I know, you do not have much experience with solar setups. This is really kinda simple. A. The panels power the charge controllers, B. The charge controllers charge and monitor the batteries, C. The batteries power the Inverters, D. The backup relays transfer your circuits back to grid after the batteries deplete or the Inverter fails, E. You can use more than 1 Inverter depending on how many batteries and panels you have. You really do not need to buy the expensive Victron stuff and can do better with the cheaper components. I have designed and built several solar systems using components from Amazon. Everything must be compatible with each other for these to work reliably. For residential use, I use the 250W 24V panels wired in parallel in stacks of 3 (for 750W) to a 30A charge controller. Then I stack from 2 to 6 of these sets in parallel with the 24V batteries. I like to use the 24V 4000W Inverters and 80A relays for grid backup. The charge controllers control the transfer relays. Theory: Not all panels and charge controllers will be producing power at the same time, it all depends on shading at the different times of day. On cloudy days, the different arrays of panels will get different amounts of sunlight. If the batteries need any charging, the charge controllers will know this and provide charging. On a full sun day, the charge controllers will draw as much as it needs from the panels up to the rated output. My systems cost about 1/4 to 1/2 of the Victron stuff. In an RV setup, most RVs are 12V, so you would have to design for that. The cheaper $12 charge controllers will know if you are using 12V or 24V panels and batteries. You can only put so many PV panels on an RV roof. To supplement your RV PV panel array, you can have several flexible panels laying face up on the ground. They are lightweight, easy to connect, and would have their own charge controller. You store them in your basement while traveling. Personally, I use only the 10AWG solar wire and Y-Adapters except for battery monitors. Follow the manufacturer's instructions and do not overload the charge controllers. (Max 780W) Only load your Inverters at about 1/2 of the labelled wattage for continuous use. I would use a 1000W Inverter for a single average refrigerator with a grid backup relay. I hope this helps.
I can't remember if I mentioned it to yall yet or not but, we installed a minisplit for ac & heat. It's made a complete and shocking difference for us. Our 1 minisplit cools better than our 3 RV acs combined! And the 1 running full blast still takes a little less than 1 of the RV rooftop ACs. We even tested it this summer and spent 4 days in Laughlin, Nevada at 117° end of August. We.left our minisplit on the entire time and hottest it got in the camper was 83. Once the sun went down it was still 100 outside but down to 61 in the camper. I don't know how much solar/battery bank uall have but the minisplit made it to where we can literally be anywhere we want when we want with no issues. We can camp places too hot for others because of it being too hot for others. We have a video on our channel of us testing it out with more details. But I'd say after 4 full years of full time rving, I truly wish we'd done this year 1! Best upgrade we've ever done! Ps, we don't have battle born, either. Why pay that much?! We got cheaper ones on Amazon, too. Now further in your video i see you said 800 amp hrs. You probably wouldn't be able to keep the minisplit on all day but could a lot of the day. We have a little over 1k amp hours. Yall have a very similar set up to ours. We have 6 panels at 375 w bifacial. We saved a loooooot of money by Rob installing our setup, though. His family have an electric business and most of the men have worked there at some point in life. We got lucky, there cause Rob was able to do it all.
Wow that is incredible! Thanks for sharing, we are seriously considering a minisplit for our next upgrade! The challenge for us is that we will most likely need one for garage and then another for rest of the toyhauler. We separate the main and garage because of our offices. Where did you mount the outside part? I’ll watch your video. Never mind. lol we tend to never camp in high heat so I think we’ll be fine using our setup. We shall see. It’s definitely one that’s been on our list,
@liketheresnotomorrow yeah for the garage aka office, you'd probably still have to use the ac in there for figure out something different. We only use our garage as our dining room so it's not a room we just have to use. But I do use it as my craft room when wer3 stopped long enough to take the side by side out. The minisplit does work for the main living area and reaches our bedroom, but if we have the garage doors closed, it can't reach in there.
I stayed at hip camp grandma Moses country! If you are okay with chickens and a turkey on property I recommend it. “Eagle Bridge’ with Kimberly/she is greatly superior ! “Big Red Alpacas “ too. 10 acre farm
Just remember propane costs per hour is FAR higher than gasoline in a generator. It's also, like was said, is lower power. Also, if you want to run your ACs make sure they have a soft start capacitor.
