19 ms·

I spend four months of the year traveling in an RV. Two years ago, I budgeted over $6000 for my desired solar setup (at least 1200Ah of battery, at least 2400W

I spend four months of the year traveling in an RV. Two years ago, I budgeted over $6000 for my desired solar setup (at least 1200Ah of battery, at least 2400W of solar, plus various controllers and other components). It was expensive enough for me to hold off, and more importantly, I didn't have the space on my current RV for the solar panels. In just the two years since then, prices on batteries and panels have dropped 25% or more, and solar power per square foot at a good price point has gone up significantly (400W monocrystalline panels can be gotten for $200, in the same form factor as the 200W panels I had been budgeting for). I've now lowered my budget to $4000 for the same setup I was planning to spend $6000 on two years ago, and with 400W panels, I no longer need to upgrade to a larger RV to begin the project. This summer is almost over, so I'm going to wait until spring to start assembling my system in earnest. Anecdotally, this is a game-changer for me. I'm looking toward year-round full-timing starting next summer, because I can now afford the power I need and don't need a larger RV as soon as I thought I would. I intend to buy undeveloped land far from civilization in the next few years, and I'm now confident that I can DIY a whole-house solar and battery setup so cheaply that access to mains power won't be a factor in deciding where I settle. Even with seasonal variation in power production, I'll manage just fine, and the system will pay for itself in well under five years. In fact it'll pay for itself instantly if you discount the five-figure cost I would otherwise have had to pay for running a new mains power line far into the woods. And by the time I pick some land to settle on, I'll already have enough solar on my RV that I won't even need to augment the system initially; I'll be able to power a small house in a temperate climate directly off the RV itself, while I build a larger solar array (likely ground-mounted to avoid regulations and insurance complications related to roof-mounted setups). I know my situation is unusual, but the fact that any of this is possible for well under $10k is a huge change from even a decade ago.

