Our Grand Lady

[Halibuthal]

We have brought our "Grand Lady" home where we can give her better care. We upgraded the solar power source, so even though she is hooked up to 50Amp, we have not had to turn on house power. John

[ralper]

Welcome to the world of New Horizons RV'ing. I have 400 watts of solar that I renovated by increasing the #8 wire to #2 wire and bought a good controler and installed it near the batteries where it should have been in the first place. Now when boondocking I use all the power I need. I even run my Electrolux vacuum for up to an hour. Ii still charges even in rainy and cloudy weather only not as fast.

I have not used my charger since I renovated the solar system in 11/09.

[chaunclm]

We are interested in installing a solar system. Would you share what ever information you can? Who did the work? How large of a system did you install? We are not in any hurry but would move quickly if we could find an installer we felt confidence in.

[ralper]

Jane and Chauncy,

Go to the boondocking thread and read "Solar That Really Works".
Then read the Handy Bob Solar blog. You will need to learn how to install a solar system because most so called experts screw it up and cost you a lot of money to fix it right.

My system was installed by NH directed by AM Solar. I had to change the wire from the panels to the batteries from # 8 to #2 . I bought a decent controler and put it near the batteries where it should have been in the first place. I then threw the hunk of junk controler I had into the dumpster. Your controler should go under the kitchen sink. With regular panels that put out 16 volts to 19 volts a solar boost controler is not necessary as the gain does not justify the cost.

The rule of thumb is 100 watts of solar per battery.

I have 400 watts of panels and 6 batteries. Upon battery replacement time there will only be 4 batteries. My system works fine as it is though. I just boondocked for 6 weeks in the AZ desert and had power to spare as per usual. I do not skimp and use what I need as I need it.

Good luck.