I am starting to think about solar stuff -- aside from money, I see two problems: I try to camp in the shade, and I am concerned about theft. Is it a big deal to park the panel in the sun and run a long cable to the trailer? Is theft a significant issue? When I run my generator, I am right there with it. With solar, I would set it up during the day and go hiking, leaving it unsupervised.
I would not leave it unattended, it is too expensive an item.
Al C
profdant139 wrote: I am starting to think about solar stuff -- aside from money, I see two problems: I try to camp in the shade, and I am concerned about theft. Is it a big deal to park the panel in the sun and run a long cable to the trailer? Is theft a significant issue? When I run my generator, I am right there with it. With solar, I would set it up during the day and go hiking, leaving it unsupervised.
If i was going to steal something, I would much rather steal a Honda 2000. BTW, where are you camping next?
Prof, I think you will find many solar-powered RVers are simply bolting their panels down flat to the roof (using cross-brackets). While this immediately chops off 30% of the peak efficency, you get to keep your panels.
As I look at this for myself, the desire to camp in the shade sort of jumps out at me, too. So I've been looking at panels of a size that I can slip into my pass-through storage (I built a whopping big pass-through storage). Thus hidden, it should deter potential drive-by theft of the panels. As for generator theft, my Champion 3500 comes with built-in theft deterrence: no one wants to steal it.
I picture myself lugging the panels 10 yards to a sunny spot and running cable. I'll defer to the experts, but I would have to believe that long cable runs are not a big issue with solar, if you have a big enough cable. There seems to be plenty of voltage headroom on the generation side, and you're headed to a transformer, anyway.
The unattached panels I've seen are with in 10 to 20 feet of the rig. Using unattached panels has the advantage of being able to sit the tilt easily. The disadvantage is storing the panels when not in use. Plan to have at least 125 Watts of solar to have the minimum that will charge batteris that are used very much. A good Controller is a must. Heavy cable is also necessaay.
I bring a bike lock and use it for the panel. I also put my name on it with a sharpie. When not in use or even when in use sometimes, I keep it on the roof rack of my truck.
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