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Pros and Cons of Portable Solar Panels Compared to Rooftop Full Time RV Living
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- čas přidán 14. 08. 2024
- Pros and Cons of a portable solar compared to rooftop solar
Hi everyone, We had a few people ask why we did not mount or solar panels on the roof and I thought I would make a short video on the pros and cons of our portable solar panels now that we have been using it for a bit.
Pros
Flexibility We wanted the flexibility of being able to park our RV under shade and put the panels in the sun, also we wanted to be able to park the RV in any direction for the best views, if the panels were on the roof we might need to worry about A/C units casting shade on the panels
Easy installation by keeping the panels off the roof meant we would not need to figure out a way to mount them on the roof, which means no worries about drilling holes and running wires.
Getting the most from the sun Having the panels on the ground means it’s easy for us to turn and adjust the panels for the optimal amount of sunlight capture as you can see with our Victron Battery monitor I can read the exact amount of power coming in from the panels and direct them accordingly to maximize them
Keeping them clean is a breeze as well.
Our 200 Watt Renogy bundle including the Solar charger and wiring came to about $300 That’s relatively inexpensive to add solar to an RV
Portable solar panel is a great first step We can always add Panels to the roof later if we like the performance and results we see from the panels.
Cons
Storage When the panels are not in use we need a place to safely store them especially when traveling.
Only work when not on the go Because the panels need to be plugged in everytime we park and setup we are not collecting any power for these quick overnight stays, such as walmarts or Flying J’s not to mention your roof panels will be collecting power even while driving.
Set up setting up and connecting the panels at every new site could become a hassle compared to the set it and forget you get with roof mounted panels and because it is easy to adjust the panels on the ground you might find yourself constantly tinkering with the panels throughout the day trying to collect those perfect rays.
Limited by storage space Most RV’s have great real estate on their roof with plenty of room to add several panels and we have plenty of friends with 1,000 plus Watts up there because of this. If you wanted that kind of power from portable you are talking about trying to transport, store and set up 10 Panels and that’s just not practical.
Protecting the panels from damage, Here is a great example of that one day while parked out here the wind picked up drastically and blew the panels from the backside and threw them face down scratching one and completely shattering the other. Surprisingly enough this shattered one still works but instead of being able to pull 6 amps it barley brings in over 4 amps per hour. We replaced it with a new panel, not so much for that reason but we figure it will just be a matter of time know before moisture seeps in and ruins the panel completely or that we start to get chips of glass all over the place for Belle to step on later.
So those are my pros and cons
Did I miss anything? Let me know down in the comments and if you liked the video give it a thumbs up and share it with your friends. If you disliked the video give it a thumbs down and share it with people you don’t like.
Take care everyone and safe travels!!
For 5 years Sabrina and I have been talking about how great our SnapPads are. We can now we can finally offer 10% off any SnapPad order when you use MFA10 at checkout rvsnappad.com/ Safe Travels everyone!
“If you liked the video, give it a thumbs up and share it with everyone. If you didn’t like, give it a thumbs down and share it with everyone you hate”. I love it; clever !
Lol I try to add a little bit of humor to all of our videos and this one was feeling a bit dry to me. Glad to hear you liked the video!
Good ratio of likes to not, Nick - not many haters here!
Lol, yes we have a very very good group of people who watch our videos. Very seldom any trolling or drama going on in the comment section. Which we appreciate 😁
@@MovingForwardAdventures vvv
A few panels up top and a couple on the ground provides you an expansive way to keep those batteries charged up.
Drill a 1/2 hole at the bottom of the aluminum legs, run a small wire like those for hanging picture frames and corners and get the itty bitty small stakes that Walmart sells for tents and tarps, they are thin and metal. This is how you hold anything you set up outside when camping anyway. Neither wind nor pets will knock them over. You could even drill holes at the top of the legs where the hinges are and meet both wires down at the ground with one stake wherever you notice the wires are a tad tight and it will hold it down.
Great list... you affirmed the portable panel we just purchased and have yet to try out. I appreciated the sharing of the broken panel. We were planning to put the panel on the bed of the truck to reduce the "walking into it" or especially the three dogs we camp with. Now we are going to proactively anchor it in some way.
Keeping out of the way and up in the truck bed is a great idea, if you can secure it in some way, I think you will be good to go! I now have panels on the roof of our RV but still use a portable panel to dial in a bit more power, especially in the winter when the sun is low
Another con is the fact that they can walk away with a two legged predator. I do like the convenience of having them on the ground though
Hi Seabliss, that is certainly a con. We just trust for the most part that no one will mess with our stuff. When we first started RVing we used to bring every patio item in each night or when we went out, but we noticed we were the only ones doing this. We have since become lazy and now leave everything out
That has happened to other CZcamsrs
HI J.G. Yes theft is unfortunately does happen in the RV community😞 We just read yesterday that someone's travel trailer was stolen while they were out exploring. Someone pulled up with a pickup truck and towed it away. The family was on facebook heart broken that they just lost their home and everything with it. Luckily things like this do not happen too often, but they do happen.
