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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 322
Location: Fort Madison, Iowa | Does anyone know of a good company that sells RV solar panel kits? So many of them aren't made in the USA and I'd prefer one that does.
Not sure what watts I want yet. I was orginally looking to keep my batteries charged because I don't have a manual jack backup and from what I'm understanding, 15 watts would work fine for that.
After doing some pricing, I think for the price difference, I might as well go bigger 50w - 100w. I mainly camp 2- 3 days unless I'm on vacation and then I usually have electric. What are your thoughts on what wattage you'd recommend?
Also if I decided to add another panel later, could I or would I have to buy a bigger charging system if I wanted to add later?
Where I go on vacation in the fall, they have a guy that comes and works on about anything on trailers and I've had him do work for me before. I'm having him redo the seams on my roof and I've talked to him about doing the solar panels and he'll do that also.
I'll talk to him again before vacation but I'm looking for what others have experienced and what's worked well for them so I'm open for ideas.
Thanks! |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 657
 
Location: Rayne, LA | I saw online that Coleman makes a solar panel designed to mount on top of a Coleman A/C and wires to the 12 volt system on the A/C that will trickle charge the coach batteries. I am tempted to try it. I would be interested to get any input if anyone has used this model also. |
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Veteran
Posts: 203
Location: Lander WY | Originally written by horsin around on 2013-07-24 10:32 AM
Does anyone know of a good company that sells RV solar panel kits? So many of them aren't made in the USA and I'd prefer one that does.Not sure what watts I want yet. I was orginally looking to keep my batteries charged because I don't have a manual jack backup and from what I'm understanding, 15 watts would work fine for that.After doing some pricing, I think for the price difference, I might as well go bigger 50w - 100w. I mainly camp 2- 3 days unless I'm on vacation and then I usually have electric. What are your thoughts on what wattage you'd recommend?Also if I decided to add another panel later, could I or would I have to buy a bigger charging system if I wanted to add later? Where I go on vacation in the fall, they have a guy that comes and works on about anything on trailers and I've had him do work for me before. I'm having him redo the seams on my roof and I've talked to him about doing the solar panels and he'll do that also. I'll talk to him again before vacation but I'm looking for what others have experienced and what's worked well for them so I'm open for ideas. Thanks! Northern Arizona- Wind and Sun is widely known in the camper world- They can answer any questions that you may have.See Link >>>>>>>http://www.solar-electric.com/rvandsmbasoc.html |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 322
Location: Fort Madison, Iowa | I almost bought one of the coleman solar panels you can put on top of your shrouds when I replaced my shroud this year. I held off because it was 10 - 14 watt and would cost around $165.00 and I think it was just the panel and not much else with it. I found others priced comparible that offered more watts and was a full kit.
I checked out the website and there's lots of good information thank you. It has a solar information & FAQ section that made me think about a few things I hadn't thought about like theft and lightning. Also let me know I'm out of my league and I'll definately be relying on my guy this fall to help me out. |
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Veteran
Posts: 264
Location: Sumas Washington | I got mine from California Wholesale solar. Went with 180 watt unit and am glad I did. We spent 10 days in the Little Belt Mts of Montana, ran the fantastic fan every night and did not have to start the generator for the batteries. The right solar system will save your batteries so you dont have to buy new ones as often. |
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Regular
Posts: 79
Location: Alberta Canada | Originally written by gonzo1066 on 2013-07-26 7:28 PM
I got mine from California Wholesale solar. Went with 180 watt unit and am glad I did. We spent 10 days in the Little Belt Mts of Montana, ran the fantastic fan every night and did not have to start the generator for the batteries. The right solar system will save your batteries so you dont have to buy new ones as often. Did you hard mount the panel on trailer or is it a stand alone? Thinking of doing something similar but reluctant to drill holes in roof of l/q trailer. Assuming you have a 2 batter set up.. but 12 or 6 volt? How was ride in Little Belts, were you just south and east of Great Falls MT? |
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Veteran
Posts: 264
Location: Sumas Washington | Originally written by Saddleup on 2013-07-27 1:20 PM Originally written by gonzo1066 on 2013-07-26 7:28 PM
I got mine from California Wholesale solar. Went with 180 watt unit and am glad I did. We spent 10 days in the Little Belt Mts of Montana, ran the fantastic fan every night and did not have to start the generator for the batteries. The right solar system will save your batteries so you dont have to buy new ones as often. Did you hard mount the panel on trailer or is it a stand alone? Thinking of doing something similar but reluctant to drill holes in roof of l/q trailer. Assuming you have a 2 batter set up.. but 12 or 6 volt? How was ride in Little Belts, were you just south and east of Great Falls MT? I hard mounted the panels to the roof, used a fibered sealer under the pads and drilled through the sealer and then covered it with another layer. I have 2 12v AGM batteries. The Little belts are awesome we were by Kings hill area. |
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Veteran
Posts: 203
Location: Lander WY | Originally written by Saddleup on 2013-07-27 3:20 PM Originally written by gonzo1066 on 2013-07-26 7:28 PM
I got mine from California Wholesale solar. Went with 180 watt unit and am glad I did. We spent 10 days in the Little Belt Mts of Montana, ran the fantastic fan every night and did not have to start the generator for the batteries. The right solar system will save your batteries so you dont have to buy new ones as often. Did you hard mount the panel on trailer or is it a stand alone? Thinking of doing something similar but reluctant to drill holes in roof of l/q trailer. Assuming you have a 2 batter set up.. but 12 or 6 volt? How was ride in Little Belts, were you just south and east of Great Falls MT? |
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New User
Posts: 2
Location: Taos, NM | We went with a flexible 15w one from a marine supply (West Marine). It was somewhat pricey, but has the advantage that when it is partially shaded, the output doesn't drop to zero. The hard ones quit, even with an overhead line shadow across them.
Johnny |
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Veteran
Posts: 264
Location: Sumas Washington | A good unit is worth the extra dollars. Ours actually will chage (a bit) while parked under a bright street lamp at night. |
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Solar panels kits
