I am totally ready to have my RV finished while I am in Texas this winter. I have lived in this RV full-time for almost 2 years and "think" "I know" what I want and need (do we ever ?).
photo from rvsolarsystem.net
As part of the interior remodeling, I want to make sure that I incorporate whatever is necessary to have a solar system installed in the RV.
I need to work with a solar installer at the same time that I make changes to the inside of the RV to accommodate the inverter, controllers, etc.
I don't want to add new furniture and then find out that it's in the way of installing the solar components.
On some blogs, I have read reviews of installers in Arizona and California and I think as far as Oregon. I have also read that, usually, the wiring is fed from the roof through the back of the refrigerator space. I do not have an RV refrigerator, no refrigerator venting. How will the wiring get from the roof to the inverter and batteries?
I really do not want to drive thousands of miles to have this work done. And, NO, I will not try to do it myself.
I am hoping that someone reading this blog knows of a place in Texas.
Thanks for any comments or information.
I wish I had some advice and will be very happy to find out if any of your readers know. I'd like to put solar on our rig too. Really like the picture you show here. Is that your RV and how you want the solar panels??
ReplyDeleteMy vents are in the middle, also, but my solar panels, two panels of 135 each for a total of 270, fit nicely along the driver's side of the motor home. They are a perfect size for my two golf cart batteries, and provide exactly enough power for my computer/TV use. I use my generator to power my kitchen and bathroom, which are on the same A/C circuit. (Fridge is powered when dry camping by propane.)
ReplyDeleteI don't know about Texas, sorry. I can only recommend my guy in Glendale, AZ. I stopped there on my way to Quartzsite the first year.
Love that diagram, makes thing much more easier to understand. Like you Teri, I have read of Oregon, California and Arizona solar installers that people recommend. I'll keep my ears open in case I read anything about installers in Texas.
ReplyDeleteI knew you didn't have a stove but I thought you had a fridge. Do you use a cooler and buy ice? With this new set up I have I won't have a fridge either. I don't have electric or solar as of yet. Still don't know what to do about that since I don't even know where all the other important parts would even fit.
ReplyDeleteCan't make any recommendations. But with Texas being so soon full of Snow Birds, oh excuse me I meant 'Winter Texans' sure seems that would be a good business to be in.
ReplyDeleteTeri, about your question: the wiring can also go through the roof at the side of the hole for your holding tank vents: you know, the round 3" diameter caps on the roof. You surely have a vent for each of the holding tanks.
ReplyDeleteYou might also have one of those standard crank-up TV antennas on the roof. You can drill through the baseplate of that.
Don't have an exaggerated fear of drilling a hole through some other place in the roof. A stub of pipe with a flange on it, with DICOR sealant under the flange, would prevent leaks. The wires would go through the pipe.
On our first RV I ran the solar wiring down inside of the gray water tank vent pipe itself. I drilled a hole in the side of the pipe on the roof and ran the wires in there, and then found where the pipe came into the basement and drilled another hole there to fish the wires back out. I sealed up both holes, but the vent pipe really shouldn't ever have water in it up at those levels. So there are a few different places to run the wires, depending on access.
ReplyDeleteI did my own solar so don't know of anyone in Texas. If I hear of someone I'll pass it on.
Mark
Nice Info! Business solar energy systems were gently at first, but now that businesses are understanding what they can do with them, they are becoming more famous, and the sales of the solar panel systems have actually gone up.
ReplyDeleteHigh Efficiency Solar Panels | Solar Power System Canada