How To Size RV Solar and Batteries the Easy Way!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ต.ค. 2024
- Sizing solar for your RV can be complicated and I hope this helps make that process a little easier. This will help you figure out how big of a battery bank you will need as far as amp-hours and that will also help you determine how many watts you will need for solar panels. Having a properly sized solar setup will make boondocking and going off-grid that much more enjoyable. For the gear, we talked about in this video you can find it here.
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Finally, a simplified explanation that makes complete sense. Thank you much.
I find this video amazing, Jared. I've followed your advice, and despite the video being 4 years old, I still feel that it's the best resource on TH-cam for sizing a reasonable system.
You have my respect as a fantastic teacher!
Really easy to understand! I wish I had a math teacher like you 40 years ago!
you should have a "yard" sale to unload all the extra stuff you've collected to teach us about RV's ! you are so informative and a great educator !
THANK YOU
Great idea. We actually usually gift things as we go.
Thanks for covering the topic. Everyone talks about their install and how to calculate a theoretical usage. But no one really talks about how much solar you need to recharge the bank. Like the idea of monitoring while on hookups to do your actual usage calculations rather than a wild guess most of the calculators are!
We just bought our first RV trailer and want to boondock. Your channel has been an amazing wealth of information! Thank you!!!
Wow! Really great information. Especially the pvwatts website. Very helpful. I'm 68 and trying to figure out this all on my own of getting hooked up. I know my husband has some power inverters here. (he passed last year). Trying to do this all on a tight budget. I already have the solar panels (he purchased a few years ago still in their boxes). I have taken so many notes here. Thanks so much Jared.
Excellent explanation. Thank you for creating it. I tried solar with our previous trailer but decided to go with a simple 2000 watt Yamaha generator this time. It puts out the same power rain or shine, shaded or full sun and no need to chase sun beams through the trees.
Very well said & done. About 4 years ago I studied solar & lithium setups (still keep an oar in the water). I started doing the calc's but I had paralysis by analysis. I decided to just jump in very small by adding a 100 Watt panel (just this week added a 2nd one) to just charge my 2-6v golf cart batteries. Works great when we are in the SW deserts or full sun. I added a small generator as I soon discovered that we camp mostly in wooded areas here in the NW. If panels are not in direct sun; charging is very limited. We rarely use A/C. Fire up the generator if needed to charge the batteries, phones & laptops or need 110. Dead of Winter we usually have hookups. I'm all in for under $1k & a couple of dollars for gas now & then. I see people spending $8-$12k for their systems. Although not a full timer we do go out every month for a 3-5 day trip and 2x a year for 30-45 day trip. We do ~70% dry camp in a 30' tt. So for ME, I can't cost justify the additional cost then or now. Maybe in the future?
Also, prices keep coming down on this stuff so I’m the future it should be cheaper for better tech.
@@StevenBagley just as a reply to your comment…. I wrote that 3 years ago. Lithium’s we’re $1000 - $1500 ea. Just put in 2 for ~$700 total. One is a smart.
First time around, I chose a 135 AH LiFePO4 battery, DC2DC charger, inverter that "seemed OK." I decided that if I needed more power, a second battery would come before solar, I mostly drive enough to keep the battery charged, and it's less conspicuous.
This is so helpful, since we can’t afford an entire solar system all at once - thank you so much!
For everyone out the wondering like i was most people use on average about 25 kwh per day in their rv, that includes running AC in the summer and a mix of electric and propane heating in the winter, Based off that 25kwh per day if you are more advanced users like myself and have PCs running and starlink ect, A good system that will keep you powered 24/7 is 3-4kw in solar plus roughly 1200 AH of 12v lithium, that will keep you powered up all the time, and ov course having a generator as backup just incase is always a good idea, you should be looking for a 3000 watt or more generator. All of this and if you full time RV you will never need to plug in again.
Wow, that is a lot. I'm trying to make a list of all the power consumption devices and how that would add up. I only get to about 10 kwh per day. Would love to see more detail. Thanks
@@dburkle1 i run 2 full tower pcs along with electric heating to conserve propane, however when not using heater its probably replaced by AC :)
Perfect anecdote. Was looking for an estimate from someone that runs a PC + starlink + everything else! Thanks
@@buildingsalvage pc and starlink doesnt actually take much power, my setup is about 600 watts under load with 1 PC, in this case all you need is around 400 AH of battery and 1kw solar and youll be solid
I was JUST ASKING about this and boom here comes the video in my recommended feed!! hahaha awesome!
