Best RV Solar to Never Run Out of Power [For Real]

Thumbs up 👍 good information 😊

Yes. Let's see a video on the solar slide shades.

That solar array is practically your whole trailer storage. Nevermind batteries and the controller.

Birch, if I get an R Vi cut everything off to rough so there won't be nothing unrough because that's just a pain in the yes, and then I could put my own reconsistem up on the rough and it'll be like none others, but but to some similar. I saw that already. I designed mine many years ago and I see people getting really close to It.

Put Aluminum reflective tape on the roof, beneathe the panels. 👍

if they could add actuators to lift the entire system?????

I don’t know if you’ve covered this topic, but I haven’t seen it anywhere else either. What do you do with all these batteries that are obsolete or aren’t working anymore, how do you get rid of them? 🖖

Yes I see the solar awning please

Awesome, this information is great, thank you M&M!

more! yes any videos like you requested.. installation and awning.. great work

Nice system

Measuring the before and after install weight of your RV would be good. Sure sounds like a nice system!

I was wondering when someone was going to come up with a solar awning

Great video Ben, you may eluded to this... is it easy to replace individual panels... breakage, newer technology, etc?

I saw that solar awning at Q this year. Sweet and innovative. The biggest drawback of it is that it can't produce power like our side or rooftop array does when it's rolled up, either when traveling down the road, when stopped in rest areas and parking lots or in high winds.

We're old, retired FTers who designed and built our system ourselves, on a tight budget. It took us 5 years to gather the resources and finally complete the project, doing all the work ourselves. We started by building a 620-watt liftable solar array on the side of our motorhome. Our side array makes a nice bedroom window awning too, practically lifting itself with a couple gas struts, and it's easy to clean, standing safely on the ground. Next, we built a 12v, 560ah LiFePo-4 battery using 8, 280ah prismatic cells and a Heltec 330amp BMS with a 5a active balancer. These cells fit perfectly under the steps of our MH where our old pair of golf cart batteries used to reside. We insulated the battery compartment, cut a small hole in our step risers and installed a tiny computer CPU fan to keep this space at close to room temperature, so we don't have to worry about the BMS shutting down charging due to low temperature - or their life reduced from getting too hot. Our 12v system uses an 80A Progressive Dynamics LFP converter/charger, a 1,000w Renogy inverter, a 50a Epever MPPT charge controller and a Lnex battery monitor. All this cost us under $3,500 and met all our off-grid electrical needs except for our air conditioning, heat and microwave. For heat and refrigeration, we used propane and for our A/C and microwave we ran our generator. We lived with this limited system for 4 years, while we saved our money, traveling with the seasons so as to minimize our need to run our 5,500w generator which is noisy and pretty expensive to run for hours at a time to power our A/C.

By mounting the solar array on the side of our coach, we left the roof free to rack 8, 550w solar panels down the length of our 35ft Class A, 15" off our roof, above our AC, vents, etc. I considered going with bi-facial panels myself, but they would have added a lot of extra weight as they have a heavy back glass too, and since I wasn't going to lift them, I don't think the bi-facial gains would have offset the extra roof weight. We built the rack out of 2" 6061-T6 structural aluminum angle. The front 2 panels slope down at a shallow 9.5-degrees to meet the roof, producing a smooth laminar airflow over the array, making the RV more stable with less wind drag while driving too. It shades our entire roof, allowing plenty of cooling air underneath, increasing solar output and reducing the heat load on the air conditioners as you correctly observed. Our overall height is still just under 12 ft., up 2 inches like Monument solar's design. Yes, it required making 54 holes in our roof for the mounting bolts, (3 in each foot) but each hole was filled with Henry's silicone caulking, before coating the entire roof, completely covering all array mounting feet, bolts, etc. with Henry's 100% waterproof Tropicool silicone sealant, with a lifetime guarantee. Monument's solar has a sweet system, with a lot going for it, but on many rubber roofs, like ours, the adhesive would just pull the loose EDPM membrane off our roof unless it was glued on with an equally strong bonding agent. The best application for this design would appear to be on a sturdy metal roof.

At my age, I can't see myself climbing on my roof every time I want to raise or lower my panels. If it could be done by remote control while standing safely on the ground, then a liftable rooftop array would be more practical for older retired folk like us. But in reality, our 4,400w fixed array can run both our A/Cs, household appliances and charge our batteries from solar at the same time, even in winter. That's more power than we need. If your array is big enough there's no need to lift it - or worry which way your RV is parked to optimize your production. Five years of boondocking experience across the country with our liftable side mounted array taught us that it's often difficult to find a NF campsite or boondocking spot oriented correctly (due east) for a south facing array.

