User Tag List

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 23
  1. #1
    Site Sponsor SolarPoweredRV's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    Tampa Florida
    Posts
    2,039
    Mentioned
    102 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Solar vs Onboard Generator

    Recently, my wife and I decided to go down to the storage lot and work on a couple of projects inside the camper. We decided to pick up some dinner on the way down and ate it in the camper.

    When we arrived, there was a chill in the air and it was definitely a bit nippy inside the camper. We turned on the Inverter and ran the heat pump (A/C running in reverse) to take off the chill.

    As I sat replete in my satiated state, I thought about how nice it was to have 120 volts available throughout the coach whenever we wanted it. I then thought about how much nicer our Solar system was compared to an onboard Generator system. With our Solar and battery system you just turn on the Inverter and you magically have 120 volts. There it is, silent and working just like it does at home.

    With a Generator you have the constant drone of the engine in the background and you wouldn't want to run it constantly because of the fuel burn (sometimes you are limited to specific hours of the day when you can run your Generator).

    Comparing the two systems: the Solar System adds less weight to your coach (if you are using Lithium batteries) and, if you are able to DIY most of your Solar system, you can get the costs to about equal (I was able to get the costs for Solar to be less than the cost of the onboard Generator). Keep in mind, that I am talking about a fairly robust Solar system (say 800 ah of Li batteries, a 3000 watt Inverter, and 1000 Watts (or more) of Solar panels.

    The two biggest advantages of the Solar system is that it is silent and the fuel is free. The advantage of the onboard Generator is that it can run 3 A/C units as long as it is running and you have enough fuel.

    Bottom line: We really like our Solar, Lithium batteries, and Inverter system and I couldn't imagine a camper where we did not have a similar system installed.
    David and Peggy
    2019 Ford F350 Lariat, 6.7L Diesel, Dually, Long Bed
    Running with 20k Reese Goosebox (Love It) and Ford Factory "Puck" system.
    Stopping with 8,000 lb Disc Brakes and Titan Hydraulic over Electric Brakes system.
    Powering all this fun with 1200 Watts of Solar, two Tesla, Model S, battery modules, 24 volt Victron Inverter.
    2018 Solitude 310 GK

  2. #2
    Long Hauler huntindog's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Posts
    2,155
    Mentioned
    32 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Wink

    Quote Originally Posted by SolarPoweredRV View Post
    Recently, my wife and I decided to go down to the storage lot and work on a couple of projects inside the camper. We decided to pick up some dinner on the way down and ate it in the camper.

    When we arrived, there was a chill in the air and it was definitely a bit nippy inside the camper. We turned on the Inverter and ran the heat pump (A/C running in reverse) to take off the chill.

    As I sat replete in my satiated state, I thought about how nice it was to have 120 volts available throughout the coach whenever we wanted it. I then thought about how much nicer our Solar system was compared to an onboard Generator system. With our Solar and battery system you just turn on the Inverter and you magically have 120 volts. There it is, silent and working just like it does at home.

    With a Generator you have the constant drone of the engine in the background and you wouldn't want to run it constantly because of the fuel burn (sometimes you are limited to specific hours of the day when you can run your Generator).

    Comparing the two systems: the Solar System adds less weight to your coach (if you are using Lithium batteries) and, if you are able to DIY most of your Solar system, you can get the costs to about equal (I was able to get the costs for Solar to be less than the cost of the onboard Generator). Keep in mind, that I am talking about a fairly robust Solar system (say 800 ah of Li batteries, a 3000 watt Inverter, and 1000 Watts (or more) of Solar panels.

    The two biggest advantages of the Solar system is that it is silent and the fuel is free. The advantage of the onboard Generator is that it can run 3 A/C units as long as it is running and you have enough fuel.

    Bottom line: We really like our Solar, Lithium batteries, and Inverter system and I couldn't imagine a camper where we did not have a similar system installed.
    An all solar power system is great if it can work for you. For myself, I do not think it would. We always boondock, often far away from others and services. And whatever mother nature throws at us, we are there for it. I have had hunts before I had solar where the generator did not shut off for two weeks. Those were COLD weather hunts, and the power demand was high to keep the coach functional.
    When we got this coach we went with solar as an additional source to reduce generator run time. In good weather it pretty much reduces it to about every third day to top up the batteries. I do not think I could install enough solar to totally eliminate generator use in all conditions, so I am happy with my current setup. I actually bring 2 Honda EU 2000s along in addition to the installed Onan 5500. The Hondas save a lot of fuel when the Onan isn't necessary. I have been considering leaving one Honda home now that we have the Onan, But I already own it, so it has been coming along. I like redundancy in tough conditions.
    2021 398M Full Body Paint 8k axles. LRH tires. Disc brakes.
    Two bathrooms, no waiting 155 fresh, 104 black, 104 grey 1860 watts solar.
    800AH BattleBorn Batteries No campgrounds 100% boondocking
    2020 Silverado High Country 3500 dually crewcab Duramax Allison

