Does anybody use these? If so, how big and what wattage. I'm getting tired of listening to the generator and was wondering if I could do solar and a few more batteries to run everything on my 5th wheel, AC and lights, stuff like that. Any info would be great!!

Depending on the amount of camping and the amount of power you use, you couldadd some panels, but from what I have seen over the years you will need to spend in the same price range as the cost of a generator to achieve results that are viable, especially if you use a lot of power like for a television and run lights alot. When I camp during the summer in my toyhauer I can usually get 3 to five days on my two marine batteries without recharging.

Tknoll, thanks for the reply. Are you running your AC off your batteries? If so I think my batteries may be shot! They run the lights but not much more than that. What kind of batt. do you have?

There are a number of sources are solar panels for 12v batteries ( Northern Tool has several in their catalog.)

First get an idea of how much power you need, multiply the wattage by the length of time in hours it will be on, to get W/Hrs (The meter on the side of your house measures KW/Hrs). Total all this up for one day.

Now to keep the battery(s) charged we need to put at least that much, plus 10% to 20% for losses, into the battery(s) on an average day. About 8-10Hrs a day of sun is optimistic. Divide the total W/Hrs used by the number of hours the sun shines directly on the panel and this will give you the wattage of panel you need.

Solar charged batteries work good for running 12v florescent lights or some of the newer LED based 12V lighting, and a small TV or fan for a few hours a day. For the air conditioner you still will need the generator.

Another consideration if you are going to replace batteries is to use 2 6-volt golf cart batteries hooked in series. They will give you 12 volts and last longer than 2 12-volt batteries in parallel. The biggest drawback to golf cart batteries is finding a box to hold them. They tend to be pricey.

Although you can gain a lot of knowledge on this forum you would be better off searching the internet for more information.

quote:

Originally posted by whip800:
Tknoll, thanks for the reply. Are you running your AC off your batteries? If so I think my batteries may be shot! They run the lights but not much more than that. What kind of batt. do you have?

No ac, just lights, the pump, and what the refrigerator draws. Anything that produces heat or has an electric motor will tend to draw ont he batteries.

Deolman,
I'm just looking for a jumping off point. I like this forum and value all opinions. I just like to know what guys are using or trying out. Sometimes I can overload on info and end up worse off than when I started.

Whip800, here are a couple of places you might want to look at.

http://www.phrannie.org/phredex.html

http://www.rvsolarelectric.com/inform.htm

Take a look and come back with more questions.

Greendragon had a good tip. This subject is full of misinformation, so the best thing to do is to know how much power you consume. With this info, you can start the learning process, without the BS that shops, and those wanting to make a $ off you can bring. The subject really isn't complicated, but can appear so, but if one just starts at the beginning, and learn about usage, and how much is needed, then just proceed up the scale, it can be done. But if one just tries to jump in the middle, it can be very expensive, and DANGEROUS!

and the desire to wean away from the generator is understood.

Golf cart batteries is the way to go, they cost me $105 each but are well worth it. I can normally get 4 days with lights and heat, Heat takes most of the power to run the fan. I'll be adding a cadalitic heater before winter. If your going to use your AC you will need to run your generator there is now way around it.

Just wanted to say Thank You to all for the responses. Looks like I've got some reading to do.

Good luck, keep us posted on what you decide to do and the results you achieve. I would be curious to know how much bang for your buck you can get.

Ok folks,
I have a friend that works at an auto parts warehouse and I can get some golf cart batteries for $70 each. So my question is this, do I need to get just 2 to wire in parallel or do I get 4? I measured my batt compartment on the 5th wheel and there's no way to get 4 in there w/out fabricating some sort of rack, I don't have time to do that right now and was wondering if I could get by on 2 of these for the weekend and fab a rack up later.

I use a Brunton SolarFlat 5 & 1.8 for maintaining the batteries in my ATV Shed. The 5 watt takes care of the main battery weekend to weekend, the 1.8 I had maintaining the Kodiak's battery. I plan on rigging up a lead to maintain the Rincon's battery since the kodiak isn't there anymore.

My brother has the SolarFlat 15, 2 of them plus the needed Solar Controller, allowing you to hook up 5 of the 15-watt panels together. To maintain the battery in his 12-volt powered shed.

These things do work. The 1.8 puts out enough power in the daytime, to light a small LED strip light. As that is what I have it hooked up to right now till I get a pigtail wired into the Honda.

You might find a cheaper price, but the cheapest i found for the 15 watt panels is The Sportsman's Guide, they also have the Solar Controller so you don't overcharge anything.

I like the Brunton brand as they are weatherproof right out of the box.

The 5 watt model on my shed maintains the battery weekend to weekend. I'm not in the shed everyday, just on the weekends. I have 3 fluorescent lights on 2 different switches (plus a few LED's, and a incandescent on a pull cord switch), a fan, and fog lights wired to it.

I started with LED's, didn't like the amount of light output, switched to fluorescents. If i used in daily, at least 1 15 watt or as many as 5 would be used.

Whip--Now take this the right way!!

It sounds like you are trying to start in the middle of the learning curve. Start at the beginning like Dragon stated.

If you mess up and hook things in series, you won't have 12 volts, you'll have 48. Cram 48 into a 12v system, and you'll at the very least ruin at least one component, and might fry everything, blow the batteries, etc, etc.

Perhaps someone else can describe in simple terms how to do it, but I hesitate because of the penalities of doing it wrong.

It ain't complictated, but things WILL go up in smoke and fire if not done right.

quote:

Whip--Now take this the right way!!

Don't worry about that, I'm in the learning curve now! I turned left when the road went right So after talking to a few friends today I think I'm just going to stay with a couple good deep cycle 12 volt batt. for now and do some more research. Thanks to everyone.

Waykool!! Let us know how it goes!

The golf cart batteries would be a great choice for an RV. They have more power than a 12 volt battery. Just remember that golf cart batteries are 6-volt batteries so they would need to be connected in series if you are using just two of them. Connecting two 12-volt batteries in parallel are not quite as effecient as the two golf cart batteries in series.