We are brothers from another mother. Great job explaining the basics to newbies! Plus, what a great deal on batteries! Running a generator if fine to run your A/Cs during the day, though it's expensive, noisy and smelly. Many places have quiet hours preventing generator use, say between the hours of 10pm and 8am. And if you don't want to get the stink eye from your camping neighbors, I would limit my generator hours from 10am to 8pm at most. This covers the hottest part of the day but doesn't help if you need to run an air conditioning at night. Then there's the expense of running a generator for 10 hours. My old 5,500w generator burns about .7 gallons of gas/hr. when running 2 A/C units, so in 10 hrs. run burns 7 gallons, which at $3.50 a gallon is $24.50 a day. The equivalent power on propane will cost about 20% more. Also consider the logistics of carrying lots of gas with you. My gas-powered motorhome draws from the fuel tank, but a fiver or TT will require several heavy gas cans (or installing an onboard fuel tank, like toy haulers have) to support this much consumption. Then there's the expense of generator maintenance or at least changing the oil and filter every 100 hrs. of use (every 10 days at this rate). As far as the amount of solar that is feasible, we have 5,020 watts of solar on our 35ft Class A motorhome. We have a 620w liftable array on the side of our MH over our bedroom window to charge our 560ah 12v battery and 4,400 watts racked 15" off our roof above our A/C shrouds, which serves as a nice share for our RV too. We have 8, 550-watt panels, but your 44-footer could easily fit 10, 550w panels or 5,500 watts of solar without a solar awning, sliding panels, portable folding panels or other tricks to get more. We have a 16.4 kwh (320ah) 48v battery too for a total of 23.5 kwh, equaling about 9 of your Redodo 200ah batteries, for comparison. We built both our battery banks from the raw cells, though those $509 Redodo batteries sound like a killer deal for sure. Our entire system including a total of 6,000 watts of inverted 120v ac power, wiring, breakers, etc. cost only about $10k to build, not counting the $1,500 high efficiency mini split we added which only draws about 1/3 the power as our rooftop A/C plus it gives us free heat in the winter, so we save money on propane too. We now have 24/7 air conditioning and heat from our heat pump, and we can run everything in our RV including both our A/Cs, during the day, even in winter or on overcast days, while charging our batteries at the same time. We haven't plugged into the grid our run generator in over 7 months (except to exercise it) though we lived off-grid this entire time. It can be done, but it's a whole lot of work, especially for an old, overweight guy like me. I wouldn't even try to power 3 inefficient rooftop A/Cs though. I'd switch out two of them (front and rear) and replace them with 2 mini-split heat pumps. Other than that, I'd use 10, 550w panels on a 44ft RV. Along with the rest of my equipment, that should be sufficient for the same capabilities I have but on your bigger RV, at a total cost of around $14k if you do all the work yourself. Add another $5-$6k to have it done, which puts you right around those $20k quotes, but with a much more capable system than they were quoting you, for sure. BTW, one of your previous videos inspired me to get a 65-gallon water bladder and a spare water pump to transfer to replenish our fresh water supply between dumps. Thanks for the tip! It's working out great so far, plus we still have our 3, 5-gallon collapsible water carriers kept in reserve, for when we have to buy water from a dispensing machine.
FYI we'd love to have a mini-split, but can't figure out how to mount one on a toy hauler. Seems there's a big opportunity in the RV space for a mini-split manufacturer to come along and make something affordable & efficient. The rooftop mini-splits I've seen so far are pricey.
@@benpriester6657 Lippert makes the Furrion line. I have a 3yr old 14.5 kbtu Furrion on the front of my MH now, but they have a new 18kbtu model called the Furrion Cube that they recently released. I think this is the one you're referring to. They don't publish their Seer-2 specs on this model but they do say its EER is 9.5, which is not bad, but nowhere near my EG-4's 12.5 EER (28.5 Seer-2) rating. Plus, my mini split is a true heat pump that efficiently warms my motorhome as well saving not only on heating costs, but the hassle of having to replenish our propane while we're in the boonies.
Timing is perfect on this because my rig only has 200 watts of solar and standard batteries and I want to add at least 600 solar and now these batteries! Thanks for sharing
The #1 think to do folks is spend maybe $1200 or so per AC and replace what you have with Furrion Cube variable speed AC units. They are FAR more efficient than a Dometic or a Coleman Mach AC unit and are as efficient as a mini-split. This will significantly reduce the battery requirements to run your AC unit or units. We did that before installing our solar system and we reduced our battery needs significantly. They replace the ones you have quite directly. I don't know much at all about solar, I just had good expert advice on how to proceed. If you are about to proceed, really look at a 48v system so you can use server rack batteries. The 5120Wh 48v batteries are about $1100 each from a solid manufacturer.
If we do anything, it’ll probably be a mini split. Right now, we can’t put anymore $ into this unit. Not until we get the accident bills in check. Someday maybe IF we know we will stay in this unit for the long haul
Thank you so much for making this video so simple “the goats can get it”. This is something we really want to do as well, and very similar to this. You both gave us a lot to think about and move us in the right direction. Having a big toy hauler we definitely want to be able to go a lot of remote places out west. Stay safe out there.
Good day 🌻 30:48 min mark for generator power, Is this another part of the rv or a tent? I'm learning an abundance about rv living from y'all, much obliged 🤗
Great video on solar and boondocking. We also work full time from the road and do a lot of boondocking with a similar system. My favorite part of having a good solar system is not having the stress of finding a 50amp spot months in advance. We have to be ready to work Monday morning at 8am and if we get stuck without an ideal spot it is no problem. The hybrid assist on the Victron invertor allows both ACs to run on a 30amp spot or even long term moochdocking with friends on a standard 15amp plug. We just arrived in Colorado for the summer and will be boondocking on and off for the next 5 months. Let us know if you are looking for any good spots I have a ton saved and can't wait to get to them all.
Yes please. We are in SD for the next month and then east WY, headed down east side of CO to co springs and then over towards Gunnisson/ouray aug through October. Message or email me. We are always looking for good boondocking. Thanks for watching. We appreciate your support,
Maybe a stupid question, but I need to ask. Can I do the same setup, minus the solar panels, and charge the battery bank with my generator to power the inverter to get the same result? Thank you in advance. Love your channel!
Absolutely! Harvest host with lithium and solar is epic combo. We did go hardcore. We primarily boondock beach camp on the east coast and AC is critical! lol. So nice not running generators all the time!
Very well thought out video with good information. One key thing to add to the solar consideration is weight and cargo carrying capacity. It’s scary easy to exceed the capacity and end up with towing safely concerns, never mind frame structure issues. Good job!