LoL 🤣🤣🤣 your phone is listening to you.
I do exactly the same. I do it consciously and it's amazing
Im going super C lithium battery and solar. No propane. Thanks to this guys info and learning i can get creative and design power system that will work.
Great job simplifying the calculation of energy usage. Very helpful! Kudos!!
Thank you! Great information for my solar/lithium journey to convert my RV
Great explanation!!! Thank you so much for simplifying everything!!!!
love how you did this and a very clear and easy explanation on it all TY SO MUCH !!
Jared, I always look forward to your videos. Funny how I keep coming back to this one over and over!
Excellent presentation. Kudos
That’s why you build a system that can be expanded…adequate wire size and a big MPPT controller. Slap more panels on the roof as needed.
Living in SE Georgia where June-September averages 95+° and 90% humidity running the A/C 24x7 is required. So even for our small camper battery size is important. Need lots of juice to keep inside 80° which is still warm.
Our TT came with 100 ah usable (2 - 100 amp lead acid batteries) but with no way to really know how much we were using. That’s like driving a car with no fuel gauge. So I got a smart shunt about a year ago.
After using it for about a month of camping over the year… It turns out that we can run the fridge, take 2 showers, and use lights and everything else frugally on about 25 AHs per day - including the lp furnace on 19 degree Teton nights.
Or we can boondock for one night and watch dvds before bed (in other words “waste” electricity) and use 35 amps over one cold night. We were just using a 300w plug in inverter to run the TV btw.
This is all very useful information - everyone needs a good battery monitor.
Excellent info. I just purchased a used 1991 22 foot Fleetwood Flair Class A Motorhome, and am planning on making it my permanent tiny home on wheels. It does have an onboard 4000 Watt Onan Generator, which I plan on using when allowed. I will be doing mostly Boondocking with the Coach, and some of the places I plan on parking do not allow the Genset to be used during the overnight hours. I have already purchased a 2000 Watt Power Inverter, and am planning on going with 2 12 Volt Deep Cycle Marine Batteries of the Lead Acid Type to keep the costs down. During the day, I probably would only be using electric to run either the Microwave, or my Hot Air Fryer to make meals. At night, I will probably use a bit more electric for a couple lights, phone charger, and maybe my TV & DVD Player. I just need to figure out how many Solar Panels I will be needing. I plan on using the portable panels simply because I don't want to mount anything on the Roof of the Motorhome.
This was extremely helpful, especially the tips on what you can do to save on power like switching the fridge to use the propane while boondocking. We're currently looking into getting solar and trying to decide what to get and how much we need.
So many of the RV manufacturers have switched to the 12 volt refrigerator
I appreciate the idea of using a $100 power spike protector/power usage device to check your actual usage, verses creating a chart. The chart has you guess how long something is used over a week or month, but the experiment is likely to be more accurate. Plus the test allows for us to (like you said) experiment to get an idea of a basic system maybe change things if we need to start out small. I do have a Kilowatt that I used once to see how many watts my window AC unit uses over a 30 minute period. It would be interesting to see how effective an AC window unit is verses the roof mounted RV AC.
Most informative, as usual. Just what I needed.
Thank you for your efforts, but to many of us it's still as clear as muddy water. It's a very difficult topic to comprehend from a recliner. Picking up my new 5th wheel in a few weeks and very anxious to explore what solar is right for me. Eventually I'll dive in and make solar happen. It feels like the old days of car stereos, amps and speakers, always intimidating until you get started installing then realize it just a bunch of components that make the system work.
Awesome videos. Watched this one a couple times already
Great video, solid explanations and good reasoning. Thanks for putting this together!
Good video. Lots of really good basic information to take the complexity out of designing a basic boon docking battery solar bank system. Great ideas. Thanks.
Very informative. Thank you sir.
Lots of good info, thanks. Also, it's cool to see you in the park just a few spots over from us, so, Hello!
Thank you! You should stop by and say hi, we would love to meet you.