  3. #3
    Long Hauler Paul & Deb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Carlsbad, CA
    Posts
    2,959
    Mentioned
    10 Post(s)
    Tagged
    3 Thread(s)
    Personally, I don't go anywhere without both. You just never know what conditions you will be faced with. On our 5th wheel I installed an Onan to back up our solar, with our new travel trailer I bought a small inverter/generator. Best of both worlds for us.
    Paul "Poppy" and Deb Cervone
    2022 Imagine XLS 22MLE
    2021 Imagine XLS 17MKE - SOLD ; 2015 Grand Design Reflection 337RLS - SOLD
    2016 GMC Denali 3500HD SRW Duramax/Allison CC 4x4; Tire Minder TPMS

  4. #4
    Long Hauler geotex1's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Posts
    2,837
    Mentioned
    83 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Thought long and hard about a solar setup. To do what we would want it to do, the dollar investment is ridiculous in our opinion at this time because of how we camp. We boondock or primitive camp in the cool of Spring and Fall only, and those are always in locations where we are under dense tree cover. I also haven't dove off the cliff for lithium batteries, but have swapped in a bank of golf cart batteries since new, factory blems are cheap and weight no concern for our setup. One circuit of outlets wired to power from the inverter. The bank is recharged by generator or DC-to-DC in tow. Works for us, and if we get a hot spell we have the generators that can run it all.

    Now, if home base was more south and west making boondocking in more open sky...
    Rob & Nikki + Cloverfield
    2020 Grand Design Solitude S-Class 3350RL
    2015 RAM 3500 Longhorn Laramie Crew Cab, Long Bed, 4x4 Dually Cummins/AISIN

    Mountains of Pennsylvania

  5. #5
    Site Team traveldawg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Location
    Florida Space Coast
    Posts
    3,843
    Blog Entries
    1
    Mentioned
    94 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by SolarPoweredRV View Post
    Recently, my wife and I decided to go down to the storage lot and work on a couple of projects inside the camper. We decided to pick up some dinner on the way down and ate it in the camper.

    When we arrived, there was a chill in the air and it was definitely a bit nippy inside the camper. We turned on the Inverter and ran the heat pump (A/C running in reverse) to take off the chill.

    As I sat replete in my satiated state, I thought about how nice it was to have 120 volts available throughout the coach whenever we wanted it. I then thought about how much nicer our Solar system was compared to an onboard Generator system. With our Solar and battery system you just turn on the Inverter and you magically have 120 volts. There it is, silent and working just like it does at home.

    With a Generator you have the constant drone of the engine in the background and you wouldn't want to run it constantly because of the fuel burn (sometimes you are limited to specific hours of the day when you can run your Generator).

    Comparing the two systems: the Solar System adds less weight to your coach (if you are using Lithium batteries) and, if you are able to DIY most of your Solar system, you can get the costs to about equal (I was able to get the costs for Solar to be less than the cost of the onboard Generator). Keep in mind, that I am talking about a fairly robust Solar system (say 800 ah of Li batteries, a 3000 watt Inverter, and 1000 Watts (or more) of Solar panels.

    The two biggest advantages of the Solar system is that it is silent and the fuel is free. The advantage of the onboard Generator is that it can run 3 A/C units as long as it is running and you have enough fuel.

    Bottom line: We really like our Solar, Lithium batteries, and Inverter system and I couldn't imagine a camper where we did not have a similar system installed.
    Before I start in on things let me make it clear - I don't boondock. I dry camp when I have to (or want to) and have done so for up to 7 days many times. And I have never used (or think I need) solar.

    OK - on with my thoughts.....

    I'm trying to make these ends meet - "...800 amps of solar less than a generator...". I got curious so I looked up the cost of an Onan 5000KW generator; it seems to be about $5,000. Then I looked up the price of 8, 100ah Battle Born batteries (at $800 each); that totaled to $6,400. And if I look up 4, 200ah LifeBlue batteries the cost is about $6,000. Like I said - I am trying to make these ends meet - solar for less than a generator? I don't see it.