This is a great point and I’m sad we didn’t think of mentioning it. lol we dumped the heavy generator and got rid of our washer/dryer and heavy shower doors. It wasn’t until we weighed that we confirmed that adding the solar didn’t put us over. Thanks for the reminder.
Yes. Our mini split is mounted in our bedroom so that it blows down the hall to the front of our motorhome. We added a rectangular window fan (the kind that has 2 small fans and is designed to sit on a windowsill with accordion expandable sides) by the ceiling just inside the bedroom door to assist in distributing cool air up front. However, we found that in our 35' rig, it really wasn't necessary, especially if we set our air handler on turbo. Whenever we leave our RV on a warm day, we leave the mini split on (not on turbo) as it draws very little power compared to our rooftop A/C (in the 400-500w range) yet still keeps it cool inside both front and rear for our animals. We haven't tested it yet in 100+ degree weather, but it keeps it nice and cool inside when it's in the low 90's outside. Its only rated at 12k btus but cools off our RV as well as our 14.5k btu Furrion while using 1/3rd the power.
The downside to a smaller rig is that there’s less rooftop real estate for solar panels. I had two instructors from the NRVTA do my install on site there. 800 w of solar, 560 AH lithium, 3000w Victron Multiplus, charge controller, Cerbo, all the wires etc. And the install all ran about $13k. Worth it? Yep. Running the AC in 96 degree temp sucks the batteries down about 28% in 1.5 hours. I do most of my air fryer and instant pot cooking midday so my batteries can recover by sundown.
I a 20 year retired Army veteran and try and buy only American made, but we will be on a budget when we full time and the cost of batteries are crazy so I may need to look at these batteries
That’s exactly how we felt. We always try to go for American made as well, but in this case it wasn’t an option. The price difference was just too great.
Great video guys and thank you for making it a 6th grade level explaining the solar. So many times I watch solar videos and I’m scratching my head. We are heading full time in April and we have a 2023 Intech OVR Expedition with 400 watts of solar and 200 amp hours of Lithium and a generator so we are hoping that’s all the solar we need. We will put it to the test and see if it’s enough. Thanks again
Hey guys, great video content ! We had A system installed similar to yours on our Alliance 310rl, 1600 watts solar and victron 3000 multiplex and cerbo too. Game changer. Opened up a whole new realm of glamping. We wished we invested in solar before we bought our 5500 onan generator. Could have put that $5500 towards the solar pkg. and used a putt-putt to top off. Again , thx for the videos & content.
A couple questions: What is the blue box on the back wall behind your batteries? It was about the 23:32 time stamp. What is a Cerbo? (Saw that in a comment.) Do you have 6 or 7 panels? How many total watts of panels do you have? I know you put the wattage on the screen as you explained, but my brain isn't computing lol. Do you need a certain number of charge controllers and/or inverters per the number batteries or per the number of panels? We are brand new to this, we have a 2024 Bullet Crossfire 30amp which has 1 solar panel and a victron charge controller, I have yet to find the inverter, but they tell me it has one. Right now, we have 1 lead acid battery and 2 40 pound propane tanks and a predator 3500 generator. We have had to plug in to the generator to get our microwave/airfryer combo and our roof top AC & some of the 110 outlets to turn on ... everything else seems to turn on.
Hey there. The big blue box behind the batteries is the Lynx Distributor. A Cerbo is basically the computer for the entire system. The Cerbo Touch 50 (on the wall inside the RV) is the monitor/control panel for the Cerbo. We have 6 panels, total watts 1550. As far as how many charge controllers you need per panel, that's more of a question for a solar tech. I just bought what my tech Dan at rvsolarconsulting.com/ told me to buy for the system I wanted. Sounds very much like your 2024 Bullet crossfire just has a basic solar package that will only charge the DC in your rig, not your A/C. It's only there to power DC-powered things like slides, lights, jacks, etc. It probably has a CONVERTER, not an inverter. A converter is what takes the AC power from the 30-amp pedestal and charges your batteries. We had the same thing when we started. No inverter. Just a single 100-amp Renogy lithium battery and a couple solar panels. That's why you can't run your air conditioning, microwave, etc., on the batteries. It has no way of inverting the DC from the batteries to AC power. If you're just going to be using your rig for weekend trips, short vacations, etc., you should probably stick with using the generator. The investment in a more robust system would be hard to justify, in my opinion.
I did a similar install on my own and I would have paid $300 if I had known! I noticed on your batteries widely different cable lengths. I thought you wanted those cable runs to be similar lengths for better battery usage. Did this come up at all on your consultation?
We originally had 2 batteries...then 3...then 4 (from what I recall anyway). Getting all 4 into that tiny space wasn't easy. I ordered pre-cut length cables because I didn't want to do the heat seals, etc. So...you're probably right. I understand the concept of "distance creates resistance". So this is probably a good example of "don't do what I did just because I did it that way". Lol. If Dan saw my setup, he would probably call me out too.
Thank you for the info and sharing the cost. Putting solar on is such a conundrum ... the cost to install, then hope for sun... and when your not one t keep a rig for long....oy vie. Safe Travels.
I hear ya. We will be in this rig a looong time to ensure this solar pays off. Honestly, as much as we boondock, it shouldn’t take that long at this rate.
Hey thanks for the shout out lol. I had just turned to Stacy and said I wonder if they are doing this video because of our conversation at the Rally. Good info and we are close to getting started on our build. We will keep you posted.
Thank you for the video, great information from a different perspective. And love the point that you thought you were going to do it but then hired to get it done. I feel like I am in that same boat.