All About RV's That would be great. I’ll keep an eye out for ya
Culver city, CA in the house.
30 amp-hours per day sounds great until you realize your parasitic loss is 20 amp-hours! You should probably calculate for those rainy days where your 600 watt array is making 20 watts. Thanks for sharing the website! Renogy also has a good solar sizing calculator on their site.
E la
Very helpful I'm going to be converting a step van near future I have electrical experience but not so much with solar but very helpful thanks I'm going to make system to where I can easily inlarge it I'll use a watt meter also thanks.
I’m gonna have to watch this a few times. I’m just a knuckle head rocket launcher.
The decision tree re: energy generation vs. energy consumption is a LOT more complex than it first appears. Both your general approach and the NREL resource are spot-on suggestions. But zooming out to a wider perspective on one's RV use also needs to be considered. 'Staying out' has to be balanced by how many travel days are anticipated (when energy use is lower and also resupplied), how often will a RV park visit occur (groceries, laundry, local sightseeing), and how long is a typical RV trip (one week? one month?). And as you noted below, the tactical use of a small generator can make a small cost offset a much larger cost for a larger renewable system. Nicely done, Jared.
All AGM (or GEL) battery specs allow to draw down to 10.8 volts. Even the LiFePo4 will loose cycle life when you draw them further down in capacity, same as a SLA (sealed lead acid)
VERY informative and helpful!! Thanks Jared.
Thank you for posting this video! I'm hoping to add solar to my trailer soon, but may have to add panels incrementally.
Bloody brilliant explanation
Very helpful still good content and very relevant. Thanks
I LOVE your channel! Thank you so much
Great info Jared. Thanks for posting this.
AWESOME breakdown - thank you!!! 😎
good presentation
So many excellent points
Billusa10 saying high and glad to see another one of your vids.
Jared, Great stuff man! You are my goto for solar. Getting our First rig in in a few months for a summer adventure out west, although I did convert a bus about 15 years ago. Cheers.
How exciting!
Great video. Thanks for the math
Glad it helped
Thank you for all your hard work😉 It has helped us a lot!
Our current draw is 10A, but mains power is 250V.
I want to use standard kitchen appliances. The microwave draws 1100W, peak 2200W. The kettle around 2000W. To run a full power board I need 2400W.
3000W is a common size, and I could run a second powerboard for laptop and its accessories.
From there, what LiFePO4 battery capacity do I need to deliver peak power in relative safety and without excessive stress?
Should I run 12V? 24V?
In my case, I expect to have more than adequate power available, I don't even use much power at home. Tea, coffee, porridge in the microwave, reheating in the microwave, cooking in the slow cooker are typical at home.
I do like the idea of running everything off the house electrics while parked up at home, without a battery.
Thanks!
Great info Jared, glad to see that they came out with a 50 amp model.
I assume that the 2.7 kWh came from your own RV, can you give some background on the day that you captured the day from? General temp, temp AC was set for, average appliance usage etc. Thx
This is great info. Thank you soooo much. Are you a math teacher? You are so clear! Robyn, Sydney, Australia
10:00 Isn't lithium also way lighter if you're watching RV weight?
Very informative thanks a bunch man
Thank you for this!
Glad it helped.
Thx for the topic, I've watched a number of your videos and always enjoy them. My wife and I are picking up our new to us coach in a couple weeks and hitting the road fulltime this fall. Our intentions are to do a nice solar system as we prefer to bet gonna happen. off the grid as much as possible. I understand the basics of a system but as far as installing it myself, not gonna happen. Would you recommend someone or do you do installations?
Thx, wait to hear from you
This is excellent!
sounds simple but know it 's more confusing! Thinking about upgrading our batteries to lithium , I did not know about the lithium charging unit needed? Good to know I just cant put them in ! wanting to upgrade our solar system too! we have one panel and not sure if it even works correctly. I dont know electrical enough! going to be traveling while going back to school soon and will need to have enough to dry camp a lot of the time, while running the computer, monitors and all the stuff that I need to connect to the internet still contemplating Starlink but I still see Rv'ers struggling for signal ?
Good presentation!
I love all the information you present in these videos. That being said...would you have any recommendations for an installation source? I’m very handy and a great “Do-it-yourselfer”! But at the end of the day if I can find a professional to instal my system life would be so much more enjoyable for myself and my wife!