We mounted a Sungold Power all-in-one 48V, 5,000W Inverter/100A charge controller/battery charger, breakers and a Lnex battery monitor on the wall in our bedroom, saving us space as well as money compared to a system built with individual components. Our 48v battery uses 16, 320ah prismatic cells and a 200amp Heltec BMS to keep it safe. Together with our 560ah 12v bank, we have a total of 23.5 kwh of batteries onboard - kept charged by 5,020 watts of solar. This is the equivalent storage capacity as $16,650 worth of 100ah Battleborn batteries for under $3,400.

We removed the rooftop A/C we had in the bedroom and replaced it with an EG4 28.5 seer-2, 12k btu mini-split heat pump on the upper rear of our motorhome. It's super quiet and cools as well as our 14.5k btu soft start equipped Furrion we installed up front. This second phase provides 24/7 off-grid air conditioning and heat from the heat pump. We have a total of 6,000 watts of 120v inverted ac power, giving us off-grid electrical self-sufficiency without the need to run our generator, for a total budget of around $11,500, including the high-efficiency heat pump. Any similarly sized professionally designed and built system will, out of necessity, cost several times this amount. Take care. Good luck with your new liftable array!

Is there an wind deflector for the front of the solar rack to prevent the panels from acting like a wing while the RV is traveling?

the solar awning sounds very cool! yes pun intended. I would like to see more about it.

I took a quick look at their website and noticed that even the smallest system needs an 8foot wide camper. I would love the 800watt system but my camper is a Jayco Baja and is under the width requirements. This is my hunting camper and the narrower width is a prime consideration as i remote camp with it. and often away from the road(where legal) I will be contacting them about using smaller panels so they can install on my smaller camper.

You give a GREAT explanation! Thanks for being so clear, and for making a universal challenge very appealing.

😉😉😉👌👌👌❤️❤️👏👏👏

Cool system.

Yes please, love this new idea for camping rigs and solar 👍🏻

you are not using CIGS solar panels... they are 100x better, you can walk on them!

Ben, what about using this system on a tiny house?

I definitely want to see the full installation of the monument solar system and also the installation of the awning.

I don't need enough power to justify a system like that, are you planning on powering outdoor concerts?

I'd love to see that solar awning

wind noise, extra drag?

Like to see the solar awning install.

The quality of this video is 480p? What happened?

Awesome! I would love to see the awning!

This was great information. I first saw this mounting system on AZ Expert's channel and was very intrigued. I would like to see how your install went. We are getting a 2019 Tiffin 45 OPP that is already pretty tall and won't make it under some bridges. If this really only adds a couple of inches, it might be okay. I love the idea of the solar awning!! Thanks for all the great information. A lot more to think about now :)

Wish I had found this video sooner, sadly there is no replay of the Zoom Webinar that I am seeing.

Big secret for rv roof is using the best coatings possible and it's not sold at rv shops. It's sold at homedepot. It's called henerys 100 % Silicone. Once it's cured from off gasing water, hail Nothing is going to penatrate it unlike what's used

Is this an alternative in Southern California to putting parents in senior living facility's? Where are you allowed to live year round in a setup like this, in the San Bernadino or Orange County area?

I definitely would like to see how you add the solar awning!

Useless video. Useless system!!!!!!!

Great info Ben ! Thx., show all of it ! Awning install, roof monument mount install !!

I am a truck driver, a car hauler with the largest trucks on the road. Three plus million miles. The question I have is height. Besides going offroad, the trees in town are something we watch out for. Standard box semi's are 13'6" and my height law in my state is 14'. Just touching one of these branches will damage the top five units. I saw that unit in Quartsite and wondered the amount of damage that could happen to a weekend warrior. BTW, what is the average height on a 5er?

This is a great idea, so much so I did this myself on a Ram Promaster I built myself creating a custom 8020 roof rack to accomplish the same thing. Another benefit not mentioned, it also males the camper much quieter in the rain. I feel you could accomplish the same outcome using 8020, but would require some knowledge of the product. You can use a low profile channel along the wall and roof ridge, a wider profile for the verticles and 45 degree braces for added strength. Also lock tight where fasteners would be used. I suggest throughbolt where possible, stainless fasteners to be used. A front facing wind deflector should also be integrated for transporting the camper to minimize wind loading on the assembly. A price comparison would be interesting to see.

This is great if you decide not to drive anywhere. Like in a fixed location. But on the road I wouldn't recommend . We have all of ours flat on the roof of the RV. This has supplied us with power for almost six years. Along with batteries for storage. You need room to walk around on the roof to clean your panels. This should be done at least every month. Perfect for a permeant location.

😡 The prices on their website are outrageous! Just for the parks which is the rails and bracket togo, its $20,000 dollars! GTFOH!

Very cool but too expensive.

What ever happened to the solar panel awning video(?)

From the looks of the new setup, you could hinge your old 100W panels down each side for more wattage.
This would enclose the sides and reduce airflows unless you tilt them up flat or at a 45
degree angle.

Wow on the 12V batteries. I like the 48V (51.2). Great vid!

DIY solar fun with Ray Loveless