Sort of. I remember it came up in our conversations with Dan Heming the solar consultant. But I can't remember now why we decided to go 12V. Anyway, I'd like to interview Dan as a "part 2" of this video, and if I do, this is a GREAT question.
Great video and the concept of size is terrific. We have. a 30" fifth wheel with 2 A/c's that we want to boondock in. Have reached out to RV Solar Consultants and are looking forward to a less expensive upgrade only because we are much smaller than. you. Want to run 1 AC for maybe 5-6 hours and then do the rest. Thanks for the time you spent with this set up.
It’s a Morryde product that isn’t sold any longer. I hear they are working on a new version but it’s not on the market yet. We got this one used. Maybe look on eBay or toyhauler facebook groups.
Great video, very informative. Just remember if you have to turn on your a/c, you’re trailer is in the wrong spot. Time to hook up and head to elevation.
II want to register for the waggle. How do I do that. I have wanted one . I will put my name here to register so I hope I'm covered. Please let me know if I need to do something else. Oh great video on solar. Easy to understand . We will pay to have it done also.
Great job on the explanation! Battleborn are ridiculously expensive. We have Renogy but have looked into the Redodo. Btw we checked out Reverend Barry 👍👍👍👍
We looked into it. A lot would need to be reconfigured to do it. It’s just not in the budget now. Maybe later though. It’s something we have talked quite a bit about.
@@liketheresnotomorrow I appreciate you doing that. Thank you. I will be traveling f/t across the country but I will be in Oklahoma quite a bit. And we get monster hail here.
We are enjoying your videos so much! 😎We are in the process of selling all of our stuff and hitting the road in the early spring of 2025. We are planning to travel the US for a year or two then probably selling our rig and moving on to international "slow travel". Everything we're doing will have to be VERY budget friendly. In fact our name is "Low Budget Nomads." We have secured the domain and designed a logo. Still need to get the website up and running. Anyway...as I said we would want to RV as inexpensively as possible. I know boondocking is cost effective, but I'm thinking it wouldn't pay off for us to get a solar set up for long, off grid stays since we aren't planning to do this forever. What are your thoughts or thoughts of anyone else who has something helpful to share? Thanks! 😁
It really depends on what and how much you want to power. I know some that just use a power station and external panels but that’s not going to get you very far. If you are wanting to live off grid you’ll need to invest in some sort of basic system. Even if you just do batteries and a generator, that gas will add up. It would be easy if you were just talking about a weekend but for living full time, you’re going to need a way to get power (solar panels or generator), and inverter, and batteries.
Why don't you guys get heat pumps and get rid of all those stupid inefficient air conditioners I had a underbelly air conditioner on my alpha Delta got rid of that put in a 18 k heat pump solar from signature solar I run it all the time and I have half the battery as you and I run all my stuff 24/7 is your 48 volt system just to give you something to think about plus my electric stove I disconnect the heater element and just run the fake flames to give that ambience just a thought
I heat pump is an air conditioner it just reverses the flow of freon to a different orifice which heats the freon as a first two cools the freon in exchanges the thermal coefficient from one the condenser to the evaporator from the evaporator to the condenser he really should know what you're talking about before you call someone's decision stupid
![BOWKYLION - วิงวอน (ex-change) [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cLdnZWDaO-w/mqdefault.jpg)
I know, you do not have much experience with solar setups.
This is really kinda simple.
A. The panels power the charge controllers,
B. The charge controllers charge and monitor the batteries,
C. The batteries power the Inverters,
D. The backup relays transfer your circuits back to grid after the batteries deplete or the Inverter fails,
E. You can use more than 1 Inverter depending on how many batteries and panels you have.
You really do not need to buy the expensive Victron stuff and can do better with the cheaper components.
I have designed and built several solar systems using components from Amazon.
Everything must be compatible with each other for these to work reliably.
For residential use, I use the 250W 24V panels wired in parallel in stacks of 3 (for 750W) to a 30A charge controller.
Then I stack from 2 to 6 of these sets in parallel with the 24V batteries.
I like to use the 24V 4000W Inverters and 80A relays for grid backup.
The charge controllers control the transfer relays.
Theory:
Not all panels and charge controllers will be producing power at the same time, it all depends on shading at the different times of day.
On cloudy days, the different arrays of panels will get different amounts of sunlight.
If the batteries need any charging, the charge controllers will know this and provide charging.
On a full sun day, the charge controllers will draw as much as it needs from the panels up to the rated output.
My systems cost about 1/4 to 1/2 of the Victron stuff.
In an RV setup, most RVs are 12V, so you would have to design for that.
The cheaper $12 charge controllers will know if you are using 12V or 24V panels and batteries.
You can only put so many PV panels on an RV roof.
To supplement your RV PV panel array, you can have several flexible panels laying face up on the ground.
They are lightweight, easy to connect, and would have their own charge controller.
You store them in your basement while traveling.
Personally, I use only the 10AWG solar wire and Y-Adapters except for battery monitors.
Follow the manufacturer's instructions and do not overload the charge controllers. (Max 780W)
Only load your Inverters at about 1/2 of the labelled wattage for continuous use.
I would use a 1000W Inverter for a single average refrigerator with a grid backup relay.
I hope this helps.
Wow. I’m sure this info will help many.