I'm on the bubble on full roof solar and the investment. The battery bank must be Lithium. That's 2k from the onset.
i think a lot of people dont understand that a 100 watt solar panel does not produce 100 watts(i do!) a video on this subject would be great with some "real" watt numbers.
You’re a lifesaver
The problem with Battle Born is they are literally twice the cost of the competition. I have a Chinese "Ampere Time" battery that I have been using with my trolling motor on the boat with zero issues. I have been charging inside so the low temperature charging has not been an issue. At some point a battery is a battery.
Super helpful
So confused. I have a 2006 TT I just bought it. Its not in fantastic shape. It sat for over 2 yesrs. No battery , no propane on it yet. Going to be fixing and remodling in 2022 after i recover from surgery. Lots I dont know. Doing you-tube to learn. Love your info. Just confused about elect. Watts and amps etc..
THANKS FOR THE INFO! !
That was a good one. Thanks
I have 300 watts on the roof and 200 AH storage (100 usable). When it is sunny 300 watts is too much and the batteries are full by noon (so the charge controller shuts off charging). When it's cloudy or I am in the trees I make hardly any power from the panels and must resort to a generator.
When running on batteries I limit power use to devices, a 24 inch LED TV, the fantastic fan, furnace, LED lights, and the water pump. When it is sunny 300 watts is more than enough. I can observe nearly 14 amps going to the batteries but let's say it's 8 on average over a 12 hour day. That's still 96 AH which is enough to fill my 200 AH system from 50% draw (I have AGM batteries).
But wait? Isn't a 150 watt panel capable of making 12.5 amps at 12 volts? In theory if it is perfectly aligned. So how come with 300 watts I only ever make 14? Well part of it is they are lying flat, but part of it is battery dynamics. Just as draining the lead acid batteries can shorten their life, so can charging them too fast, so most chargers won't go above 14.4 volts. At that voltage, the internal resistance of the battery means they are only going to pass so many amps. And as the charge on the battery increases, so does the batteries voltage, which means even less amps get through. Charge a battery with a battery charger that has an amp meter sometime and watch it to see what I mean. If the battery is plain dead it might start out at the rating of the charger (most are 10 amps), but for most of the charge the meter will be working it's way down to 2 amps before shutting down (if it's automatic).
So what does this mean? Lithium batteries are excepted from this discussion as they can be charged much faster, but for most folks that use Lead Acid batteries this is an important point. The batteries can only be charges so fast no matter how much power you have behind the charging solution. Whether solar or a 75 amp 3 stage converter powered by a generator, as the battery fills the charge rate slows considerably. The 75 amps the converter has is to power the water pump and lights, not charge the batteries. That's what the 20 and 2 amp stages are for.
So again what does all this mean? It means for most people running 2 LA batteries 150 watts of solar is plenty. And if you want a full charge on your batteries off the generator, you have to run it for hours and hours, it just simply can't put 75 amps into the batteries without wrecking them. It'll more likely be putting 7 or less amps per battery in. That's a lot of gas to basically idle the generator at 160 watts or less.
Knowing these things, I have often mused when watching people run a 5000 watt construction site generator (noisy as hell) for a couple hours to charge a single probably wrecked battery for 2 hours and then turn on all the incandescent lights that came with the trailer (30 watts each) and wonder why the battery went dead in a couple hours. First off each and every incandescent bulb is drawing something like 2.5 amps, so if you have 10 of them on you can kill a good battery in 20 hours. But that is not the problem. The problem is that no matter what it takes another 20 hours to recharge the battery. There is nothing you can do about it besides go over 14.4 volts and shorten the life of the battery.
Folks, there is a reason that most AC powered battery chargers are rated 10 amps. Anything more is a waste of money. Solar systems are the same. You only need something around 7 amps of solar for every battery. Don't buy more or the charge controller will just send the extra money to the wind. Batteries are not gas tanks. They have to do a chemical reaction and it is not instantaneous. Ya, they can put a bunch of power out for a short term, but they can't charge like that. Lithium excepted.