kingkongjaffa 2y ago
> I intend to buy undeveloped land far from civilization I'm always intrigued by this notion, I know plenty of Americans have this kind of plan, but it's never quite as remote as they think, because, y'know you're still in America somewhere. Unless you're thinking of somewhere in northern Canada. I'd love to know where is considered 'far from civilization' on the continental US.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- pjc50 2y ago
  Far from "civilization", but still surrounded by lawfulness so you don't have to deal with warlords taking your solar panels.
  - flir 2y ago
    Don't hate the player, hate the game.
    - ohthatsnotright 2y ago
      Or change the rules of the game: https://www.businesstechafrica.co.za/energy/2023/08/21/broken-solar-panels-specifically-manufactured-for-south-africa/ https://www.businesstechafrica.co.za/energy/2023/08/21/broke...
      - HPsquared 2y ago
        Broken window theory, through the looking glass.
    - ben_w 2y ago
      The game being?
  - njarboe 2y ago
    I would guess he will still be paying at least property taxes.
  - DaoVeles 2y ago
    There a few people I know who live off grid, they all say the same thing. The longer you are out there the closer to 100% you will be challenged for your stuff. Be it a semi-local crazy, warlord, gypsies or cult few have heard of - they all want resources that are closer than the alternative and they are aware that you are the only defense. Another factor of this living is that once the honeymoon period wears off, there is a dawning on many people that their tolerance for failure has dropped significantly. A break down of a vehicle can become a very big issue very fast when the nearest town is an hour away.
JonChesterfield 2y ago
Burning wood is a completely viable (if very annoying and environmentally dubious) answer to off grid hot water. Your plan sounds pretty good to me.
- caymanjim 2y ago
  It's not too expensive to get a large, refillable propane tank installed, and propane is cheap. I've got family members who do that and they live five miles away from the nearest Walmart. They have municipal power and well water, but don't have municipal gas service. They only have to fill the tank four times per year. I would likely do the same, for cooking, hot water, and heat (supplemented by a wood stove, which I'd have plenty of wood for as I cleared land for a house, garage, and solar panel field).
onlyrealcuzzo 2y ago
> I've now lowered my budget to $4000 for the same setup I was planning to spend $6000 on two years ago, and with 400W panels, I no longer need to upgrade to a larger RV to begin the project. Keep in mind - the dollar is down ~10-15% in that time frame, so in real terms, the previous cost might have been >$6600 in today's dollars vs ~$4000 or a >40% reduction. The cost of electricity is up ~5.5% compared to last year: https://www.bls.gov/regions/midwest/data/averageenergyprices_selectedareas_table.htm https://www.bls.gov/regions/midwest/data/averageenergyprices...
m463 2y ago
I think RVs that you can live/remote work in while traveling are interesting. (I'm speaking about large class A RVs like an apartment with washer/dryer etc...) But as solar becomes more prevalent, I don't see why they don't design RVs more around solar. It has only been recently that I've seen "all electric" type RVs. Before that, most RVs were hybrid propane/electric or diesel/electric, for example gas stoves, dual propane/electric refrigerators, dual propane/diesel + electric heating and propane or diesel generators. A future RV could have huge batteries for driving, and then use those batteries for appliances, air conditioning/heat pump and other on-board power. Then add increased solar by not only rooftop solar, but maybe fold-out solar awnings. (it could also charge via EV chargers, or 220 at a campsite) An RV like this would be modern, comfortable and let you go anywhere.
- caymanjim 2y ago
  I do well in my tiny (20') RV for four months a year. It was a little cramped when I had a girlfriend with me, but still cozy. This is my third summer doing this. The first two summers, I wasn't working. This summer I'm working full-time remote (dev). It has its challenges. I plan to upgrade to a much larger 5th wheel trailer, likely in two years, with all the creature comforts you mention. Part of the reason solar is still a fringe thing for RVs is due to the costs up till now. Another big reason has been solar panel energy density; there simply wasn't enough room on the roof for the thousands of watts you need to generate for true full-time off-grid living with all the creature comforts (most notably air conditioning). Affordable, compact DC-powered refrigerators are still new (but are becoming standard items). Battery cost used to be prohibitive, and battery weight is still a problem. The 1200Ah I'm targeting (at minimum) is going to weigh a few hundred pounds. If you want a residential-sized fridge, washer/dryer, and air conditioning that you can use 24/7, you need more like 3200W of solar and 2400Ah of battery. The larger the RV, the more expensive it is to cool. RVs have crap insulation, and most RVs are used in hotter southern areas. True self-sufficient electric and solar with no behavioral/comfort sacrifice still requires a lot of space and costs a lot. The market is headed toward more solar, but the kind of setup you're talking about (and that I'm building for myself) is still quite expensive. And it's a huge cost for people that don't typically need it; the vast majority of people full-timing in RVs are content to do so at a sardine-packed RV park with full hookups. The market isn't going to bear the cost of massive solar installations as standard equipment.
kragen 2y ago
this is awesome! i do have one quibble, though, and it's a big one. in the last two years, prices on mainstream solar panels (monocrystalline with warranty) have fallen from €0.25 per peak watt to €0.12 per peak watt; low-cost panels have fallen from €0.17 per peak watt to €0.07 per peak watt.† technically that is 'fallen by 25% or more' because it's fallen by almost 60%. 2400 watts of solar should cost you 290 us dollars plus retail markup, not 1200 dollars. if you're paying 1200 dollars, you're being swindled! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41394506 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41394506 goes into details on how the swindle works ______ † https://www.solarserver.de/photovoltaik-preis-pv-modul-preisindex/ https://www.solarserver.de/photovoltaik-preis-pv-modul-preis...
- caymanjim 2y ago
  400W solar panels cost $200-250. So 2400W will cost me roughly $1800. There are discounts if you can buy in bulk, but I don't have room for more than 6-8 panels at most. Like all things, the raw material cost is trivial. There are the tariffs you mention (I just skimmed your link, and don't speak German), but there's also economy of scale, packaging, logistics, etc. I'm sure I could get 400W panels for as little as $100/ea if I went to the factory myself and bought hundreds of them. Maybe even cheaper. It's not really fair to compare consumer one-off costs to industrial/commercial-scale installation costs.
  - kragen 2y ago
    while it's true that there's a retail markup, that markup is not close to a factor of 4. it's about 30%. the €0.12 per peak watt cost i mentioned for mainstream solar panels is not at the factory; that's a wholesale price in european markets, which are halfway around the world from the factory. if you went to the factory, you could probably get them for €0.10 per peak watt, about 45 dollars each for your 400-watt panels. (unless you don't look chinese, in which case trying to go to the factory might get you arrested, and you'd definitely have to buy more than 6–8) the longer comment of mine i linked explains in more detail how you're getting swindled. in english!