@@MovingForwardAdventures A GPS setup can locate a stolen RV. LOJACK or cheaper alternatives...good peace of mind, too. Remote cameras are cheap option as well.
Great info, Alarm systems are a must and mounted on top of RV with a kill switch is best thanks for heads up👍
If you set the panel at the right angle and at 12 noon you won’t have to Mess with them constantly. Liked the video!! We have two suitcase style solar kits. Won’t mount any. They can still get damaged on the roof. Have to climb to clean them.
We agree with everything you said, pros and cons. We will probably start with a suitcase kit then expand to the roof. Great video. 😃
I think the suitcase is the way to go for anyone like us that us new to solar and wanting to try it out, before going all in with a rooftop system.
But they can go missing in the grown , some one could and likely will take them, even if your there all day, there worth putting on the roof to us and our friends. and all the setting up and putting them a way, you can bump them to much.
I always love watching videos where the person has a cool shirt. You are spot on with pros and cons. It so good to see a video I've missed watching you guys. I see a lot more boondocking in your future. Tell Sabrina we said hello. Stay safe, Lou.
I had a feeling you would like this particular video Lou lol. It is a very cool shirt! 😁 I will let Sabrina know you said hi and that she needs to appear in the next video😁
I went with roof mounted. The panels keep the roof cooler and I charge while I drive. Renogy told me I lose about 20-25% not being able to aim them so I just added another panel. Great video!
I do like the idea of the panels giving the roof some shade, I would imagine it actually helps a lot. Glad you enjoyed the video! Take care and safe travels!
I don't get all the hype about charging while driving. If you're driving your alternator will charge a hell of a lot faster than solar
@@LtDan-gm8rc Depends on fuel prices :P may want to save on gas.
For me it’s about the time you spend in the flying J or Walmart parking lots
Great video. You might consider adding a couple horizontal supports on the bottom, then add some weight on top of the supports. This should hold them in place during most situations.
Excellent Pros & Cons! Makes sense to me being able to just move them with the sun all day. For some people I imagine cost is very important and this seems to be a better inexpensive option. Thanks for sharing!
Have a Glamperrific Day!
👍❤️🌈😀🌈
Thanks guys! And yes we agree, this is a great inexpensive way to setup a solar system especially for anyone like us that is new to Solar and just want to give it try before going all in and drilling into their roof. Hope you guys have a Glamperrific Day as well😁
Ok. Just watched this again because I noticed that I missed giving you a LIKE. WELL HAD TO COMMENT. We are on our second rig that I have put solar on the roof. Not to belittle the PROS of portable, but that did get old fast. I put them on the roof and boosted it to a bit more than I NEED. Now it's up there. Other than climbing up and cleaning them once in a while I never think about my batteries. OK that's a lie. I still love checking my state of charge when ever I walk past the panel. But we use and abuse our meager little pair of 3 1/2 year old golf cart batteries (Didi mention unlimited hot spot a big smart TV) and still never wake up to less than 12.3 volts. And when I do, bye bye lead acid, hello Battle Born.
I have 150w solarpanel flat on my boat roof and 55w flexible solar panel to move around outside the boat windows. That 55w solar panel will produce almost the same amount of amps as that other panel on the roof, also, its good to have some extra "sunshade" from that smaller panel. For next spring i allready have one flexible (why flexible? Thinner and lighter) 100w ETFE panel extra, lets see how it all works out together, so portable solarpanels are win-win for me.
Almost forgot to say that all panels will be connected to the Victron solar smart controller in parallel.
Greetings from Finland☺️
I am planning to have a portable panel for my van build (minivan camper). For me the main pro is that by stowing the panel in the van when driving we minimize wind resistance and the main con is, as others have mentioned, what to do with the panel when we are parked but not with the van, say when parked at the beach for the day in the summer - lots of sun but I would worry too much about the panel disappearing. I am glad to hear you have not had any trouble with that.
So far so good with no theft of any of our items including bikes that could easily roll away lol. Someone in the comments had a good idea of using steel cable to secure the Panels to the RV, of course someone can use bolt cutters and remove the line, but at least it would then need to be somewhat planned rather than someone just walking by. Take care and safe travels!
Try one other thing with your battery monitor!
We have a couple of portable panels too and get about 12 amps of charging capability.
Our Winnebago, when generator is running, only provides about 10 amps.
Combined, we get over 20.
But when we start the coach, the alternator charges at over 60 amps!
Changed our whole boondocking paradigm. We don’t have to idle our coach for long to top off whatever our panels haven’t provided during the day and it’s much quieter than using the genset.
Of course, your coach may be wired differently, but it might be worth a look.
CAUTION: we have since learned this prolonged high current draw can damage your alternator. It doesn’t happen with lead-acid batteries. When installing lithiums in a charging system originally designed for lead-acid batteries,, you should probably also install a dc-dc charger between the alternator and the batteries. This will keep the current draw at a safe level. But you can still charge at a higher rate than you get from most portable solar panels (20-50 amps).
