One of John’s main reasons for heading to Quartzsite this winter was to get solar panels for the RV. We have tight budget and wanted to keep our expense for this item to around $1000. He wants 500 watts of solar power so this is going to be a challenge.
There are 2 major solar dealers in Quartzsite and John spent time between the two gathering information and checking prices vs. product.
Solar Bill held a seminar, with factory representatives on site, about the controllers, which is a major sticking point for him. The controller regulates the current between the solar panels and our batteries. Which one to choose?
During the seminar, the BlueSky solar controller representatives handed out door-prize tickets for drawings at the end of the hour. Most of the door prizes were hats and bags and stuff like that. The grand prize was a solar panel controller (value: $325). Guess who won? John! We rarely win anything. The planets have aligned.
He rushed inside, beaming at his good fortune, and purchased 2 solar panels. Over the past year he has been gathering all of the incidental items (like wire and such) so he was ready to install when he got back to the coach.
Earlier in the week, we pulled wires in preparation for the install. Which meant the actual install of the panels and controller only took him about 4 hours. Sue and I went into town and left the men to the task. I knew I did not want to be around to hear John drill through the roof of the coach.
This system doesn’t provide us all of the energy we need, but it has cut down on the amount of time that the generator has to run. We used to have to run the generator 6 hours a day when boondocking. With the solar panels generating energy, we now only run the generator for an hour in the morning and about the same in the evening. To power the coach we use 0.75 gallons per hour running the generator. As much as we boondock, the pay back on the panels will take only a few years.
John smiles every time he looks at the control panel and sees how much power the sun is generating for us. (13.8 volts is REALLY good)
However, our inverter and batteries are a little confused about this new power intake. It is going to take John and our Baby time to get this all worked out.
John is exceedingly happy with Solar Bill and the help and support that they have given him through this whole process. If you need solar panels, feel confident that Bill and his team will do and excellent job for you and your rig.