Best value for the money: Buy regular Costco deep cycle 100 AH batteries. $100 dollars around here and they last as long as anything if you don't freeze them. The AGM's are 3 times as much and the Lithium are 3 times more again. I am running AGM's but I won't next time. Too much money. Get 150 watts solar for each 2 batteries and then a little quite generator for cloudy days.
Awesome video thank you
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
In an RV or mobile situation weight is also a consideration. LiFePO4 batteries are MUCH lighter than lead acid batteries.
Just build your system base on the manufactures charging limit for your battery. Go from there.
very helpful...thank you
Great Info!!!
I have a permanent off the grid spot my camper is parked that we want to stay in for extended periods this summer. I don’t have exact calculations done yet but I feel confident I don’t have the budget for a solar set up that will run my AC. I do have a generator that runs it but I don’t want to use the generator for extended periods. Is it possible to run my AC off my generator when needed but still have a solar power set up that runs all my other needs?
Thank you very much !!!
Can you do a video on setting up a bmv 712 relay to start a on board generator?
The problem with solar power here in Canada is the ridiculous price per watt compared to American prices which are about half the cost, and without factering in the exchange rate of our 73 cents to the American dollar!
Outstanding!!!
Thanks
Thanks for a great overview. How do you size the fuse between the controller and the battery?
If I start out with 2 or 3 Battleborn batteries and discover I need a total of 3 or 4 later, will the two ages of batteries distroy each other as golf cart or lead acid batteries do?
We need help with our airstream to upgrade the batteries and be able to use 110 power some while boondocking. We are in Grand Junction, Co.
I don’t have any personal experience with a solar installer in that area.
Love your channel keep up the good work. What would u recommend for my rv I have a 2021 sandpiper flx401 honestly I just want to run my ac unit and my refrigerator I will be off grid with just a generator full time here in the sunshine’s state. I honestly only run the generator to run the refrigerator and one ac what would u recommend
I’m hoping this will help me find the answers to this question. So far, no RV dealer or sales guy can tell me. All I hear is “you can’t run the AC”. I know that but What cannI run? So far no clear answers
Thanks for your all your great info. I have a question about charging lithium batteries... how can I determine if a 2000w generator can fully recharge 2 Battleborn batteries? If so, can I figure out how many times it can recharge them with a single full tank of gas? Is there also a way to figure out how long a solar kit would take to fully recharge them too?
Do you have any advice for someone who wants to take a sewing machine or an embroidery machine with them and use solar power thank you
Very helpful! After watching it several times I am still grappling with sizing. Should we be looking for a battery bank and inverter large enough for the initial “surge” need like a microwave oven or coffee pot or look to the running power level?
That's what I'm doing right now for building my system. Assume that everything turns on at the same time and plan for that
I wonder if you can make any suggestions on how much power is needed to power an ax unit when boon docking and be able use solor too
*When you figured this out, are you getting enough amperage from your panels to properly charge the batteries for nighttime use and to run the a/c during the day while charging the batteries? I didn’t hear you say that in your video, just trying to better understand. Thanks👍
I have a 2011 Jayco Melbourne 29D and run my Norcold fridge on electric as well as my heating/ac unit. If I use my microwave the Bully electric charge protector will click off. So in order to use the microwave I have to turn off water heater fridge to propane and turn off the thermostat. Doesn’t make sense to me that the motor home can’t manage all that since it was built that way. How many lithium batteries do I need and what size? How many panels and size of panels do I need? Can you recommend an installer, battery manufacturer, panel manufacturer and what other part’s including manufacturer that I need. Thanks for your help. I want to full time
Jared I am good with numbers not so good with electricity. Totally confused. I'll buy a generator too.
I have a 12 volt refrigerator and I only one battery. What size of solar panel do I need to keep the keep the battery at fully charged.
2,000 watts 10 batteries boom
I can follow this plan so far as any ac devices in the rv are concerned. But I'm pushing to have as much as possible on 12v dc. How does the kill-a-watt deal with that? Ac to dc inverter??
Hi, really enjoyed the video, I have a pretty kick butt solar system in our RV, but the purpose of this response is in regards to the interior of y ok r RV. Our 2016 Cougar is so dark and we love how light yours is...Did you buy it that way or did you guys do that?
Could you not use two killawatts connected to two separate outlets (assuming of course you know how to find an outlet on each phase of your split phase system) and wire it through the 30A or 50A connector?