really pay off but will pay off more quickly than some of the assumptions here, I believe, from my own experience cooling my travel trailer and a nearly non-insulated, 40% glass sided GMC motorhome myself.

Akadrakkar, I think your questions have been answered. Forget it unless you can get what you need for a few hundred $. You may be money ahead buying a ductless mini-split AC unit for around $700 and installing it in the trailer and running that instead of those horrible Dometic repackaged window units on your rooftop. They are about 4X more efficient, which means 4X less electricity to cool the coach. That is how you effectively lower your bill.

I have a carrier low profile RV Unit on my Trailer, the best one ever made, and it still pales in comparison to a ductless mini split and it is noisy and shakes the whole trailer. It is louder than my onboard honda RV generator from inside. I will be converting my 25' trailer to a mini split when the roof unit dies. The mini splits are 20-22% efficient, quiet, and cool much much better. You can set the outdoor unit on the roof if you don't move your trailer. I'll mount mine on the rear wall or bumper.


SunEagle's answer is spot on.

I have read his posts, and every post in this thread. His questions seem to be what can he do to ameliorate his electrical bills. He wants to know how to start working with solar, not to go off grid.

He does not want to go off grid nor does he plan to run his a/c off solar. He merely wants help with his 12 V system which merely means enough solar to keep the batteries charged and perhaps watch TV on 110V. He can do this with 300 to 500W of solar, two batteries and a 1 kW inverter. The important thing is to answer the questions he has asked.

There is little cause to go off on rants why he cannot run two air conditioners when he did not ask to do such. JiminDenver noted that akadrakkar could place a shade/palapa over the rig to reduce heat load on rig and I agree. Some posters do not seem to read what has been written previously on the thread but are far more interested in appearing the brightest person in the room.
Reed