Just purchased our 4th RV the first 3 were Popups each building on the last. By 3 we had Air, Toilet, Shower Tanks the works. Sold it around 10 years ago when the kids were finally all gone. Didn't want the hassle of a Popup any longer. At 56 we've decided to get back in and got a nice ultralight for us. We don't need 30 ft. of awesome we wanted fun to travel just needed to be equipped the way we wanted and with a Slide out it's perfect all the room and all the space for storage plus the bonus of the grandkids being able to join the fun. The one that you left out however and here in the MidWest it's a biggie WEATHER if those are on top and you get a hailstorm, you're done. End of discussion. At least on the ground you have a chance but on the roof you die. That's a investment lost. Insurance is only so good but downtime and other possible damage as a result of them being up there is at this point not worth it to us. Keep them on the ground of now and see if they're worth the cost. Great job, very well reasoned arguement.
Great video! I have been using 200 W of solar panels that I set up each time I get to the campsite , it has worked very well. I couldn't resist the sale I saw for Earth Day I was able to buy another 200 W of panels for $200, I plan to mount those on top of the coach. at first I thought I might put three up and keep only one down but I believe I will be best off by using two up and two down for certain campsites I will not even need to bring the other 200. the panels I use on the ground are completely loose and they are not connected together like yours I may do something like that with hinges and aluminum brackets will make it easier for me to tilt them and not have to always find something for them to lean on. Thanks!
We’re in the process of building our solar system on the roof of our RV. I was a little conflicted on whether portable panels or fixed roof panels would work better for us. Super convenient and I would adjust them all day. Once I saw what the wind did I was convinced. The roof is the best way for us. Thanks so much for sharing!
yeah, that was not a good day lol. The wind came from no where. I am going to drill a hoe at the bottom of each leg and spike them down. I think that should do the trick,, only time and heavy winds will tell though. Take care and safe travels!
Thanks…this is something I’m flip flopping with. This helped
I just went the same route as you for the same reasons. We like treed areas and roof mounts just didn’t cut for us. At least with portable panels I have a better chance of keeping them in the sun.
The ability to park in the shade and have the panels out in the sun is really one of the best reasons to have portable panels. We did eventually put solar in the roof, but still have our portable panels too to get the most of the sun. Safe travels!
THANK YOU! Great, fair-minded, very practical video! 👍
Thank you Elisa, glad you enjoyed the video! and we like your profile pic, it made us chuckle:)
One of the best videos I've seen about solar panels. Hope you guy's are doing well.
David
Thanks David! That is a very big compliment!!! Glad you enjoyed it 😁
Gotta anchor them for sure.
I like your setup...that's all I would want ...as long as you can keep your batteries charged I would worry about upgrading unless you want more battries for longer periods of time without recharging...
Great video! You may not remember, but I was camping with Nomadic Native in Quartzite when you was there. I had a travel trailer with 400 watts on the roof. I would get about 10 or 11 amps of charge with them flat on the roof. I upgraded to a motorhome, and now have 200 watts of portable. Because I can place the portables more perpendicular to the sunlight, I still get about 10 or 11 amps of charge from them. I consume about 50 or 60 amp hours of energy a day, so this works. An interesting note, I watched a documentary awhile back by a physicist from England. He calculated that we get about a kilowatt per square meter of energy from the sun. Of course we'll never be able to capture all of that.
Hi Jim, I certainly do remember you :) I had asked you what the cord was that ran from the back of your trailer to the front was for lol. I was just thinking today that I believed we were getting the same amount out of our 200 watts on the ground compared to 400 on the roof as well and I'm glad you just confirmed this :) It is truly amazing of how much the panels can bring in and we are only scratching the surface (literally) of its potential. We wish you safe travels and hope to run into you again some day :)
On m van, I have 2 panels mounted flat and served me well. If I decide to have more power temporary, I use another pair as portable solar panels and hook them series/parallel to existing panels.
Ah ha ha ~ listening to the end is worth it! You hit on every plus and every minus perfectly ~ exactly what we love about our portable panels and our permanent (we have two portable and two mounted on the roof) panels. I couldn't have said it better! Except the end part.. nah, you still did better than I could have ever done! Thumbs up for sure!
Lol Thank you! I think the setup you have is what we will eventually move towards. It would cert6be nice to be pulling in amps while on the move. Take care and safe travels😁
Great video Kenny! One suggestion would be to build a small folding frame for the panels, that way if the wind knocks them over there would be minimal or no damage. Even something as light and simple as foam pool noodles along the outer edges would help by keeping the glass off the ground. Another advantage to portable is you can easily upgrade as more efficient panels become available, or as the original panels become less effective over time. It would be great if RV builders would rough in connections on the roof for solar arrays to offer the flexibility of adding and replacing solar panels over time. Happy and safe travels, and greetings from 🇨🇦!
Hi James, loe the idea of putting the pool noodles along the outer edge. Going to pick some up the next time I am out! Thanks for the suggestion:) I think RV manufactures are just starting to add solar connections to their rigs. but for some reason only to their smaller units. We have not seen any Class A's with this option yet. Take care, safe travels and we hope you are staying warm :)
Great video.