I can't remember if I mentioned it to yall yet or not but, we installed a minisplit for ac & heat. It's made a complete and shocking difference for us. Our 1 minisplit cools better than our 3 RV acs combined! And the 1 running full blast still takes a little less than 1 of the RV rooftop ACs. We even tested it this summer and spent 4 days in Laughlin, Nevada at 117° end of August. We.left our minisplit on the entire time and hottest it got in the camper was 83. Once the sun went down it was still 100 outside but down to 61 in the camper. I don't know how much solar/battery bank uall have but the minisplit made it to where we can literally be anywhere we want when we want with no issues. We can camp places too hot for others because of it being too hot for others. We have a video on our channel of us testing it out with more details. But I'd say after 4 full years of full time rving, I truly wish we'd done this year 1! Best upgrade we've ever done!
Ps, we don't have battle born, either. Why pay that much?! We got cheaper ones on Amazon, too. Now further in your video i see you said 800 amp hrs. You probably wouldn't be able to keep the minisplit on all day but could a lot of the day. We have a little over 1k amp hours. Yall have a very similar set up to ours. We have 6 panels at 375 w bifacial. We saved a loooooot of money by Rob installing our setup, though. His family have an electric business and most of the men have worked there at some point in life. We got lucky, there cause Rob was able to do it all.
Wow that is incredible! Thanks for sharing, we are seriously considering a minisplit for our next upgrade! The challenge for us is that we will most likely need one for garage and then another for rest of the toyhauler. We separate the main and garage because of our offices. Where did you mount the outside part? I’ll watch your video. Never mind. lol we tend to never camp in high heat so I think we’ll be fine using our setup. We shall see. It’s definitely one that’s been on our list,
@liketheresnotomorrow yeah for the garage aka office, you'd probably still have to use the ac in there for figure out something different. We only use our garage as our dining room so it's not a room we just have to use. But I do use it as my craft room when wer3 stopped long enough to take the side by side out. The minisplit does work for the main living area and reaches our bedroom, but if we have the garage doors closed, it can't reach in there.
I think just having the split in the main area will make a world of difference. We are looking into it again. Thanks so much for your insights.
I stayed at hip camp grandma Moses country! If you are okay with chickens and a turkey on property I recommend it. “Eagle Bridge’ with Kimberly/she is greatly superior ! “Big Red Alpacas “ too. 10 acre farm
I’m retiring in 4yrs and this is the best video I’ve watched on solar,I’m opening up a IRA just for the solar expense,thank you.
I hear ya (but it’s worth it)
Just remember propane costs per hour is FAR higher than gasoline in a generator. It's also, like was said, is lower power. Also, if you want to run your ACs make sure they have a soft start capacitor.
We are brothers from another mother. Great job explaining the basics to newbies! Plus, what a great deal on batteries!
Running a generator if fine to run your A/Cs during the day, though it's expensive, noisy and smelly. Many places have quiet hours preventing generator use, say between the hours of 10pm and 8am. And if you don't want to get the stink eye from your camping neighbors, I would limit my generator hours from 10am to 8pm at most. This covers the hottest part of the day but doesn't help if you need to run an air conditioning at night. Then there's the expense of running a generator for 10 hours. My old 5,500w generator burns about .7 gallons of gas/hr. when running 2 A/C units, so in 10 hrs. run burns 7 gallons, which at $3.50 a gallon is $24.50 a day. The equivalent power on propane will cost about 20% more. Also consider the logistics of carrying lots of gas with you. My gas-powered motorhome draws from the fuel tank, but a fiver or TT will require several heavy gas cans (or installing an onboard fuel tank, like toy haulers have) to support this much consumption. Then there's the expense of generator maintenance or at least changing the oil and filter every 100 hrs. of use (every 10 days at this rate).
As far as the amount of solar that is feasible, we have 5,020 watts of solar on our 35ft Class A motorhome. We have a 620w liftable array on the side of our MH over our bedroom window to charge our 560ah 12v battery and 4,400 watts racked 15" off our roof above our A/C shrouds, which serves as a nice share for our RV too. We have 8, 550-watt panels, but your 44-footer could easily fit 10, 550w panels or 5,500 watts of solar without a solar awning, sliding panels, portable folding panels or other tricks to get more. We have a 16.4 kwh (320ah) 48v battery too for a total of 23.5 kwh, equaling about 9 of your Redodo 200ah batteries, for comparison. We built both our battery banks from the raw cells, though those $509 Redodo batteries sound like a killer deal for sure. Our entire system including a total of 6,000 watts of inverted 120v ac power, wiring, breakers, etc. cost only about $10k to build, not counting the $1,500 high efficiency mini split we added which only draws about 1/3 the power as our rooftop A/C plus it gives us free heat in the winter, so we save money on propane too.
We now have 24/7 air conditioning and heat from our heat pump, and we can run everything in our RV including both our A/Cs, during the day, even in winter or on overcast days, while charging our batteries at the same time. We haven't plugged into the grid our run generator in over 7 months (except to exercise it) though we lived off-grid this entire time. It can be done, but it's a whole lot of work, especially for an old, overweight guy like me. I wouldn't even try to power 3 inefficient rooftop A/Cs though. I'd switch out two of them (front and rear) and replace them with 2 mini-split heat pumps. Other than that, I'd use 10, 550w panels on a 44ft RV. Along with the rest of my equipment, that should be sufficient for the same capabilities I have but on your bigger RV, at a total cost of around $14k if you do all the work yourself. Add another $5-$6k to have it done, which puts you right around those $20k quotes, but with a much more capable system than they were quoting you, for sure.
