Solar for the Elk

Very nice placement for everything. Hope to do something similar before we go out west next time.

Now that Everglades N.P. has electric sites, the only other place we dry-camp out east is the Smoky Mountains N.P. And that's, well, pretty "smoky" when we're there in the spring and fall.

Yeah, we do 50/50 parks and dry camping, the biggest factor for me is that I can't get the camper to the house to charge the batteries, so this is a good solution for keeping them topped up.

With China flooding the market with solar panels, prices are pretty good for a decent panel right now.

We keep our TM (Elkmont) in a storag lot with no power or water. And we can't bring it home to charge the battery or fill with water (14 story condo) on a cul-de-sac. So we had a solar panel 80 watt installed when we ordered it. We do not dry camp and the batterys always have a good charge and I'm able to mess around fixing stuff at night in storage.

Never heard that rationale for solar before, but it really makes a lot of sense.

I am waiting to buy solar until the new version that works in the shade becomes available.

Originally Posted by PopBeavers

I am waiting to buy solar until the new version that works in the shade becomes available.

Is that tongueincheek? They really will have them work on the shade???

[T and C]

Originally Posted by PopBeavers

I am waiting to buy solar until the new version that works in the shade becomes available.

I'm waiting for the night capable version.

Tom

If you don't have a good contoller, they work very well at night...only in reverse. I guess that would apply to shade too..

I always try to park the TM in the shade. In deep canyons with tall trees all around this is not difficult.

I could park in the bright sun. Then the solar panels would work. but I would need to run the a/c nearly all day. I doubt that is a reasonable trade.

So I'll stick with my generator and a pint of gas per day.

I do sometimes wonder, if you camped in the desert (100+degrees) and ran the a/c from sunrise to sunset, how many solar panels and what size battery bank do you need to run 13,500 BTU on solar.

Originally Posted by T and C

I'm waiting for the night capable version.

Tom

You just need to order the Lunar Panels.