  - aaron42net 2y ago
aegis4244 2y ago
If you're looking for some inexpensive land that can be fairly remote you might do worse than Cochise county AZ. The county has an opt out permit program as long as you have at least 4 rural acres. You can build whatever you want, no permits, no inspections. There are some restrictions. No bank will give you a mortgage, can't sell or rent it out within 2 years. You can live in your RV while you build, for 2 years I think, with a 3 year extension possible. Lots of sun for solar. Rooftop water collection for water. There are some septic options, composting, or traditional. All legal. A few dozen people on youtube building all kinds of off grid natural buildings. They get together once in a while, let you tour their build, ask questions. A little snow in the winter, not many days above 100F. 4000+ feet elevation. Fiber laid in some surprisingly rural areas. No paved roads type areas. Weird, but cool. I did the full time RV bit in a class A. Hated it. Too small to live in, too big to travel in. Hate that black tank. Had to leave great camping spots once a week to dump and get more water, or hook up to some sort of developed campgrounds. Sucked. Regret not going for a small schoolie to travel in, large house on 5 acres to live in. That's the new plan, anyway. Best of luck.
- gcanyon 2y ago
  Average rainfall 11 to 41 inches per year -- more than I expected in AZ. Still, to have reasonable water year-round for 2 people you'd need to collect across maybe 10,000 square feet? That's not a small installation.
  - ElSucioDan 2y ago
    Probably more than that since the rain is all concentrated around the months of July and August. Would need to store for the rest of the year too.
  - asah 2y ago
    obviously, you need substantial storage... what about harvesting water from the air ? I've heard that modern techniques can work in 15% humidity ? also, trucking in water once a year can augment the supply ? at 10c per gallon, it doesn't seem crazy... https://www.reddit.com/r/TinyHouses/comments/10qj5ey/no_well_how_to_get_water/ https://www.reddit.com/r/TinyHouses/comments/10qj5ey/no_well...
neltnerb 2y ago
The latest modest scale battery technology is also a game changer from my consumer perspective. I use Jackeries (which do what you're talking about for lots of money XD), and mine from last year uses a chemistry that gives a maximum of perhaps 1.5A even though the capacity is quite high. The one from this year that uses lithium iron phosphate is happy to output 10A. It's wild, I was able to power an AC brushless motor as well as a corded (technically?) drill. I could have run the drill for an hour at full power. All around it just improves so fast I'm starting to feel like I do about computers -- the longer I continue to be satisfied with my current setup, the better the next one will be!
analognoise 2y ago
Where are you sourcing parts and do you have a suggested parts list?
GauntletWizard 2y ago
I would love to see your setup and price sheet - I'm planning on doing the same very soon. Doing a full digital nomad lifestyle for a year or two, traveling the country, while still working remotely.
HenryBemis 2y ago
> dropped 25% or more I don't mean to straw-man your argument, I was merely thinking that the 'actual' drop must be bigger, considering the inflation in most countries (in some EU countries it approached or hit 10%), so under normal circumstances and/or in the future the drop would/will be at 30%-35% if the same rate continues (prices getting lower - inflation getting lower)
dghughes 2y ago
There is now a Winnebago eRV2 EV RV (say that fast lol). I wonder if that is an advantage more for an RV sitting gas going old and brakes stick. Sounds like a good idea for those wanting to live off-grid. Range is a dismal 173km (108mi) though.
Damogran6 2y ago
Three years ago I performed the phase one update on our trailer (38foot 5th wheeler) I put in a Victron converter/inverter, shunt, Cerbo (HMI) and 4 100ah LiFePO4 batteries. The trailer has a 5500 generator and 3 ACs. I wanted 2.5 days of power, not including AC, as I'd run the Jenny when needing AC Solar is (was) coming at a future date with something in the 1200 watt range. What I found was that we were boondocking roughly 8 nights a year, needing about 2 hours of generator each day to top off the batteries. (FWIW, there's a LOT of power to a gallon of gas) I can charge at home before we leave, exercising the generator is good, because I can rely on it when I need it (where if we right or over-size the solar, you might go a very long time before really needing the generator. So, I'd like solar (it's quiet), but the $2500 or so to install it probably doesn't have a reasonable ROI. And I really like having AC the few days it's needed away from shorepower.
- caymanjim 2y ago
  I've got a generator now, which can recharge my tiny battery in about an hour. The generator can run the AC, microwave, whatever I need. It's loud, and I often camp in primitive-but-not-remote sites which either have limited generator hours or where it would be rude to run one. That's a big reason I want maximum solar and battery. Even if I'm boondocking far from people, I don't want to listen to a generator all day. You're right about the energy density. I can run my 3000W generator for about eight hours on one 2.5 gallon tank of gas, depending on how much power I use. I've run the AC for a few hours that way.
vondur 2y ago
Wow, that's a heck of a lot of solar in an RV. Do you have a video tour of it, I'd love to see that!
- caymanjim 2y ago
  It's all just a plan right now. I started buying components this summer, but I only have the RV's stock 100W panel so far, and an extra lead-acid battery to supplement the one it came with. I had planned to start by putting 4x200W panels on the roof, until I get a large 5th wheel. Now I'm going to put 4-6x 400W on the current trailer for next summer. The price and size of 400W panels dropped enough to make that viable. I'm generally too lazy to do a writeup/photos of my projects, but I might when I get it installed. There are a lot of writeups out there already though. People are squeezing lots of solar onto vams and small RVs these days.
turtlebits 2y ago
Seasonal variation can mean 0 production in the winter for days/weeks. Unless you have some fuel burning backup, or are spending $$$ on batteries, this isn't feasible.
zhynn 2y ago
Please come to Vermont, there is a lot of undeveloped land, ample water, and we need people.
casperc 2y ago
Can you recommend some resources for building and sourcing a solar setup like this?
- caymanjim 2y ago
  > Can you recommend some resources for building and sourcing a solar setup like this? A lot of people like Will Prowse on YouTube[1]. I've watched a few of his battery test videos and it's influenced what I'll end up buying. I haven't watched any of his solar videos. I've been lurking in r/SolarDIY[2] as well. I'm buying a bunch of Victron[3] gear. They have forums, HOWTOs, some videos, plus the various product sheets. They have some circuit diagrams too. The rest is Google and reading blog posts, DIY articles, price comparisons, etc. There are books, but I haven't read any. I've got basic electronics chops and tinker with things a bit. I'm by no means an expert. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/@WillProwse https://www.youtube.com/@WillProwse [2]: https://www.reddit.com/r/SolarDIY/ https://www.reddit.com/r/SolarDIY/ [3]: https://www.victronenergy.com/ https://www.victronenergy.com/

