Creating a portable RV solar system

[HRTKD]

I have ground deployed panels. Due to a lack of experience, I bought two 320 watt panels for on the ground, the same number of identical panels that I put on the roof. I was so frustrated with shopping for panels that when I found a set that worked for the roof, I bought a second set for the ground.

320 watt panels are heavy. You need some way to keep the panels from blowing over/away and you need a way to tilt them. I made my own frame for the panels and that just added more weight.

I have a toy hauler trailer. I can store my monster panels so that they aren't in the way. But it's a chore to get them into and out of the trailer.

If I had it to do over, I would use panels no larger than 200 watts and build a minimalist frame.

I could see putting together a system where one suitcase/milkcrate is the batteries, another is the solar charge controller(s) and another is the inverter. The weight of these components adds up, hence the separation into three manageable "packages".

If you want the ultimate in portability, consider creating a system where the trailer gets power from the system by plugging the shore power cable in. That way you don't have to tweak anything in the trailer. Pull the three (or more?) suitcases out of the basement passthrough and you're done. The challenge is getting the shore power cord into the basement and still being able to close the hatch.

 

[corn18]

When I installed my shore power reel in my basement, I put one of these in the floor to run the 50A cable from the reel to the outside:

 

[HRTKD]

When I installed my shore power reel in my basement, I put one of these in the floor to run the 50A cable from the reel to the outside:

That would work!

 

[sunny butts]

Every time I add something to my system, I think about what to do when I sell the trailer. I kept all the original bits and I can put it back to stock in about 8 hours. Except for the panels on the roof. I could take them off, but that would leave a bunch of holes in the roof. I could seal them nicely, but I were buying the trailer, I would rather have the solar panels than a bunch of holes.

But you got me thinking about the portability of a system. I could fit everything I need in a box and put it in the basement area or bed of my truck. Just plug the shore power cable into the box and run the RV that way. Wouldn't be too hard to do that way. But not the most efficient. But it would work. Just put all this in a box:

View attachment 75068

It has a female 50A RV outlet to plug in the RV. It also has a 50A inlet so you can plug it into shore power to charge the batteries while running the RV, too. Box would weigh 170 lbs, so not something you want to move around a lot, but could transfer from RV to RV fairly easily. Or make it weatherproof and put it in the bed of your truck (if towing).

Add connectors for solar panels and you're all set. Either use portable panels or put them on the roof.

Thanks so much for the effort and thoughts, all good stuff

 

[sunny butts]

OP, out of curiosity, why will you be changing RV's every 3 to 6 months? And would it maybe just be best to hold off on buying/building a solar system until your situation is more stable, and use a generator in the interim?

Hi, I think I might of answer, but catching up. Life is short and I have parallel projects, becoming a certified RV inspector, designing and becoming solar enabled, and flipping RVs, and find our forever 24'er along the way.

 

[sunny butts]

Sure, or at least it can be. I'm not sure how the economics of it work out with an RV/mobile build, particularly trying to factor in moving it between RV's. My gut instinct is the juice wouldn't be worth the squeeze to me, but I'm interested in thinking it through regardless.

? wow!

So normally the first thing people will tell you to do is an energy audit. Its really hard to properly size and design a system without knowing what your average daily consumption is, peak consumption, etc. I'm not sure how you arrived at your 400Ah number, do you have a ballpark idea how much energy you will consume?

If this is just more of the 'thought experiment' stage, we could just make some assumptions as placeholder values and go from there.im s

 

[HRTKD]

It automatically detects flooded lithium, SLA, and gel batteries.

I wouldn't trust a charger to automatically figure out the proper battery chemistry. I prefer a programmable charger that I can set the charge voltage on.

 

[pollenface]

I have a toy hauler trailer. I can store my monster panels so that they aren't in the way. But it's a chore to get them into and out of the trailer.

You could mount them vertically on the sides with gas struts and fold them out when parked. I thought of doing this with one of my campers but never got around to it.

 

[HRTKD]

You could mount them vertically on the sides with gas struts and fold them out when parked. I thought of doing this with one of my campers but never got around to it.

I looked into it. Maybe someday.

 

[50ShadesOfDirt]

Don't know if pull-type rv or engine-type rv, but either way, one option might be to keep all solar gear mobile from the start.

If an engine-rv, then have a small weathertight trailer with all gear in/on it. could even include a small inverter-gen in sound box, if designed right.

If a pull-trailer rv, then design same solar gear enclosure to fit truck (although some folks are good at pulling rv and another trailer). if truck bed, then some bed space can be devoted to solar gear.

perhaps all power (from solar or from inverter-gen) can route through "shore-power" conn on rv.

We'll call it the RVetti (TM) ...