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Post by brewdog on May 22, 2017 20:03:30 GMT -5
Greetings,
Just got our first camper, so this is our first rodeo (and here comes what is likely a very basic question). I am looking for a solar panel to charge the 12V during the day so we have basic electricity in the evening when we are boondocking.
1. I believe a 40W panel should do the trick?
2. I see Zamp, and less expensive alternatives like Nature Power. I'm a believer of the "you get what you pay for" adage, but thought I would check in with the forum.
Can anyone provide any recommendations?
Cheers!
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Post by vagov on May 23, 2017 5:36:28 GMT -5
Welcome from Pittsburgh pa, congrats on your 2nd camper .. I got the same trailer, but mine is called a 196s model. (2015) sorry not helpful in the solar power as I don't use, but watching the thread for responses to learn.
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Post by lynnmor on May 23, 2017 8:37:28 GMT -5
I believe that most solar users will say 100 watt minimum. Remember that not every day has brilliant sunshine.
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k0vwa
Newbie RV’er
Posts: 47 
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Post by k0vwa on May 23, 2017 12:29:04 GMT -5
Greetings, Just got our first camper, so this is our first rodeo (and here comes what is likely a very basic question). I am looking for a solar panel to charge the 12V during the day so we have basic electricity in the evening when we are boondocking. 1. I believe a 40W panel should do the trick? 2. I see Zamp, and less expensive alternatives like Nature Power. I'm a believer of the "you get what you pay for" adage, but thought I would check in with the forum. Can anyone provide any recommendations? Cheers! Hi - congrats on the camper! They're tons of fun. We do mostly boondocking in our E196. I think we only plugged into two campsites last summer - the rest were "off-grid" Not quite sure what you mean by "basic electricity" but will assume you mean using lights, heater, water heater and water pump. That's what we use - no microwave or air conditioning. We charge laptops via a 200W inverter and charge everything else via USB chargers connected to the batteries. Check our 400W setup on the Renogy web site. renogy-store.boards.net/thread/221/400w-lcd-spree-escape-boondocking. 40 watts might charge a laptop and a phone but it's not going to keep your trailer running for long. Our E196 had 13 interior bulbs -- I think they were 8W bulbs. If my math is right that's 104 watts right there before you even turn on the water pump or heater. We replaced the interior bulbs with LEDs that use only 1 watt. We also replaced the stock KZ Interstate battery with two 6V - 225Ah batteries. Too late to make a long story short but I'd be stunned if a 40W panel will make enough electricity. Money's always an object but in the case of solar it pays to buy enough power. For something like boondocking you likely want to be able to rely on that power no matter what. Our panels have a 25 year warranty. We could likely have gone with just 200W of panels and one battery but wanted to have reserve power and storage for cloudy days. With the storage we have now the camper will work fine for two days even with no panels charging -- or will charge the batteries in one day even if it's a dark overcast day. The most accurate way to determine your power usage is with something like a "kill-a-watt" - device that plugs in between your house and trailer. Then "camp" in it and record the power usage the next day. Add in some buffer for cloudy days and such and you should be good to go. Don't forget that your panels, charge controller and batteries all need to be matched. For example - no point in buying 800 watts of solar panels if you only have one battery and it can't take the charge rate from 8 panels. Good luck! Feel free to PM me if you have more questions. |
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