kingkongjaffa 2y ago

> I intend to buy undeveloped land far from civilization I'm always intrigued by this notion, I know plenty of Americans have this kind of plan, but it's never quite as remote as they think, because, y'know you're still in America somewhere. Unless you're thinking of somewhere in northern Canada. I'd love to know where is considered 'far from civilization' on the continental US.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
pjc50 2y ago
Far from "civilization", but still surrounded by lawfulness so you don't have to deal with warlords taking your solar panels.
- flir 2y ago
  Don't hate the player, hate the game.
  - ohthatsnotright 2y ago
    Or change the rules of the game: https://www.businesstechafrica.co.za/energy/2023/08/21/broken-solar-panels-specifically-manufactured-for-south-africa/ https://www.businesstechafrica.co.za/energy/2023/08/21/broke...
    - HPsquared 2y ago
      Broken window theory, through the looking glass.
  - ben_w 2y ago
    The game being?
- njarboe 2y ago
  I would guess he will still be paying at least property taxes.
- DaoVeles 2y ago
  There a few people I know who live off grid, they all say the same thing. The longer you are out there the closer to 100% you will be challenged for your stuff. Be it a semi-local crazy, warlord, gypsies or cult few have heard of - they all want resources that are closer than the alternative and they are aware that you are the only defense. Another factor of this living is that once the honeymoon period wears off, there is a dawning on many people that their tolerance for failure has dropped significantly. A break down of a vehicle can become a very big issue very fast when the nearest town is an hour away.

