Goal Zero and your RV?Anyone used it?

[cimplexsound]

I would be curious to know if anyone has used the goal zero solar power generator and if it would be good to use with your RV.

Some of you may be wondering what I'm talking about. Goal Zero is a portable solar power generator about the size of an emergency car jumper box. It comes with cloth solar cell you plug into the unit to provide constant electricity in the outback. They are usual designed for low drain situations. It has 2 AC outlets so you can plug your RV into it via a 15 amp household adapter. I ran my RV off of UPS once to see how long it would go on external portable power, and it ran for about 1 hour. The point? I don't know if Goal Zero can produce more amperage or not. It is pricey. So Would it be good for dry camping with the low drain such as lights in your RV? Then turn on the generator when you want to use the microwave or air conditioner? Maybe it might just be easier and cheaper to go Harbor Freight because their solar kits produce 45 AMPS of power?

So any input from anyone who has used the goal zero solar power generator would be helpful.





1979 Dodge Tioga Class C 24 foot. 1987 Fleetwood Bounder 34 Foot.

[OLYLEN]

45 watts not amps. 500 watts is around 45 amps. The system you are looking at might do your cell phone or tablet but not much else. EBay has 100 watts wilth controller for $179, add another 100 watt panel and you can do some battery recharging. portable systems are More $$ than fixed but I have seen two 100 pa n les u s ed portable.

LEN

[bcbounders]

It looks like a lot of what you're paying for with the Goal Zero system is a large battery to store the solar power (and/or an inverter to generate 110V power, for those systems that offer 110V plugs on them).

For someone who had a CPAP machine or some other medical device that they wanted to keep running all night, without having to have the whole-RV inverter turned on, I could see this being of use. But if you're talking about run-of-the-mill RV'ing and typical power needs, it seems to me like you'd be better off putting the same amount of money into a high-quality solar system that DOESN'T include the battery, etc.

But that's just my $0.02! ;D

[cimplexsound]

I have stormcat 900 watt generator I use on the dry camp. It will even power my microwave oven and the turbo cool rooftop rv swamp cooler. (Even though the cooler is a 12 volt setup the blower motor requires a lot of amperage to run) The Stormcat is a pretty tough generator for a small unit. can handle almost anything. but the little thing is a hugh gas gusler and almost as noisy as a machine gun!!!😱 So it would be nice to turn it off during the day and still have a constant flow of electricity and peace and quiet. I am not looking for a real expensive solar system. My RVs system is a 30 AMP and I always carry the 15 AMP adapters so I can plug into standard 110 volt household power anywhere. About 45 AMPs would be perfect because my 500 watt microwave is the highest voltage item in my Motorhome.


1979 Dodge Tioga Class C 24 foot. 1987 Fleetwood Bounder 34 Foot.

[SkiSmuggs]

Your microwave won't run off a solar panel as they are used to charge batteries and puwer 12 volt devices. This is a much better idea for portable solar:
http://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Foldabl.../dp/B00HR8YNK6