Solar panel systems questions

[JOHNBJR53]

Has anyone had experience with either Zamp solar or Go Power Solar installations on Allegro Open Road coaches? We have a 2014 Open Road 31sa with residential fridge. The factory provided inverter (1200 watts I was told) and four 6 volt batteries handles the fridge and tv's ok. But if I put 450-480 watts of panels on the coach will I need more batteries or a larger inverter? Looking to boondock out west and also to keep batteries charged while in open-sky storage yard. Oh and how do you lock down the res fridge doors when traveling..Tiffin didn't put an external latch on so it my beer wound up on the floor on a particularly bumpy turn last trip😁😁😁! Thank you.

[Old Scout]

Do a search on this forum--tons of "information and opinions" on RVs and solar power. The answer to your question depends entirely on how much power you need. Seems the "typical" solar set up has in the range of 600 amp/hours [6-bats] of battery storage, 600 watts of solar cells and a 2000 watt inverter. Your equipment set-up is probably a bit small to go "off the grid."

[kbhine]

We have a 2014 allegro Red Open Road 33AA, and there are cabinet latches attached to both refrigerator doors. Sometimes we do forget to give it tht extra "push" to make sure they are locked.

[JFNM]

Originally Posted by JOHNBJR53

Has anyone had experience with either Zamp solar or Go Power Solar installations on Allegro Open Road coaches?

No, sorry (I'm a DIY'er).

Originally Posted by JOHNBJR53

But if I put 450-480 watts of panels on the coach will I need more batteries or a larger inverter? Looking to boondock out west and also to keep batteries charged while in open-sky storage yard.

Short answer is no - you can use what you have with solar.

Longer answer: There are some (relatively) small holes in this but it is easiest to think of your batteries as a fuel tank. You can only put in and take out what it will hold. So, given the size of bank and solar array that we are talking about here, the size of the battery bank isn't directly related to the size/capacity of the solar panels (it is for optimal efficiency and best bang for your buck and all that). Adding that solar capacity to your rig would work just fine and would probably net you a something around 150 amp-hours per day (80% times six hours of good light) - this depends on a lot of factors so is an approximation. That is probably as much as you typically use so it would probably mean no need to run your generator (but for air conditioning and when conditions are not good for solar). Increasing your battery bank size becomes necessary when you are unable to make it thru the night without dropping to less than 50% charge. Of course, some people want enough "stored" energy to make it a couple-three days so they want a larger bank (nothing wrong with that).

[halfwright]

A general rule is 1 watt of panel power for every amp/hour of battery power. If you just add panels. it will charge your batteries faster, but will not increase your amount of electricity available. You can use the same inverter unless your draw goes up.

I don't know where I heard this, but that is my story and I am sticking to it.