I'm prewired for solar, but the roof on my AF1140 is pretty busy already, 3 vents, roof air, tv antenna, bathroom skylight. Got room for 2, maybe 3 panels. I use a lot of power, my 4 golf cart batts can go 3 days, 4 if I'm nice. Coffee maker on inverter is the big culprit.
What panels are the best bang for the buck--size vs wattage vs $$$ ?
Who's got the best price?
Who's the best to deal with(usually completely different than who's got the best price)?
Boatycall wrote: I'm prewired for solar, but the roof on my AF1140 is pretty busy already, 3 vents, roof air, tv antenna, bathroom skylight. Got room for 2, maybe 3 panels. I use a lot of power, my 4 golf cart batts can go 3 days, 4 if I'm nice. Coffee maker on inverter is the big culprit.
What panels are the best bang for the buck--size vs wattage vs $$$ ?
Who's got the best price?
Who's the best to deal with(usually completely different than who's got the best price)?
There is a dealer in Oregon that was recommended to me by Randy at Bestconverter. He has no connection at Bestconvertor that I know of.
Oh man, I'm screwed, the very first line on the front page of thier website says "This site is intended to educate RV owners".
Now where do I look?
Thanx!
Jim,
I just got off the phone with Randy at Bestconverter. (I was ordering some of the new LED companion lights to assist a fellow TC owner).
Randy confirmed that he had recommended AMSolar to me quite some time ago... apparently he feels that there is something special about their set-up. He has no interest in AM Star... Randy just happens to own a couple of truck campers... a new Lance and an older Avion. He is just interested.
If your coffee maker is the culprit, I suggest going the Melita route.
I have been using this for the last 5 years. You don't use any power, only your stove to heat water to a boil.....then pour the water slowly in the Melita coffee urn. It isn't an automatic operation, but, hey, anything worth having is worth working for! I get about 5 cups out of my Melita......probably 5 more than my doctor would like me to have!........but, he doesn't camp with me!
Not an option. My coffee maker and I have a history. It's a Seattle thing, you wouldn't understand...
In all seriousness, that's just one of the many things that suck down my batts. I'm looking at weighing the "always on" aspect of solar panels with the occasional need to hit the go button on the built in gen. I also have a second charger/converter I was considering adding when I do have to hit the go button. It's a 50a charger.
TSJA wrote: I agree with sleepy...AM Solar has been great to deal with.
Would you mind sharing some details about what you bought and why?
Did you get the crystaline cells... or? how long have you had them?
How did you attach them to your TC?
.................
A year or two ago I made a bad mistake. I made the statement here on the TC Forum that solar panels would be worth-less in the north especially Canada. Colon and PRconnection I believe it was got upset with my ignorance. I thought north was bad for solar (it is... but just in winter)!
Last spring my wife and I boondocked in Oregon, Washington, BC, ID, WY, Montana,etc.
It turns out that while we were in the far north west we found it was still light outside until 11:30 pm and starting to get light again at 4:30am. That makes for a long day... and a lot of photons to hit the solar panels.
We actually generated as much or more electricity from our one 55 watt panel up there than we did in the south west desert... there was always dust on the panel in the desert.
Boaty. I think Greg and Deb at AM Solar are the best solar folks going. They were professional and super nice to deal with. They just build a new building with several bays and offices. I'm not sure but I think the place in Flagstaff only sells stuff. they send you up the street to an RV Dealer, which turned me off. I ended up getting 4 panels. AGM batteries an inverter charger and an MPPT unit. They did a very clean installation and I felt the price was better then I could have gotten anywhere else. I sound like a relative, but I am not even though I was treated like on.. Doug
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