    I've camped since the mid 80's. And in all that time I never considered solar. I still have my 2 Honda 2000i's and when I need power I have it...period.... no worry about clouds, sun angle, trees, batteries, whatever. Start the generator(s) - instant power. And I have it for as long as I want it.

    I don't mean to pick on solar. But I think it is over-rated in a lot of cases. I am of the mindset that generators trump solar - at least for me. However, I have seen more and more rigs coming with solar prep and now even some small amount of solar. I've dry camped with those folks too. They always seem to pay close attention to their power usage while I just make sure I have enough fuel (gas in my case).

    I can support solar for maybe keeping batteries topped off for storage.
    Larry KE4DMG
    2022 F-350 KRU SRW LB - Airlift 5000+, ForScan, 37 RDS Aux Tank,
    2019 310GK-R - Sailuns; MorRyde IS; Disc Brakes; 20K Reese Goosebox
    Search kalakamods for my mods


  6. #6
    Site Sponsor SolarPoweredRV's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    Tampa Florida
    Posts
    2,039
    Mentioned
    102 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by traveldawg View Post
    Before I start in on things let me make it clear - I don't boondock. I dry camp when I have to (or want to) and have done so for up to 7 days many times. And I have never used (or think I need) solar.

    OK - on with my thoughts.....

    I'm trying to make these ends meet - "...800 amps of solar less than a generator...". I got curious so I looked up the cost of an Onan 5000KW generator; it seems to be about $5,000. Then I looked up the price of 8, 100ah Battle Born batteries (at $800 each); that totaled to $6,400. And if I look up 4, 200ah LifeBlue batteries the cost is about $6,000. Like I said - I am trying to make these ends meet - solar for less than a generator? I don't see it.

    I've camped since the mid 80's. And in all that time I never considered solar. I still have my 2 Honda 2000i's and when I need power I have it...period.... no worry about clouds, sun angle, trees, batteries, whatever. Start the generator(s) - instant power. And I have it for as long as I want it.

    I don't mean to pick on solar. But I think it is over-rated in a lot of cases. I am of the mindset that generators trump solar - at least for me. However, I have seen more and more rigs coming with solar prep and now even some small amount of solar. I've dry camped with those folks too. They always seem to pay close attention to their power usage while I just make sure I have enough fuel (gas in my case).

    I can support solar for maybe keeping batteries topped off for storage.
    First off, I totally agree that Solar used to keep your batteries topped off is an excellent use case. Personally I think every RV should come with a 100 Watt solar panel to keep the batteries topped off (I realize 100 Watts is overkill for keeping batteries topped off, however the 100 Watt panels are probably cheaper than a 40 or 50 Watt panel, especially if the OEMs are purchasing in bulk).

    As to your point about cost, I was able to get my system costs low enough to match the cost of an onboard generator (figure $5k for purchase + installation total ~ $6k).

    The main cost savings for me was the used Tesla battery modules and Residential Solar panels. With savings on these two major components, I was able to install my own system for ~ $6k.

    If I were installing my system today, I would build my own LiFePo4 batteries from LFP cells shipped direct from China and I would still use residential Solar panels and the same Victron components. The last time I looked at the pricing on the batteries, I could reduce my system costs by about $1k using the LFP batteries from China.

    One of the key points in my post is to build a robust Solar and battery storage system. When you build a robust system, you don't need to "worry" about your system and having enough energy to get through the night, you just have it there. Don't get me wrong, you still have to be mindful of not wasting energy, you just don't need to be monitoring the system all the time.

    I presume those folks you met with Solar had an OEM system with less than 300 Watts of Solar and maybe still had Lead Acid batteries. This, I would classify as a minimal system and you would need to be very mindful of your energy usage. However, if you paired that 300 Watts of Solar with 100 or 200ah of LiFepo4 batteries, your monitoring needs would be greatly reduced.

    The size of Solar system you need is also dependent on the size and configuration of your rig. For example: so many RVs are coming with residential refrigerators that a 300 Watt OEM Solar package paired with Lead Acid battery(ies) seems ridiculously small for the energy needs of the refrigerator, much less the energy needs of operating the furnace overnight. I have a friend with a small camper who gets by very well Boondocking with a 160 Watt Solar panel and a pair of Battle Born batteries.
    David and Peggy
    2019 Ford F350 Lariat, 6.7L Diesel, Dually, Long Bed
    Running with 20k Reese Goosebox (Love It) and Ford Factory "Puck" system.
    Stopping with 8,000 lb Disc Brakes and Titan Hydraulic over Electric Brakes system.
    Powering all this fun with 1200 Watts of Solar, two Tesla, Model S, battery modules, 24 volt Victron Inverter.
    2018 Solitude 310 GK

  7. #7
    Site Sponsor ExNihilo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2021
    Location
    Chattanooga, TN
    Posts
    157
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    I love the concept of solar and actually built a 1200 watt system (admittedly I went with AGM batteries as it was a test of concept) About 4 grand invested with a 60 AMP controller it now powers my landscaping. Even if I doubled capacity I would constantly be monitoring usage in the RV shade would be a killer.