BTW, one of your previous videos inspired me to get a 65-gallon water bladder and a spare water pump to transfer to replenish our fresh water supply between dumps. Thanks for the tip! It's working out great so far, plus we still have our 3, 5-gallon collapsible water carriers kept in reserve, for when we have to buy water from a dispensing machine.
You are a wealth of knowledge. Thank you for sharing and watching. We do appreciate ya.
FYI we'd love to have a mini-split, but can't figure out how to mount one on a toy hauler. Seems there's a big opportunity in the RV space for a mini-split manufacturer to come along and make something affordable & efficient. The rooftop mini-splits I've seen so far are pricey.
@liketheresnotomorrow Lippert is coming out with new roof unit that is as efficient as a mini-split. I believe Big Truck Big RV has a video on them.
@@benpriester6657 maybe they'll sponsor us and we can try it out. lol (we can dream, can't we?)
@@benpriester6657 Lippert makes the Furrion line. I have a 3yr old 14.5 kbtu Furrion on the front of my MH now, but they have a new 18kbtu model called the Furrion Cube that they recently released. I think this is the one you're referring to. They don't publish their Seer-2 specs on this model but they do say its EER is 9.5, which is not bad, but nowhere near my EG-4's 12.5 EER (28.5 Seer-2) rating. Plus, my mini split is a true heat pump that efficiently warms my motorhome as well saving not only on heating costs, but the hassle of having to replenish our propane while we're in the boonies.
Timing is perfect on this because my rig only has 200 watts of solar and standard batteries and I want to add at least 600 solar and now these batteries! Thanks for sharing
We really love those Redodo Batteries. And they are giving a great price for our community. Compared to the big brands, such a value. Good luck
The #1 think to do folks is spend maybe $1200 or so per AC and replace what you have with Furrion Cube variable speed AC units. They are FAR more efficient than a Dometic or a Coleman Mach AC unit and are as efficient as a mini-split. This will significantly reduce the battery requirements to run your AC unit or units. We did that before installing our solar system and we reduced our battery needs significantly. They replace the ones you have quite directly. I don't know much at all about solar, I just had good expert advice on how to proceed. If you are about to proceed, really look at a 48v system so you can use server rack batteries. The 5120Wh 48v batteries are about $1100 each from a solid manufacturer.
If we do anything, it’ll probably be a mini split. Right now, we can’t put anymore $ into this unit. Not until we get the accident bills in check. Someday maybe IF we know we will stay in this unit for the long haul
Thank you so much for making this video so simple “the goats can get it”. This is something we really want to do as well, and very similar to this. You both gave us a lot to think about and move us in the right direction. Having a big toy hauler we definitely want to be able to go a lot of remote places out west. Stay safe out there.
Glad it was helpful!
Good day 🌻
30:48 min mark for generator power, Is this another part of the rv or a tent?
I'm learning an abundance about rv living from y'all, much obliged 🤗
I think you’re talking about the patio cover on the back of our toy hauler. It’s an add on you can buy.
Great video on solar and boondocking. We also work full time from the road and do a lot of boondocking with a similar system. My favorite part of having a good solar system is not having the stress of finding a 50amp spot months in advance. We have to be ready to work Monday morning at 8am and if we get stuck without an ideal spot it is no problem. The hybrid assist on the Victron invertor allows both ACs to run on a 30amp spot or even long term moochdocking with friends on a standard 15amp plug. We just arrived in Colorado for the summer and will be boondocking on and off for the next 5 months. Let us know if you are looking for any good spots I have a ton saved and can't wait to get to them all.
Yes please. We are in SD for the next month and then east WY, headed down east side of CO to co springs and then over towards Gunnisson/ouray aug through October. Message or email me. We are always looking for good boondocking. Thanks for watching. We appreciate your support,
@@liketheresnotomorrow Just sent you a message with our contact info on your website. Look forward to hearing from you.
Maybe a stupid question, but I need to ask. Can I do the same setup, minus the solar panels, and charge the battery bank with my generator to power the inverter to get the same result? Thank you in advance. Love your channel!
Never a stupid question. Yes, you can totally do that.
Absolutely! Harvest host with lithium and solar is epic combo.
We did go hardcore. We primarily boondock beach camp on the east coast and AC is critical! lol. So nice not running generators all the time!
Ooohhh when we go back east you’ll have to share your beach boondocking locations!!!
Very well thought out video with good information. One key thing to add to the solar consideration is weight and cargo carrying capacity. It’s scary easy to exceed the capacity and end up with towing safely concerns, never mind frame structure issues. Good job!
This is a great point and I’m sad we didn’t think of mentioning it. lol we dumped the heavy generator and got rid of our washer/dryer and heavy shower doors. It wasn’t until we weighed that we confirmed that adding the solar didn’t put us over. Thanks for the reminder.
When using air conditioner one way to expand the cooled area is to use a fan to distribute and circulate the cold air.
Great tip!
Yes. Our mini split is mounted in our bedroom so that it blows down the hall to the front of our motorhome. We added a rectangular window fan (the kind that has 2 small fans and is designed to sit on a windowsill with accordion expandable sides) by the ceiling just inside the bedroom door to assist in distributing cool air up front. However, we found that in our 35' rig, it really wasn't necessary, especially if we set our air handler on turbo. Whenever we leave our RV on a warm day, we leave the mini split on (not on turbo) as it draws very little power compared to our rooftop A/C (in the 400-500w range) yet still keeps it cool inside both front and rear for our animals. We haven't tested it yet in 100+ degree weather, but it keeps it nice and cool inside when it's in the low 90's outside. Its only rated at 12k btus but cools off our RV as well as our 14.5k btu Furrion while using 1/3rd the power.
