JohnT et al

I just bought a camper and you have always talked about
how you would set your net one up (kinda like how you talk
about yer subterranean home).

Anywho, you also talked about boosting your solar panel
wattage, if you start over.

I'm starting on ground 'zero' and trying to learn....

How would you start???

I'm sorry, I should have mean't it for adding Solar Panels and batteries for power.

Number,size,quanity of batteries and panels depend on how long you plan to routinely dry camp. What you use while dry camping is also relivant(wattage of lights and load required for propane fridge(s). I'm not suggesting you unhook co, gas and smoke detectors but some pull a suprising amount of power. I installed a switch to disable factory detectors during waking hours while dry camping then installed 9 volt detectors plus a new 12 v co detector that operate's any time lp line is pressurized.

Solar panel to do exactly what? Keep in mind a solar-panel only works for 1/4 of the day when things are good. So you need 4X the wattage at least - for an equal wattage appliance.

I have 240 watts of solar on the roof of my little Toyota motorhome. The system will put out around 12 amps @ 14 volts max when the sun is the brightest. That comes to 3 amps per hour, on average, for a 24 hour day. Not a lot of power.

I have a small cabin in the woods with a 12 volt refrigerator, lights, computer, 32" TV and DVD player, and several fans running. I have 1000 watts of solar and it is just enough in the summer when we get a lot of sunny days.

Greg, congratulations on your RV purchase. I have owned RV's for 47 years continuous and each one got better based on what I learned from the previous one.

If you're going to be boondocking and need some solar and stored energy the amount you need depends on your lifestyle and energy use which ONLY YOU can determine but I will lay out some very basic STARTING POINTS.

At the MINIMUM Id install AT LEAST 200 to 250 watts of 24 Volt solar as that's a good beginning and SINGLE panels are readily available in that size. A SINGLE panel is easier to mount and wire then using 2 or more 100 watt units. SURE a 12 volt PANEL WILL WORK but I suggest 24 or more total volts from panels down to charge controller and again I like one single larger panel versus two smaller ones and again I prefer 24 instead of 12 volts ESPECIALLY if using a cheaper PWM charge controller (lots of reasons). .

You need a Solar Charge Controller (sized to accomodate your total solar power, a 10 or 20 or 30 or more amp are typical) between the panels and your batteries. A PWM is cheaper but a more expensive MPPT has advantages. My MPPT accepts solar panel input voltages from like 12 up to 100 volts but I think the PWM need to be for 12 volt panels or 24 volt panels etc while some are auto adjusting for 12 OR 24 volt panel inputs

At the MINIMUM Id use two 6 volt Golf Cart TRUE DEEP CYCLE BATTERIES in series NOTTTTTTTTT The so called RV/Marine 12 volt units sold at Walmart. Sure they make 12 volt TRUE DEEP CYCLES but they are expensive and not so common and readily available as 6 volt true deep cycle golf cart batteries. Two classic Trojan T-105/s in series gives you 12 volts and 225 Amp Hours of energy storage. Sure Billy Bob the RV/Marine 12 volt batteries will "work"

Flooded lead acid batteries are cheapest but you have to keep an eye on acid levels AND THEY REQUIRE PROPER VENTING. AGM batteries cost more but don't require venting

Its best NOT to let you batteries become discharged over 50% of their capacity (I dont like them over 30% discharged myself)so that comes into account when sizing your system.

INVERTER Is a good thing to have when boondocking for small power 120 VAC TV's and laptops and tablet and cell phone chargers etc that require such power. An cheaper Modified Sine Wave MSW can work on many devices but I prefer a more expensive Pure Sine Wave PSW Inverter. They come in sizes from maybe 50 watts up to 3K or 4 K etc DEPENDS ON YOUR NEEDS

GENERATOR is good thing to have, you can get a small 1000 watt portable up to a huge 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 KW usually built in. I prefer an Inverter type of Generator if you're using a small portable unit.

AGAIN it all depends on YOUR needs and use and how long you want to boondock. You may get by with 100 solar watts and a single 12 volt RV/Marine battery but you asked !!!!!!!!!!!! I started with 100 watts and one 12 volt battery then 200 then 400 now I have 715 watts.

FYI we may boondock weeks at a time and I run an extra dorm sized conventional compressor type fridge 24/7 and a CPAP all night so I now have and do fine in our 29 Ft Class C with:

715 Solar Watts at 24 volts. Three 24 volt panels in parallel that measure 39 x64............
450 Amp Hours of battery energy storage capacity using four Trojan T-105 6 volt true deep cycle golf cart batteries.
A 50 Amp MPPT Solar Charge Controller
A 3000 Watt Pure Sine Wave PSW 12 VDC to 120 VAC Inverter
A 4 KW Generator
86 Gallons of Fresh Water Storage,,,,,,,,,,,66 Gallons of Gray Water Storage,,,,,,,,Thetford Marine Recirculating Toilet.

The typical limiting factor when boondocking is fresh water. We have enough solar AND Batteries and InverteRs etc to camp indefinite BUT WE EVENTUALLY NEED TO TAKE ON FRESH WATER ANDS DUMP. We can get by at least a week no problem and may stretch it to 12 days but by then its time to move to get water and dump.

FUTURE: In the event my Trojans crap out, next time Id go with FullRiver AGM batteries. No venting or adding water concerns
Since if it rains and clouds like 3 or 4 days in a row I may not quite keep up so I may add one more 245 watt panel

DISCLAIMER this is not any right or wrong or perfect answer its ONLY a very generalized beginning YOUR ANSWER DEPENDS ON YOUR NEEDS

Nuff said

John T

RE your comment . . ."Flooded lead acid batteries are cheapest but you have to keep an eye on acid levels AND THEY REQUIRE PROPER VENTING. AGM batteries cost more but don't require venting . ."

Can you name any AGM battery that does not require venting? I cannot. They emit less gas then conventional batteries, but all the ones I am aware of still require venting.

Good afternoon John, hope you're keeping warm up there.

OF COURSE Id never place any battery AGM or Lead Acid in a perfect tight sealed absolutely no circulation enclosure, but as compared to flooded lead acid an AGM requires LESS what I generically referred to and called "venting"

Like I said in my DISCLAIMER "this is not any right or wrong or perfect answer its ONLY a very generalized beginning"

To be closer to perfect I will say as compared to flooded lead acid batteries and AGM requires LESS "venting" lol

Hope this helps and corrects my non perfect word choice grrrrrrrrr. I'm an Electrical Engineer NOT an English Major

God Bless you John and have a Happy New Year

Thanks for all the suggestions.

John T- Thanks for the detailed explanation. This is all Greek to me. I've read a lot and watched a lot of u-tube videos but I would rather hear from someone here who has the knowledge and experience.

Thank you for the time and sharing.

Greg

Youre most welcome, glad to help

John T