Can't believe no one recommended solar and more batteries.
You could start off with 335 watts and work your way up if you need more solar, key is to get the converter with high enough wattage for growth. I started with 280 watts and 3 batteries. It was not enought to last for 24hrs so I added the extra panel and battery and problem solved. I ended up with 420 watts of solar and 4 (12V) batteries. I don't need to use my genny unless I want to run AC or the microwave. I had 4 batteries installed because we run two fans all night long and we have a HDDVR that also runs all day. The HD units draw more power and the DVR needs to run all day so I can watch comercial free TV at night. I also installed LED lights to lower power consumption.
Solar doesn't work so well in the shade, the OP may not have the realestate for enough batteries to eliminate the generator, he still needs an inverter to run the tv.
I would start with either a 1k inverter generator, a ~300 watt inverter for the tv. If going the inverter route, a faster charger is needed (or spend ~4 hours a day running the generator just to watch tv off the inverter).
How do you know he's in the shade? He's got Direct TV and if its roof mounted he will have sunlight on his roof. He has 2 AC units and a large generator, odds are he will have more than enough room for solar panels and possibly batteries too as I am pretty sure this camper is 30' plus. Can't see the need for another generator if you already have one. Solar will always be quiter than a generator and quiet is what this guy is looking for.
If I had such a monster generator to start with, I think I would consider trying to beef up my battery bank and using an inverter. I'd forget about adding another expensive generator. That said, going with a 1,000 watt generator is a false economy and nearly always a mistake for an RVer. RVers are much better off with at least a 2,000 watt generator.
Generators have to be "de-rated" quite a bit with altitude (it isn't "1,000 watts" until the "goats come home" - - more like a fraction of that). RVers with their beefy appliances will quickly run out of amps with a 1,000 watt generator and will end up wasting their money and ruining the environment at the same time.
Quote: Can't believe no one recommended solar and more batteries.
Big flat roofs are made for solar. But solar is no panacea. It is expensive and relatively inefficient. It looks like more batteries are called for in this case, in any event. But, I've observed that solar is awfully damn quiet (one out of three ain't bad). In campgrounds, I've sat several feet away from solar panels and never heard a peep!
* This post was
edited 07/15/12 01:33pm by Testudo *
Testudo & Princesse Caribou
2012 FORD F-250 6.2L 4x4 EC SB SRW
2006 FORD F-250 5.4L manual trans (Sniff! Gone but not forgotten!)
2006 OUTFITTER SUPER-Caribou 6.5
zman-az
Because if he doesn't have some shade, he would be running the main generator for the ac's.
Testudo
a 1kw generator is to small for most things, but to run a satellite, tv, and keep the batteries topped off it is fine, bigger loads and he will have to start his existing genset.
pianotuna
82 cents per watt for solar panels is cheap, for being on a pallet. By the time you have them mounted, wired, charge controler, inverter, transfer switch etc they cost several times a small generator. The major thing panels have going for them over a generator is the lack of ongoing costs (fuel), and the total lack of noise (other then cooling fans on charge controlers and inverters - which rival the noise from the fridge cooling fan).
That "pallet price" is for two panels @ 145 watts each.
Nope about $3.00 per watt installed on a DIY. You don't need a transfer switch. Generators have this nasty habit for me of being totally unreliable. They are at best noisy, smelly, and costly to run. Solar is a one time cost.
I'd be money ahead by now if I had given up on generator power sooner. As it is I'm probably going to add 580 watts to my existing system.
Cost will be ~$480.00 for the panels. I will have to get a 2nd solar charge controller which would be a Tristar 60 amp PWM @ $199.00. (chosen because of diversion load capabilities).
That will boost me up to 840 watts in total--or almost enough to run my air conditioner.
An Update: I posted earlier that going with 2 generators seemed to be the best bet for us. We are very happy so far. The lil 2,000W is undersized...but not for what we want! Directv and the big screen, in econ (whisper) mode. The campsite that we like, got hot...we fired up "big ben" and ran both of our A/C's. Since I am a teacher with summers off, we tend to go mid week; fewer ppl, and no one right next to us. Discovered: 2 A/c's kept us cool. using the smaller genny except for a/c at the end of the day = the same fuel usage as our old 4000W for the 4 days. Going outside of our camp and taking a walk, (most people were using generators) my unit did not over power anyone else noise wise. I don't think another camper a couple of sites over could hear my small genny in eco mode. For us: this worked. M.
Offline
Online