A portable solar panel set has served me well Mexico. I secure mine with a 30’ Dog Tie-Out Cable and a couple of padlocks. At night I run the cable though chair and table frames keeping them from wondering off.
I place mine on a small rug which makes it easier to spin the panels with the sun.
This is incredible. Do you have any pictures? I’mracjing my brain rn thinking sbout this
I like the way you think, you are brilliantly. conscientious.
I agree with your pros and cons and it definitely helps when you can handle their maneuverability.
Also agree with you about permanent mounts being somewhat problematic ... a quandary.
Can't wait till they make them more supple, compact and more powerful.
One pro you didn't mention was, if you buy another RV, you can easily take them with you to use in your new unit. I saw one RVer who had a tie-down for his portable panels to keep the wind from blowing them over.
Great point Roy, score another one for portable😁 it would be very easy to transfer the portable system to a new unit, there is only about 4 screws securing the solar charger and that would be the only thing needed to remove from the coach😁
Most have holes you can use to secure them against wind to something. Try to figure out best way to do it. On the side of my rv is save probably
Good video - thanks - for me the answer is have both - some on the roof plus portable panels that can do all the things you mention that fixed on the roof cannot - and when the conditions are right ALL of the panels can feed in the extra power - best of both worlds
Thank you! We agree and ultimately we will have both as well. We do a lot of overnight parking in casinos and having the solar up on the roof would be a big plus for us. Take care and safe travels!
Nice! We have one to show (mounted) and one to go (portable)! Per usual, you make some great points!
Thanks Alfred, I like the terms one to show and one to go 😁 I'll have to remember that
Ha ha! Take that phrase and run with it, man! We’re living vicariously through you both until we can find a way to hit the road ourselves. Keep up the great work!@@MovingForwardAdventures
EXCELLENT synopsis of pro’s & cons. I have experinced all your points with my system as well.I spent a little over a year on & off researching solar for our tt. Went back & forth over size & installations and several other items. I decided to experment with a simple Renogy 100 watt portable. I used 10 gage wire though. Like yourself I chase the sun moving it around. I have concluded I’ll more than likely not do a permanent instal. I may add another 100W panel... We like to park in treed,shady areas and very little charging occurs unless they are in the direct sun. As the sun moves you need to move the panels or you will not get a good amount of charging. The goal of the 2nd panel is 2 fold. More amps + pointed a bit differently so when we are not there for several hours one will pickup more sun as one is fading. Other wise I’m out moving them every 10-15 minutes to max the amps.
To avoid damage, Id probably add something so I could stake the legs down or add a couple of heavy weights to help keep them down in the wind. One other con I might add is if you're somewhere that other people might be around, I'd be a little nervous to walk away from them due to theft. If they are bolted to the roof, someone cant just come by and unplug or snip the cables, fold it up, and scoot on their way with your panels. Probably doesn't happen often though. Still something I'd keep in mind.
Side note about adjusting the panels for maximum output. Id probably drill a small hole in the frame that I could quickly drop a small post or rod into that was perpendicular to the face of the panels. That way I could see how it cast a shadow. If it wasn't casting a shadow, Id know the panels were perfectly facing the sun.
My trailer had one on the roof and I took it off and put it on the ground. It only worked when my camper was parked in my driveway in full sun. I wired it up to a 35’ cord and now I just throw it in the sun to charge the batteries up
This is a great video. I plan on doing both. We purchased our rooftop solar system....we are yet to install it though. Next on the list is portable. I've subscribed so I can follow along on your journey and learn more before we are full time. Our plans are to be off grid and travel the USA, sharing our adventures with everyone. Its a shame so many live their lives without ever traveling far from home. We don't want to be in our 80s regretting life because we never ventured too far from home. So, we think taking our home with us is the way to go.
Nice video , thanks for sharing.
My wife and I went with the portable ZAMP Solar panels , they have a built in charge controller and our RV is was already factory pre-wired for Zamp solar.
We also just pre-ordered a Kodiak K2 Solar Generator , and we purchased a gas Champion 3400Watt Inverter Generator with electric and remote start.
I think you guys will be good to go and our very well covered! I think it's great that some of the RV's are now coming with the solar wiring pre-installed. It certainly makes things much easier. I'll have to look up the K2 Solar Generator, I am not familiar with that one. Take care and safe travels!
@@MovingForwardAdventures
The Kodiak Solar Generators are very impressive. They're small , only weigh 20 pounds , and you won't believe what they can power. Check out Jim's review here :. czcams.com/video/qPlsvVHR0lM/video.html.
Kenny, I took the opposite approach and started with 1200watt up on the roof. But I believe I'm going to add 2 panels similar to yours down on the ground. we have a residential fridge and a 600 AH Briter Lithium Batteries. As my fridge is such a power hog, I want the capability of dialing in to get as much power as I can. And since I don't do roofs, I want the best of both worlds. Thanks for sharing this video! Well done as always.
Hey Mike,
We really are doing things the opposite, I just added 360 watts up on the roof lol. We had planned on doing a lot of boondocking this winter, but everything went a bit crazy. I do like how I can fine tune the portable panels to get the most from the sun and I do dislike getting on the roof to clean the new panels lol. Hope you guys are well and are in a good spot.