    Perhaps I am an energy pig but it just isn't really a valid full term year round solution for the RV. I decided to go with two paralleled 2200 Honda's that are tri-fuel in RV generator boxes. I wired them right into the breaker panel with a shut off. In all reality if I watch TV in the living area (closest to the generators) it is a pretty low and doesn't interfere with conversations at a normal level.

    I do think residential panels could be a difference maker- but I am happy.
    Ex-Nihilo
    2022 2970RL (Fabricated 1/4 Inch Bumper w/ RV Generator Boxes)
    1200AH Lithium, 1000w Solar w/ Victron Multi-Plus II
    5.5K Axles- EOH Disc Brakes- Hensley Arrow
    Road Master Slipper Springs
    2021 RAM Longhorn 2500 Cummins 6.7
    Chattanooga TN

  8. #8
    Site Team traveldawg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Location
    Florida Space Coast
    Posts
    3,843
    Blog Entries
    1
    Mentioned
    94 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by ExNihilo View Post
    I love the concept of solar and actually built a 1200 watt system (admittedly I went with AGM batteries as it was a test of concept) About 4 grand invested with a 60 AMP controller it now powers my landscaping. Even if I doubled capacity I would constantly be monitoring usage in the RV shade would be a killer.

    Perhaps I am an energy pig but it just isn't really a valid full term year round solution for the RV. I decided to go with two paralleled 2200 Honda's that are tri-fuel in RV generator boxes. I wired them right into the breaker panel with a shut off. In all reality if I watch TV in the living area (closest to the generators) it is a pretty low and doesn't interfere with conversations at a normal level.

    I do think residential panels could be a difference maker- but I am happy.
    First - do you know your avatar photo is upside down?

    Do you run your Hondas when they are in the generator box or do you take them out. If in the box, how did you arrange the exhaust system? I carry mine in the front compartment but have to take them out to use them.
    Larry KE4DMG
    2022 F-350 KRU SRW LB - Airlift 5000+, ForScan, 37 RDS Aux Tank,
    2019 310GK-R - Sailuns; MorRyde IS; Disc Brakes; 20K Reese Goosebox
    Search kalakamods for my mods


  9. #9
    Site Sponsor ExNihilo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2021
    Location
    Chattanooga, TN
    Posts
    157
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    No I was unaware so thank you. It does fit life over the past few years though.
    [ATTACH=CONFIG]38548

    The cases are made by rvgeneratorbox.com the black side panels come off and I run them without taking them out of the box. the top box is a gravity feed marine tank (I think 6 gallons) it will run both for several days. I can run them off propane as well. I have run them going down the road many times.

    Hopefully the picture is not upside down! Again I do not dismiss solar- its just my use and experience.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 64584093147__C2138990-9FD4-4B2C-B36F-1C2A239513AB.jpg  
    Ex-Nihilo
    2022 2970RL (Fabricated 1/4 Inch Bumper w/ RV Generator Boxes)
    1200AH Lithium, 1000w Solar w/ Victron Multi-Plus II
    5.5K Axles- EOH Disc Brakes- Hensley Arrow
    Road Master Slipper Springs
    2021 RAM Longhorn 2500 Cummins 6.7
    Chattanooga TN

  10. #10
    Seasoned Camper
    Join Date
    Jan 2022
    Location
    Central IL
    Posts
    395
    Mentioned
    4 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    I’m planning to go with an aux diesel tank in the back of our dually, so I searched and found that Cummins Onan makes a QD6000 (quiet diesel) genny. That way I don’t need a different fuel source than the truck, and will have plenty. Pricey tho. May eventually add solar, but would like to secure as many options as I can, as early as I can, and that’s prob not by doing solar first.
    Larry and JoAnna
    ‘23 Chevy 3500HD CCLB DRW High Country 6.6L Diesel, ‘22 Solitude 310GK-R, Hensley BD5
    MORRyde 8k IS, QD8000 Genny, Dual 5kVA Quattros
    Dual SOK 48V 100ah Server Rack Batts (10kWHr)

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

DISCLAIMER:This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Grand Design RV, LLC or any of its affiliates. This is an independent site.