Solar question

[AstronomyGuy]

The brand I use for most of my gear is Victron. The chemistries and the charge and discharge / characteristics are not compatible . You need a charger inverter that is setup to properly charge Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries or you could damage them. Lead acid batteries can only be discharged down to 50 percent whereas Lithium Iron Phosphate can be discharged to zero and can be charged and discharged 3 to 4000 times. You shouldn't charge Lithium batteries at very cold temperatures because you could damage them but you can discharge them. Some batteries come with a built in warmer now. I find there is a side benefit to having a solar setup on your camper. I have a 24 volt 4800 watt hour battery with 4- 200 watt solar panels that sits there and makes electricity all the time so when I'm not camping I keep my cordless lawn tools and my Dewalt cordless tools charged by plugging into the side of the camper. I also have a 2000 watt portable Bluetti solar generator that I can plug into the camper if my battery gets low. I charge that with the camper as well. I can take the portable generator inside the house for emergency use if needed. This saves me a few dollars on my electric bill each time I charge. A few bucks is a few bucks.


My 2 cents


Tim

[Robert McAuley]

We dry camp with our SSTR 26RB. With 2 schwintek slides (i.e. no real manual closure option) I'm always watching my battery monitor closely. I have 2-12V AGM batteries to keep tongue weight down. Easy to replace or split if issues and jump with truck if necessary. I use 3 portable 40W panel/controller kits (bought at different times at Canadian Tire) connected to a hub and the batteries. I orient them to face the sun over the day. They store on aluminum rail shelf I built in the front cubby. The fridge and WH run on propane. I have a 3000w inverter but rarely use it. Movies and internet are by cell phone and laptop. AC needs my 300W inverter generator. With mostly sunny days we typically get 3-4 days before the batteries get to 85% and I start getting nervous. By then i have to think about dumping tanks so we look for a regular campground. This setup has permitted us to overnight at lots and Harvest Hosts without issues.

Thinking of affixing an additional 100w panel on the roof (to charge when towing too) but the curved roof may an issue.

[Robert McAuley]

Oops. We have a 3000W inverter generator.