Thank you so much for this post! This answers several questions I've had as I begin exploring various solar solutions for my van. Your presentation is very clear and concise, very well said, and you get straight to the point, no time wasted in chit-chat. You've helped me decide-- I'll go with folding portable panels while I learn more about how it works, add more to the roof later when ready for that. Thanks very much!
WOW!!! Thanks for sharing your very simple setup and how to do it. I think this really helped me decide to do the same if I can convince the better half we need them. All the other solar videos have a hundred or so steps you have to do so you can use the panels. Did not want to put a complete "power plant" inside my basement and take away storage space. Thanks again. Oh, I was going to tell you to stake your panels down with paracord or something simple that can be changed easy when you move panels and then the wind may not blow them over again.
Hi Dale, Glad you enjoyed the video and found it helpful. I was looking for a very simple way to add solar to our RV and this fit the bill lol. I really think that we will be just fine with this setup, but if we find we need more power I could always add another 200 watt panel on the roof, just thinking about sounds like a pain though lol. I am going to try and staking them down, I think that is the best option and a lot of people are worried about theft for the panels so I am going to add a thin steel cable the same length of the power cables. That should keep the honest people from stealing them. Nothing is theft proof though. Let me know if you have any questions about the setup and I'll do my best to answer them. I am going to make a video of how much power each of our items uses while not plugged in and hope it helps others decide how large of a battery and solar system they need. I'll include shots of the Solar Charge controller as well. Take care safe, travel and good luck with your convincing :)
@@MovingForwardAdventures I really like your idea of storing the panels under the bed. We don't use that space at this time so I think that would work out perfect. Did you install a pure sine inverter or just a run of the mill inverter ? One more question, how many batteries do you have and how big are they?
Our Winnebago came with a 1,000 Watt Xantrex Pure sine wave inverter, so that part was easy :) We have two Lithium batteries made by Battle Born Batteries that gives us 200 of usable amp hours. It's more than we need. but having that much helps us on cloudy days when the panels are not bringing in that much. So far we have been out at 12 days a time and only needed to run the generator for an one hour and a half in that time period because we had two days of no sun.
Hey my friend, stake those legs down or put a removable bracket
(Clamp) and throw some weigh on those skinny legs to help protect them from some wind exposure. Nice seeing you again!
Hey Bruce! I was just talking about you the other day to the President and Vice President of the Escapees RV Club during a podcast interview I was doing with them. I told them the quote you say at the end of all of your videos and they loved it! I like the idea of staking the legs down that is the route I am going to take. Great idea!
Awesome! Exactly what I needed to hear! Thank you!
Great tips. We have both roof mounted and ground panels and love the flexibility from our ground panels. Thanks for sharing. Hope to see you guys on the road one day. Safe Travels.
Wow, this was a great video Ken! You stress some very valid “pros” and you really have some logical “cons” inserted in here too!
Another great system to use (and its great for losing weight too), is to set-up a stationary bike with a mini generator on it, and pedal the power into the batteries! Pedaling for an hour at 2kw, burns about 150 calories, and put you batteries at about 13.8V 😂
But seriously, this is great info
Cheers as always 👌👍😎✌🏻
Honestly that's not a bad idea Rob and I could certainly use the excersise and wouldn't mind the feeling of cycling with a purpose, you might be onto something here. I seen a startup company with bicycles that are connected to blenders and people need to bike to blend their smoothies lol. Thanks for the kind words about the video, I'll ignore that you sound surprised that I made a good video lol. P.S. I might be meeting up with our mutual friends in Salt Lake City next month, I'll keep you posted👍🖖
Moving Forward Adventures Hahaha thats true...you ALWAYS make good videos! Yeah, I was texting with them yesterday, and they were just getting ready to head back home from Hawaii! Im sure that’ll be a cool meet-up! 😀
Not sure if you are trying to be funny but 1 watt = 860 cal/hr. 14 watts @ 14volt = 1 AH into the battery.
Good vid.. good info.. Solar is the absolute best way to go.. Hang something heavy , gallon jug,, bucket,, etc. , from the top corners of the panels to help keep them upright.. (like some do with their DirecTv dish.).
That is a great easy tip, thank you :) and I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the video!
Good vid bro!
You remind me a lot of a fella that I met in Gettysburg, Pa. completing an RV inspection course with me. You and the Winnie together. Good video. I’m considering going that route as well. Thanks for the help.
Hi Here Comes The Egberts, That was me in class with you :) I took the course September of 2017 with Mr Cooper. Great class, I learned so much that week and have been able to put a lot of it to use to our RV while traveling. I think the portable solar is a great first step and may even be the only thing we need, but if not we have plenty of roof space :) Take care and safe travels!!
I will ditto your response to the inspection course. I’ve referred to and used plenty of the tidbits. Hope to run into you somewhere in our travels. Since Gettysburg, we’ve sold the house and we’re full timing almost a year now. Safe travels to you as well!
