Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Putting Solar Panels on Your Camper

By Tim Fearey

As ever more campers wander away from the city in their own recreational vehicle, they discover that all of their modern conveniences take a lot of electricity. This is no problem if you are plugged in at a campground, or if you move frequently and the batteries charge while you drive. For other times when you park in an out of the way locale for days, the castle lights can really grow dim as the batteries slowly wear down. Two solutions suggest themselves. The first is to bring a gas powered generator, and run it for a few hours at a time to replace the energy used up. This will cost a lot of money for fuel and will create noise pollution.

If fuel consumption and noise is a concern, then you won't want to use a traditional generator. Other than only camping where there is access to plugins, there is another option, using solar energy with rv solar panels to charge your batteries.

It is possible to hook several RV solar panels together, and commonly they are wired in series to provide a greater output. These panels are made of many small cells all formed into a rigid panel. Photo-voltaic cells gather the energy of the sunlight and convert it to electricity, which flows to your battery bank.

Most rv solar panels are attached to the top of the camper with a mount which can raise and lower. While these panels don't have to be set up and repacked, they are less versatile than those on stands on the ground. The portable ones have the advantage of being able to be turned to face the sun as it makes its course around the sky.

Deep cycle batteries can be overcharged and ruined, which is why every rv solar power system needs a charge controller to keep an 'eye' on things. As electricity flows into the batteries, the charge controller detects when they are full and stops the current before damage is caused.

Deep cycle RV batteries are recommended to be used on all holiday trailers and RV's. Standard car batteries aren't meant to be recharged repeatedly and won't last in a recreational vehicle system. If you need to add more batteries or replace your existing ones, make sure they are the correct kind.

You might want to include an inverter, to change twelve volt direct current into one hundred ten volt alternating current. You will need one of these if you plan on making microwave popcorn or running any other normal household appliances. Some motorhomes and holiday trailers have inverters built in.

If you are buying a new RV, you can pick a model with these parts included, or have the dealership order them and get them installed professionally. If you are the handy man type, you can find all of your components yourself and do it yourself. A trip to the RV dealership might still be a good idea, since you can ask them questions and they will help you decide how big of a system to install.

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