JonChesterfield 2y ago

Burning wood is a completely viable (if very annoying and environmentally dubious) answer to off grid hot water. Your plan sounds pretty good to me.

caymanjim 2y ago
It's not too expensive to get a large, refillable propane tank installed, and propane is cheap. I've got family members who do that and they live five miles away from the nearest Walmart. They have municipal power and well water, but don't have municipal gas service. They only have to fill the tank four times per year. I would likely do the same, for cooking, hot water, and heat (supplemented by a wood stove, which I'd have plenty of wood for as I cleared land for a house, garage, and solar panel field).

onlyrealcuzzo 2y ago

> I've now lowered my budget to $4000 for the same setup I was planning to spend $6000 on two years ago, and with 400W panels, I no longer need to upgrade to a larger RV to begin the project. Keep in mind - the dollar is down ~10-15% in that time frame, so in real terms, the previous cost might have been >$6600 in today's dollars vs ~$4000 or a >40% reduction. The cost of electricity is up ~5.5% compared to last year: https://www.bls.gov/regions/midwest/data/averageenergyprices_selectedareas_table.htm https://www.bls.gov/regions/midwest/data/averageenergyprices...

m463 2y ago

I think RVs that you can live/remote work in while traveling are interesting. (I'm speaking about large class A RVs like an apartment with washer/dryer etc...) But as solar becomes more prevalent, I don't see why they don't design RVs more around solar. It has only been recently that I've seen "all electric" type RVs. Before that, most RVs were hybrid propane/electric or diesel/electric, for example gas stoves, dual propane/electric refrigerators, dual propane/diesel + electric heating and propane or diesel generators. A future RV could have huge batteries for driving, and then use those batteries for appliances, air conditioning/heat pump and other on-board power. Then add increased solar by not only rooftop solar, but maybe fold-out solar awnings. (it could also charge via EV chargers, or 220 at a campsite) An RV like this would be modern, comfortable and let you go anywhere.

caymanjim 2y ago
I do well in my tiny (20') RV for four months a year. It was a little cramped when I had a girlfriend with me, but still cozy. This is my third summer doing this. The first two summers, I wasn't working. This summer I'm working full-time remote (dev). It has its challenges. I plan to upgrade to a much larger 5th wheel trailer, likely in two years, with all the creature comforts you mention. Part of the reason solar is still a fringe thing for RVs is due to the costs up till now. Another big reason has been solar panel energy density; there simply wasn't enough room on the roof for the thousands of watts you need to generate for true full-time off-grid living with all the creature comforts (most notably air conditioning). Affordable, compact DC-powered refrigerators are still new (but are becoming standard items). Battery cost used to be prohibitive, and battery weight is still a problem. The 1200Ah I'm targeting (at minimum) is going to weigh a few hundred pounds. If you want a residential-sized fridge, washer/dryer, and air conditioning that you can use 24/7, you need more like 3200W of solar and 2400Ah of battery. The larger the RV, the more expensive it is to cool. RVs have crap insulation, and most RVs are used in hotter southern areas. True self-sufficient electric and solar with no behavioral/comfort sacrifice still requires a lot of space and costs a lot. The market is headed toward more solar, but the kind of setup you're talking about (and that I'm building for myself) is still quite expensive. And it's a huge cost for people that don't typically need it; the vast majority of people full-timing in RVs are content to do so at a sardine-packed RV park with full hookups. The market isn't going to bear the cost of massive solar installations as standard equipment.

