Here to learn if it’s possible?

[kewipa10]

Hello,
Kevin here, just retired and looking for projects. Now I want to do my own solar system. I’m trying to heat a 37 ft class A RV all night using only winter solar sun. Can it be done? I’ll be looking for advice and information.

Never done any solar so tho.... I’ll be trying it out on my motor home.

I have a maintenance electrical and HVAC background.

 

[snoobler]

HVAC is extremely challenging with solar - more so with winter sun. As you're well aware, it takes about 5X the energy to MAKE heat vs. moving it (heat pump). Running your RV heat pump all night will consume huge amounts of energy.

Assuming you could get by with a single RV heat pump that uses about 1500W, 12 hours of running is 18000Wh. That's about $3000 worth of LFP DIY cells. To produce that much energy per day in winter sun, you'd likely need 9000W of solar mounted to a ground array fixed-tilt optimally towards the sun.

If you're not worried about freezing pipes, an electric blanket or sleeping bags are a good alternative.

Propane is more effective and would cost you way less.

 

[Factory400]

I use propane for heat and electricity to blow it around. The amount of electricity it takes to electrically heat a rig like that is rather huge in the context of mobile solar/batteries.

If possible, get a power recording device and perhaps some space heaters and fans to get a sense of how much energy is needed over a single day. This is not a perfect test, but it will get you into the ballpark.

After that, figure out how many panels you need in the winter to match what you recorded. You will probably find that you you need many more panels than will fit on your rig.