The downside to a smaller rig is that there’s less rooftop real estate for solar panels. I had two instructors from the NRVTA do my install on site there. 800 w of solar, 560 AH lithium, 3000w Victron Multiplus, charge controller, Cerbo, all the wires etc. And the install all ran about $13k. Worth it? Yep. Running the AC in 96 degree temp sucks the batteries down about 28% in 1.5 hours.
I do most of my air fryer and instant pot cooking midday so my batteries can recover by sundown.
You are so right. Totally worth it for us too,
I a 20 year retired Army veteran and try and buy only American made, but we will be on a budget when we full time and the cost of batteries are crazy so I may need to look at these batteries
That’s exactly how we felt. We always try to go for American made as well, but in this case it wasn’t an option. The price difference was just too great.
Great video guys and thank you for making it a 6th grade level explaining the solar. So many times I watch solar videos and I’m scratching my head. We are heading full time in April and we have a 2023 Intech OVR Expedition with 400 watts of solar and 200 amp hours of Lithium and a generator so we are hoping that’s all the solar we need. We will put it to the test and see if it’s enough. Thanks again
Thats exactly why we made this. Most videos were way too technical for us. lol I think your plan is wise. Test it out and see
Hey guys, great video content ! We had A system installed similar to yours on our Alliance 310rl, 1600 watts solar and victron 3000 multiplex and cerbo too.
Game changer. Opened up a whole new realm of glamping. We wished we invested in solar before we bought our 5500 onan generator. Could have put that $5500 towards the solar pkg. and used a putt-putt to top off.
Again , thx for the videos & content.
I hear ya. Ya don’t know what ya don’t know when you first get going. It’s a journey. Thanks for watching and subscribing.
A couple questions:
What is the blue box on the back wall behind your batteries? It was about the 23:32 time stamp.
What is a Cerbo? (Saw that in a comment.)
Do you have 6 or 7 panels? How many total watts of panels do you have? I know you put the wattage on the screen as you explained, but my brain isn't computing lol.
Do you need a certain number of charge controllers and/or inverters per the number batteries or per the number of panels?
We are brand new to this, we have a 2024 Bullet Crossfire 30amp which has 1 solar panel and a victron charge controller, I have yet to find the inverter, but they tell me it has one. Right now, we have 1 lead acid battery and 2 40 pound propane tanks and a predator 3500 generator. We have had to plug in to the generator to get our microwave/airfryer combo and our roof top AC & some of the 110 outlets to turn on ... everything else seems to turn on.
Hey there. The big blue box behind the batteries is the Lynx Distributor. A Cerbo is basically the computer for the entire system. The Cerbo Touch 50 (on the wall inside the RV) is the monitor/control panel for the Cerbo.
We have 6 panels, total watts 1550. As far as how many charge controllers you need per panel, that's more of a question for a solar tech. I just bought what my tech Dan at rvsolarconsulting.com/ told me to buy for the system I wanted.
Sounds very much like your 2024 Bullet crossfire just has a basic solar package that will only charge the DC in your rig, not your A/C. It's only there to power DC-powered things like slides, lights, jacks, etc. It probably has a CONVERTER, not an inverter. A converter is what takes the AC power from the 30-amp pedestal and charges your batteries. We had the same thing when we started. No inverter. Just a single 100-amp Renogy lithium battery and a couple solar panels.
That's why you can't run your air conditioning, microwave, etc., on the batteries. It has no way of inverting the DC from the batteries to AC power.
If you're just going to be using your rig for weekend trips, short vacations, etc., you should probably stick with using the generator. The investment in a more robust system would be hard to justify, in my opinion.
Great video and thanks for the shout out! I'm glad everything is working well for you!
Thanks Dan. I think you’ll probably get some inquiries. lol
I did a similar install on my own and I would have paid $300 if I had known! I noticed on your batteries widely different cable lengths. I thought you wanted those cable runs to be similar lengths for better battery usage. Did this come up at all on your consultation?
We originally had 2 batteries...then 3...then 4 (from what I recall anyway). Getting all 4 into that tiny space wasn't easy. I ordered pre-cut length cables because I didn't want to do the heat seals, etc. So...you're probably right. I understand the concept of "distance creates resistance". So this is probably a good example of "don't do what I did just because I did it that way". Lol. If Dan saw my setup, he would probably call me out too.
Thank you for the info and sharing the cost. Putting solar on is such a conundrum ... the cost to install, then hope for sun... and when your not one t keep a rig for long....oy vie. Safe Travels.
I hear ya. We will be in this rig a looong time to ensure this solar pays off. Honestly, as much as we boondock, it shouldn’t take that long at this rate.
I have a single panel on my roof. How do I know what size it is.I have a 1000 watt inverter
All panels can different. Maybe see if there are any labels on the panels. Or refer to the original build. Hard to say.
You put out very good information videos.
Thank you so much. We try to give as much information as possible so people can make educated decisions. Thanks for watching. We appreciate ya!
What phone service do you have that you received an alert hiking the narrows?
Verizon. We weren’t in the canyon, just walking back to the tram
Hey thanks for the shout out lol. I had just turned to Stacy and said I wonder if they are doing this video because of our conversation at the Rally. Good info and we are close to getting started on our build. We will keep you posted.
Good luck. Reach out if you have questions.
Thank you for the video, great information from a different perspective. And love the point that you thought you were going to do it but then hired to get it done. I feel like I am in that same boat.
