Installed my own solar panels

[nawhite]

I just finished the solar panel install on my RV. I did it all myself with some pretty epic craigslist finds. https://therecklesschoice.com/2016/04/29/diy-rv-solar/

[Vic99]

Fantastic.  Enjoy!

[forummm]

Sweet! I hope to do this myself someday. My RV will be fully electric, even if I have to make it myself. I'm sure I'll have to supplement with plug power for long trips, but could get by with a lot of solar too.

[nawhite]

If you do decide to do full solar, think about lithium or go way over the top on panels. If you cant get a full slow float charge for a few hours into lead batteries, they eventually wont fill up all the way. Lithium doesn't have memory that way.

The second thing to think about with a full solar system is the fridge. They use a TON of power even if you get an "efficient" compression cycle one. For 7 cu ft of fridge, I looked into residential style compression cycle fridges but they would use about 1/4 of our battery bank capacity per day. So for the moment, absorption fridge on propane for us.

[bigalsmith101]

The second thing to think about with a full solar system is the fridge. They use a TON of power even if you get an "efficient" compression cycle one. For 7 cu ft of fridge, I looked into residential style compression cycle fridges but they would use about 1/4 of our battery bank capacity per day. So for the moment, absorption fridge on propane for us.

I didn't have this experience while living out of a van for 3 months. I had a 1.7cu ft fridge that would run for 6+ days at 37* on two deep cycle house batteries that I charged via an isolation switch from my alternator while driving. I made a very strict effort to only open the fridge when necessary. I had a Waeco fridge for reference. I found that we had sufficient enough room for our refrigerated items for 2 people, and for 3 weeks time, 3 people.

I can't say exactly how long it would have run for, as when I realized I hadn't charged the batteries in 5 days (even though I had driven 3 of those days) the house batteries were still reading full voltage.