Good stuff Kenny! Thanks for the info and I'm looking at doing the same. It looks like a really nice and easy set-up. Would also like to see a walk through of the complete set-up.
Thanks Chris, I am going to make video about power consumption using the Victron monitor to display what each item in the RV uses. I will go into more detail of the wiring and setup that we have. I do not make very good how to videos, but I can should be able to make a what I did video lol
Excellent episode. Pros and cons were well thought through.
My million-dollar idea … design a rooftop solar panel system for a class A that can be mechanically manipulated and positioned to face the sun, and then can be retracted to a flat position for driving.
Have you heard of a system like this?
Hi Gordon, at the Quartzsite big tent even there was a company that was selling an automatic tilting system for solar panels on the roof. I didn't see them personally, but someone said they were asking astronomical prices for them lol, by the way all of this video was filmed on our Panasonic G7 with a Rode external Mic.
I would posit you hinged them backwards, if they folded the other way, there would be a slight increase in protection of the faces.
I have 6 panels mounted on the roof, i got one more and moved it around on the ground for a few months. im not moving around much, but i got tired of moving the panel around. then it was inside for awhile and i was storing it and they take up lots of space. so last week i mounted it with the rest on the roof. I still have room for one more on the roof. if i need more watts and had no room left on the roof, i guess id try the flexable panels as they are lightweight and easy to store in my bays. or just mount those to the roof of my tow car...lol
I agree with you. Still I like first option.
Great pros and cons. We were thinking about going this route but we already had panels and decided to build a tail gate suite case instead.
Hi guys, I think I remember Brian mentioning having solar on the tail gate and as I am writing this now I remember when we all went to the palms seeing a folding table on the back of your RV, but did not know what it was for. This all makes sense now :)
Great list of pros and cons sir! We had 200 watts on our old rig and are starting to think about whether to go through that install again...or get something like you have that sits on the ground. We originally thought we would be boondocking more, but have since realized we usually stay in campgrounds with at the very least an electrical hookup. Definitely a lot of things to consider as we look for another solar solution. Thanks for sharing! - Shane
Hi Shane! I think having a portable kit like this is perfect for us, since we do not do a lot of Boondocking either. We did just do 25 days though in the last 4 weeks, but that is uncommon for us lol. When we were at Quartzsite with our friends we needed to run our generator one day in the middle of the week and we felt bad disturbing everyone since they all had solar so we felt it would be good to have some type of setup and this seems to be the easiest and most cost effective. Take care and safe travels!
I wouldn't worry too much about glass falling out of the shattered panel. I'd check the pieces, but it is supposed to be "tempered" glass which doesn't break into the normal really sharp edges and splinters. It isn't "safety glass" like a windshield, but it is the same kind of glass supposed to be used on commercial glass doors and windows for greater safety should someone walk into/thru one or something shatter it. So feel free to use it until moisture gets in and kills it.
(But now I need to figure out how to weight/tie down my portable panels...)
Hi Sylvan, that is good to know thanks! A commentor had a good though of just laying a heavy blanket down for the panel to fall onto or drive a spike down and teather the panels to it so it cant fall forward. The guest if wind that came through was strong enough to rock the RV so I'm not sure if anything would have helped me lol.
Really liked you video.
I have three on top and three portable. It's worked well for me for three years.
A suggestion for you. It looks to me like you cable from the panels to the charge controller is too thin for max efficiency. You don't want to lose more than 5% efficiency to your cabling. 8 ga. wire is the smallest you should use for a 25 foot run.
Thanks William, you have a good eye, it is thinner than 8 ga. We are using 10 ga. wire.
Thank you. You answered many questions I had regarding solar panels.
That is great to hear!
Great breakdown of your solar suitcase setup, Kenny! It seems like you'll be ready for the zombiepocalypse in no time with your solar powered rig. 🚍🌞⚡🔋🔋🧟🧟♂️
Yes let them come, I am ready! Although I have been told that RV's do not fair well in Zombiepocalypses lol
Very smart move, but at 25 ft. Cordage i would be using a 12 gauge wire for current drop along the Cordage.
Great info! We head out full time in May and this was the set up we are going with to start as well. We may put a small panel on the roof for trickle charging while we are stopped at a Walmart etc during driving days. Thanks again!
Hi Gloria:) That's Awesome! May is right around the corner! We wish you lots of fun and safe travels :)
Excellent "solar system" video. IMHO the engineers need to work up a solution for windy days. PS enjoy the stunning scenery!!!!
Thanks Donna, I think I am going to drill a hole at the bottom of each leg and try and spike the panels down into the ground. I'll see how that works and let everyone know.
Great idea look at rv Greeks they have remote control solar panels that raise and lower
I know, I just watched that today and now I'm super jealous lol They always do everything top notch.