Yep. That’s us. lol
Did you look at going with 24V to reduce costs on the wire and solar charge controllers?
Sort of. I remember it came up in our conversations with Dan Heming the solar consultant. But I can't remember now why we decided to go 12V. Anyway, I'd like to interview Dan as a "part 2" of this video, and if I do, this is a GREAT question.
Great video and the concept of size is terrific. We have. a 30" fifth wheel with 2 A/c's that we want to boondock in. Have reached out to RV Solar Consultants and are looking forward to a less expensive upgrade only because we are much smaller than. you. Want to run 1 AC for maybe 5-6 hours and then do the rest. Thanks for the time you spent with this set up.
That’s great. I’m sure you’ll find the exact setup you need. Good luck and happy trails
Great knowledge, thank you both! Can you share some information about the Pop-Up screen tent you have on your patio?? I love that! Thanks, Todd
It’s a Morryde product that isn’t sold any longer. I hear they are working on a new version but it’s not on the market yet. We got this one used. Maybe look on eBay or toyhauler facebook groups.
It's called a Morryde Patio EX.
Great video, very informative. Just remember if you have to turn on your a/c, you’re trailer is in the wrong spot. Time to hook up and head to elevation.
100% my friend. That’s our philosophy. If it gets hot… move. lol
Same idea if there’s snow on your trailer, you’re in the wrong spot.
Great video. I learned a lot!
Glad it was helpful!
II want to register for the waggle. How do I do that. I have wanted one . I will put my name here to register so I hope I'm covered. Please let me know if I need to do something else. Oh great video on solar. Easy to understand . We will pay to have it done also.
Go To our site and register liketheresnotomorrow.net/
@@liketheresnotomorrow Thank you!
Great job on the explanation! Battleborn are ridiculously expensive. We have Renogy but have looked into the Redodo. Btw we checked out Reverend Barry 👍👍👍👍
lol a little different than the guy you met eh?
What and how do you clean your solar panels?
Just a damp rag is all it takes.
@@liketheresnotomorrow ok thank you very much
Anytime
Change your ac units to 12 volts you will find a big difference in power consumption
We looked into it. A lot would need to be reconfigured to do it. It’s just not in the budget now. Maybe later though. It’s something we have talked quite a bit about.
What is the hail rating on these panels?
No idea. I’ll have Barry look it up. I can tell you that we’ve been in hail once and no issue.
@@liketheresnotomorrow I appreciate you doing that. Thank you. I will be traveling f/t across the country but I will be in Oklahoma quite a bit. And we get monster hail here.
I'm curious what jobs you both have? I would love to retire and live your lifestyle. Thanks
Until Feb, we both worked full time as Digital Marketing Managers. Barry still does and I work the channel and freelance.
Nice info and set up. Oh and btw. We in Evansville till Monday. Yea fun
Whaaaaat?! lol whatcha doing there?
@@liketheresnotomorrowjust visiting family one our way through Ohio the Michigan before heading down east coast for the winter this year
Nice overview video. Thank you
Glad it was helpful!
I love the 🚫 on the battleborns on the thumbnail. 👍
lol I was hesitant, they are good batteries, but really expensive. We wanted people to know there are alternatives.
Darlene, you look so beautiful in this video.
Thanks so much! I think any 50-something appreciates a comment like that. You win supporter of the day🏆😜👍
We are enjoying your videos so much! 😎We are in the process of selling all of our stuff and hitting the road in the early spring of 2025. We are planning to travel the US for a year or two then probably selling our rig and moving on to international "slow travel". Everything we're doing will have to be VERY budget friendly. In fact our name is "Low Budget Nomads." We have secured the domain and designed a logo. Still need to get the website up and running. Anyway...as I said we would want to RV as inexpensively as possible. I know boondocking is cost effective, but I'm thinking it wouldn't pay off for us to get a solar set up for long, off grid stays since we aren't planning to do this forever. What are your thoughts or thoughts of anyone else who has something helpful to share? Thanks! 😁
Let me add, we are not knowledgeable or mechanically inclined enough to do the install ourselves.
Do you have any batteries or solar at all right now? Do you have an inverter?
@@liketheresnotomorrow we do not.
It really depends on what and how much you want to power. I know some that just use a power station and external panels but that’s not going to get you very far. If you are wanting to live off grid you’ll need to invest in some sort of basic system. Even if you just do batteries and a generator, that gas will add up. It would be easy if you were just talking about a weekend but for living full time, you’re going to need a way to get power (solar panels or generator), and inverter, and batteries.
Too much talking without saying anything.
Why don't you guys get heat pumps and get rid of all those stupid inefficient air conditioners I had a underbelly air conditioner on my alpha Delta got rid of that put in a 18 k heat pump solar from signature solar I run it all the time and I have half the battery as you and I run all my stuff 24/7 is your 48 volt system just to give you something to think about plus my electric stove I disconnect the heater element and just run the fake flames to give that ambience just a thought
Plus it would give you more room on your roof for panels
We've looked into mini-splits, but don't know where we would install it on a toy hauler?
I heat pump is an air conditioner it just reverses the flow of freon to a different orifice which heats the freon as a first two cools the freon in exchanges the thermal coefficient from one the condenser to the evaporator from the evaporator to the condenser he really should know what you're talking about before you call someone's decision stupid
Why don't you do some basic research before posting?😅
Punctuation please.
If you go on COST only, you are not thinking LONG TERM!
Agreed.