kragen 2y ago

this is awesome! i do have one quibble, though, and it's a big one. in the last two years, prices on mainstream solar panels (monocrystalline with warranty) have fallen from €0.25 per peak watt to €0.12 per peak watt; low-cost panels have fallen from €0.17 per peak watt to €0.07 per peak watt.† technically that is 'fallen by 25% or more' because it's fallen by almost 60%. 2400 watts of solar should cost you 290 us dollars plus retail markup, not 1200 dollars. if you're paying 1200 dollars, you're being swindled! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41394506 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41394506 goes into details on how the swindle works ______ † https://www.solarserver.de/photovoltaik-preis-pv-modul-preisindex/ https://www.solarserver.de/photovoltaik-preis-pv-modul-preis...

caymanjim 2y ago
400W solar panels cost $200-250. So 2400W will cost me roughly $1800. There are discounts if you can buy in bulk, but I don't have room for more than 6-8 panels at most. Like all things, the raw material cost is trivial. There are the tariffs you mention (I just skimmed your link, and don't speak German), but there's also economy of scale, packaging, logistics, etc. I'm sure I could get 400W panels for as little as $100/ea if I went to the factory myself and bought hundreds of them. Maybe even cheaper. It's not really fair to compare consumer one-off costs to industrial/commercial-scale installation costs.
- kragen 2y ago
  while it's true that there's a retail markup, that markup is not close to a factor of 4. it's about 30%. the €0.12 per peak watt cost i mentioned for mainstream solar panels is not at the factory; that's a wholesale price in european markets, which are halfway around the world from the factory. if you went to the factory, you could probably get them for €0.10 per peak watt, about 45 dollars each for your 400-watt panels. (unless you don't look chinese, in which case trying to go to the factory might get you arrested, and you'd definitely have to buy more than 6–8) the longer comment of mine i linked explains in more detail how you're getting swindled. in english!
- aaron42net 2y ago

aegis4244 2y ago

If you're looking for some inexpensive land that can be fairly remote you might do worse than Cochise county AZ. The county has an opt out permit program as long as you have at least 4 rural acres. You can build whatever you want, no permits, no inspections. There are some restrictions. No bank will give you a mortgage, can't sell or rent it out within 2 years. You can live in your RV while you build, for 2 years I think, with a 3 year extension possible. Lots of sun for solar. Rooftop water collection for water. There are some septic options, composting, or traditional. All legal. A few dozen people on youtube building all kinds of off grid natural buildings. They get together once in a while, let you tour their build, ask questions. A little snow in the winter, not many days above 100F. 4000+ feet elevation. Fiber laid in some surprisingly rural areas. No paved roads type areas. Weird, but cool. I did the full time RV bit in a class A. Hated it. Too small to live in, too big to travel in. Hate that black tank. Had to leave great camping spots once a week to dump and get more water, or hook up to some sort of developed campgrounds. Sucked. Regret not going for a small schoolie to travel in, large house on 5 acres to live in. That's the new plan, anyway. Best of luck.

gcanyon 2y ago
Average rainfall 11 to 41 inches per year -- more than I expected in AZ. Still, to have reasonable water year-round for 2 people you'd need to collect across maybe 10,000 square feet? That's not a small installation.
- ElSucioDan 2y ago
  Probably more than that since the rain is all concentrated around the months of July and August. Would need to store for the rest of the year too.
- asah 2y ago
  obviously, you need substantial storage... what about harvesting water from the air ? I've heard that modern techniques can work in 15% humidity ? also, trucking in water once a year can augment the supply ? at 10c per gallon, it doesn't seem crazy... https://www.reddit.com/r/TinyHouses/comments/10qj5ey/no_well_how_to_get_water/ https://www.reddit.com/r/TinyHouses/comments/10qj5ey/no_well...

neltnerb 2y ago

The latest modest scale battery technology is also a game changer from my consumer perspective. I use Jackeries (which do what you're talking about for lots of money XD), and mine from last year uses a chemistry that gives a maximum of perhaps 1.5A even though the capacity is quite high. The one from this year that uses lithium iron phosphate is happy to output 10A. It's wild, I was able to power an AC brushless motor as well as a corded (technically?) drill. I could have run the drill for an hour at full power. All around it just improves so fast I'm starting to feel like I do about computers -- the longer I continue to be satisfied with my current setup, the better the next one will be!

analognoise 2y ago

Where are you sourcing parts and do you have a suggested parts list?