Now THIS is the comment I was scrolling to find. Tiltable roof panels are where I'm aiming! (I'm lucky as I'm building my unit from scratch so can incorporate waist high underfloor lockers to store any remote panels)
Now THIS is the comment I was scrolling to find. Tiltable roof panels are where I'm aiming! (I'm lucky as I'm building my unit from scratch so can incorporate waist high underfloor lockers to store any remote panels)
Very informative and I can see all of your pro's and con's. We are planning (hasn't happened yet) on getting a Van camper and will most likely have our solar on the roof (permanent installation.) But who is to say that we don't get a smaller unit to set outside for whatever reason - including keeping the batteries charged for when we have the van parked over a long period of time. Thanks for sharing -- an Indiana (Hopefully) future RV'er. :)
Ever worry about theft? i was advised that I might have to break down the panels and store them inside if I ever need to leave the campsite for a quick grocery run etc.
Thank you for this video on this topic. I believe you are the first one I saw on this topic and you did it very well, and too the point...
I have 400Watts, (not yet setup on the roof) but I also have 100 watts, (Harbor freight), hanging on the inside in front of my back windows. I believe it helps some to maintain my small battery bank until I can mount the others...
Thank you again..👍
I installed 2 on the roof to charge all the time and 2 Portable for the advantage of BOTH. Jumper cables with high amp ends as extensions to go anywhere from 10 feet out to like 50. My system is a Trailer, so I am running the fridge totally off solar while going down the road or while it is stored solar runs the alarm system.
@Wanda Tolbert my set up works great. I'd do it the same way if I had fo do over. Will Prowse on you tube had great info and a book on Amazon.
I think this will be the direction that we move to someday as well. I like the idea of pulling power in even while on the go. Some would say that our alternator does this, but it really is just a trickle charge and does not really amount to much even after a full day of driving. Take care and safe travels!
Thanks for the review
Great info. Thanks.
Glad you liked it, take care and safe travels! :)
Oh that's awful. Darn. I just learned something from your fail. Place the panels behind the RV out of the wind. Get one of those outdoor rugs to help when they fall. I'm going to get them eventuality and it should be snap for me to hook them up as my battery compartment is easy access. But my knowledge of hook up may need to improve. I have been learning about volts and amps and watts. I think I am now in my third year and working on my Masters in RVing. But think I'm going to have to do a double major and throw in maintenance also. Beautiful view can't wait for myself to see that in person.
Very good video. Informative and you have a reasonable point of view. Thanks!
Excellent informative video thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
Great pros and cons. Thanks for sharing your ideas.
Store inside on top of your slide out. Remember to remove them before sliding it out,
Fabulous video. Quite informative. Don't get a cracked solar panel cut. Ouch!
Thanks JMM, and I will do my best not to get hurt lol
Do both.
Charge your batteries while driving.
You have to clean them all the time when they are on the roof, but i agree if you were doing more then the roof mounts would better.
i saw a youtube video where the guy compared panels with dust and those perfectly clean...he said there was not much of a difference. he stopped cleaning them often. my panels charge my bank so fast now that probably its more important in the winter months. i think ill let the dust collect over the summer and see how the Ah vary going into summer. i bet i can go all summer and not clean the panels at all. in also in Washington state so many hours of sunlight every day
Another GREAT video!! Maybe one day KT and I will get some!
Thanks Dave! To be honest I always thought of solar as being kind of gimmicky and being able to provide enough power to recharge our battery bank, but since we have added the solar we have been able to go 12 days in a row with only running our generator for an hour, because of a couple days of clouds and too much Marvel Movie marathans lol
I do not think coming out and adjusting them a con, lol I like doing it!
I enjoy it as well, but I know some people who are putting their panels on their roof so that they did not need to bother with them throughout the day
Very helpful. Thanks mate.
Glad you enjoyed the video and found it helpful😃
Only$300!!!!? Wow! Now I want solar even though we've never gone boondocking. Lol. Thanks for the tips. Happy RVing!
lol, if you are not boondocking I wouldn't waste your money on them, although it is fun to adjust the panels and see how much power I can get into the batteries lol. Take care and safe travels!
@@MovingForwardAdventures I would for sure be the kind of guy going ourv and adjusting constantly. So much that I'd probably just put a camp chair near by them. Lol. I've got a bad case of the camping accessory addiction. Maybe with panels I'd try boondocking out. I mean I survived my tent camping days well enough. Lol.
Thank you so much cor the info. I am un the process of deciding whether to mount or nit mount. The amount of money you spent, nd the time involved, has heloed me a lot. Since I am a single older female, who does not know a lot about electrical wiring and the such, it is important for me to find the best option for me. What panels did you purchase, and hiw did you make it all happen? What all did you need, nd can we get a step by step install? Thnx. Any suggestions you have are welcomed.
Nice little informational
Thank you! 😁
Great info!
Thanks DL Mac!!!
Nice honest review! We are researching solar as we prepare for our life on the road in November. We are leaning towards the ground panel setup you have. I know you mentioned Battle Born Batteries. They are extremely good but soooo expensive. I'm not sure we will buy them. Thanks for sharing. Safe travels.
Thanks How we Roll, I think this is a great first step for anyone looking into getting solar if you have the space for it, since I made this video I have found out that Renogy now makes these 100 Watt panels in a smaller package, now you can get them at a height of 40 instead of 46. We do love our Battle Born Batteries and the performance they put out we also understand they are pricey, but man are they awesome lol. My next video is going to be about power consumption and I'm going to use my Victron battery monitor to measure each item in the RV to show exactly how much power each item uses in hopes it helps other people figure out how large of a Battery and Solar setup they need for their RV.
@@MovingForwardAdventures cool.... I'll be looking for it.
Exactly what I am considering right now thanks good vid
Very informative video! Thanks so much.
Glad you enjoyed it:)
I have the same 200 watt kit on my rv roof...
Hi Mike,
We were a bit hesitant with this brand since we never heard of them before, we normally only here about zamp, but when we saw with Matt (Nomadic Native) using Renogy we figured they must be good and they are. I am impressed with how much power they bring in, even on partly cloudy days. I think we are going to add some to the roof as well, but not for a little while. Take care and safe travels!
Great presentation. Thanks,
Glad you enjoyed it :)
Nice review on pros and cons.
Hey Roger, it's been a while since we have seen your name pop up, glad to see you in the chat and that you enjoyed the video😁
Moving Forward Adventures yea I know. Just kinda been a bit bushy but I never miss a video 👍👍 and been booking marking a ton of stuff...next April or May we gonna do Europe for about three weeks.. then in dec or Jan time buy our first rv and go out for three month stents then order what we think would be best for us and go full time. 👍👍
You have a very exciting year ahead of you! It sounds awesome:) Looking forward to hearing how the trips go and what RV you decide on for full time. Decisions Decisions lol.
Moving Forward Adventures omg yes. So far we set out for a fifth wheel...aka Montana, artic fox, or suite, and was pretty much set on the artic fox 29-5k. Then last year driving back from North Carolina my wife said why not look into a class A. I’m like hum well you told me not to bother too pricey to big. Ok now search is on for that to compare them all side by side pros and cons. And after all the research and going ok Winnebago it is 36g. And tow a Jeep. My truck was getting trained in anyways for bigger truck or Jeep so no big deal. So I watched nomadic native tour of theirs. And ok sounds good. And now my wife says hey let’s buy a cheaper one first go out for three or four months at a time for couple of years and see what we do and don’t like and order from that list. So look for a class C for now then order one after that. But I’m not going to put solar and batteries in the first one but will deck out the one we order. That will be a busy year after delivery. Install solar, lithium, and all the toys for remote work. Oh and the steer right thing in the front. So needless to say we are both really excited and after that last student loan paid off in July or aug. then we will be debt free.
another Con. items on the ground can grow legs when you aren't around to keep an eye on them.
Yes theft is unfortunately a con for everything😞 We just read today that someone's travel trailer was stolen while they were out exploring. Someone pulled up with a pick up truck and towed it pulled it away. Luckily things like this do not happen, but you never know
I meant to write do not happen too often lol
Terrific informative post. Thanks.
Thanks Richard! Glad you liked it! How did the Casino boondocking go?
@@MovingForwardAdventures we ended up three nights at Fountain of Youth RV park. Wife had to go two days in Algodones Mexico for dental. They did a good job and replaced crown with insurance they provided. No cost to us 😀. So no casino accept for breakfast on the way in one morning.
This is good to hear about the dental, we have heard other people having a very good experience with it as well! Glad it all worked out so well :)
Good points, thanks!
Thanks Gringo, glad you enjoyed the video:)
Oh yeah,
I became a subscriber too.🤗
We appreciate it Brown Bunny :)
A big con I see is when you put them on the ground, you're moving them further from the sun.
Rofl
Very informative.
Glad you liked it Ed :)
Great commentary, i'm not an RV owner right now but i'm guessing another Pro with having portable panels is being able to bring them in during a severe hail storm, & what about setting them up on the roof temporarily anyway, there has to be a way to set them up without them blowing off the roof during a high winds, the only thing with that is u'd better remember to remove them before you leave the campsite.....lol.
Thanks Sereena, yes that would be another pro for sure, our friends recently were caught in a hail storm, that not only damaged all of their panels but the Roof of their RV as well. It has been in the shop now months:( There proabably is a temporary solution to add panels to the roof, but like you said better be sure to bring them in before driving off, we have seen people leave their stairs out and even awnings, not good lol. Take care and safe travels!!
One other problem with roof mounted panels. Hail, got 1000 watts on the roof and you hit a hail storm? Ouch.
This happened to friends of ours, the hail not only damage their panels, but the roof and A/C as well. It was a disaster!
Portable solar. The easiest/cheapest way to to get into using Solar! You can still use them with a roof installation. Just need a way to secure them against the wind. Must be a record for vid edits!! LOL Thx!!
Hi Rob, lol there was a ton of edits in this. One of the reasons why I like filming in the dinette, no wind noise to deal with, plus there were a few low flying jets and big rig trucks going past. Normally that spot was very quiet except for the day I decided to film out there, it was tough to get a sentence out without something going on in the background lol.
@@MovingForwardAdventures IMHOP more interested in you guys & content than perfect production value. So a little wind, truck or airplane noise doesnt bother me! But I know some will complain...some will always complain! Not that I'm complaining! LOL Thx!!