GauntletWizard 2y ago

I would love to see your setup and price sheet - I'm planning on doing the same very soon. Doing a full digital nomad lifestyle for a year or two, traveling the country, while still working remotely.

HenryBemis 2y ago

> dropped 25% or more I don't mean to straw-man your argument, I was merely thinking that the 'actual' drop must be bigger, considering the inflation in most countries (in some EU countries it approached or hit 10%), so under normal circumstances and/or in the future the drop would/will be at 30%-35% if the same rate continues (prices getting lower - inflation getting lower)

dghughes 2y ago

There is now a Winnebago eRV2 EV RV (say that fast lol). I wonder if that is an advantage more for an RV sitting gas going old and brakes stick. Sounds like a good idea for those wanting to live off-grid. Range is a dismal 173km (108mi) though.

Damogran6 2y ago

Three years ago I performed the phase one update on our trailer (38foot 5th wheeler) I put in a Victron converter/inverter, shunt, Cerbo (HMI) and 4 100ah LiFePO4 batteries. The trailer has a 5500 generator and 3 ACs. I wanted 2.5 days of power, not including AC, as I'd run the Jenny when needing AC Solar is (was) coming at a future date with something in the 1200 watt range. What I found was that we were boondocking roughly 8 nights a year, needing about 2 hours of generator each day to top off the batteries. (FWIW, there's a LOT of power to a gallon of gas) I can charge at home before we leave, exercising the generator is good, because I can rely on it when I need it (where if we right or over-size the solar, you might go a very long time before really needing the generator. So, I'd like solar (it's quiet), but the $2500 or so to install it probably doesn't have a reasonable ROI. And I really like having AC the few days it's needed away from shorepower.

caymanjim 2y ago
I've got a generator now, which can recharge my tiny battery in about an hour. The generator can run the AC, microwave, whatever I need. It's loud, and I often camp in primitive-but-not-remote sites which either have limited generator hours or where it would be rude to run one. That's a big reason I want maximum solar and battery. Even if I'm boondocking far from people, I don't want to listen to a generator all day. You're right about the energy density. I can run my 3000W generator for about eight hours on one 2.5 gallon tank of gas, depending on how much power I use. I've run the AC for a few hours that way.

vondur 2y ago

Wow, that's a heck of a lot of solar in an RV. Do you have a video tour of it, I'd love to see that!

caymanjim 2y ago
It's all just a plan right now. I started buying components this summer, but I only have the RV's stock 100W panel so far, and an extra lead-acid battery to supplement the one it came with. I had planned to start by putting 4x200W panels on the roof, until I get a large 5th wheel. Now I'm going to put 4-6x 400W on the current trailer for next summer. The price and size of 400W panels dropped enough to make that viable. I'm generally too lazy to do a writeup/photos of my projects, but I might when I get it installed. There are a lot of writeups out there already though. People are squeezing lots of solar onto vams and small RVs these days.

turtlebits 2y ago

Seasonal variation can mean 0 production in the winter for days/weeks. Unless you have some fuel burning backup, or are spending $$$ on batteries, this isn't feasible.

zhynn 2y ago

Please come to Vermont, there is a lot of undeveloped land, ample water, and we need people.

casperc 2y ago

Can you recommend some resources for building and sourcing a solar setup like this?

caymanjim 2y ago
> Can you recommend some resources for building and sourcing a solar setup like this? A lot of people like Will Prowse on YouTube[1]. I've watched a few of his battery test videos and it's influenced what I'll end up buying. I haven't watched any of his solar videos. I've been lurking in r/SolarDIY[2] as well. I'm buying a bunch of Victron[3] gear. They have forums, HOWTOs, some videos, plus the various product sheets. They have some circuit diagrams too. The rest is Google and reading blog posts, DIY articles, price comparisons, etc. There are books, but I haven't read any. I've got basic electronics chops and tinker with things a bit. I'm by no means an expert. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/@WillProwse https://www.youtube.com/@WillProwse [2]: https://www.reddit.com/r/SolarDIY/ https://www.reddit.com/r/SolarDIY/ [3]: https://www.victronenergy.com/ https://www.victronenergy.com/