Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 13, 2025 ...

Energy useage?

May 22, 2017, 02:14:05 pm

Hi

We are new to this forum and FTRV'ing in general. Just purchased a new to us 1990 Foretravel Grand Villa U225 that we are heading out to pick up tomorrow! ( Woot Woot) ! Our question is about Solar. We were wondering if there were others with a similar coach that installed solar panels on them and if so, how much solar did the settle on installing. ( Wattage/pannels etc..)  We are planning on doing quite a bit of boondocking and while we have a 6.5 Onan on board we have been advised that it is sometimes bad form to run a generator due to the noise and we want to be as respectful as possible. Plus save on propane costs where we can. Any advice would be much appreciated.

NubianNomads.

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Reply #1 – May 22, 2017, 03:47:48 pm

Welcome to the Forum and to Fortraveling. The search box in the upper right corner is your best friend. A ton of posting regarding solar projects are in the archives. Spend some time reading, there. You will find ideas and solutions that you haven't even thought of, yet. Good luck.

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Reply #2 – May 22, 2017, 04:12:36 pm

two things

Add your coach to your signature - that way in all your future posts we will see the year and model of your coach

and try to search on "solar" in the search function - has been discussed and photo'ed a BUNCH - as we like to say

"Search is your friend!"

Welcome - you will love the coach and our community.

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Reply #3 – May 22, 2017, 04:33:46 pm

Welcome to the family!
We will all need lots of pictures.

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Reply #4 – May 22, 2017, 07:10:51 pm

I don't know how much propane you carry, but, you'll find the generator is a pretty big user. Finding Propane can also be problematic at times.

WELCOME!

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Reply #5 – May 22, 2017, 08:43:27 pm

From my previous coach, 300 watts was not enough.  I'll be doing at least 600 watts next time.

I prefer the complete kits from AM Solar (when I self installed on last coach).

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Reply #6 – May 22, 2017, 08:46:38 pm

I am installing 1200watts on my roof.. Id like to add more  but ran out of area

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Reply #7 – May 22, 2017, 09:58:38 pm

We have 840 watts seems to take care of our needs. We dry camp more often than not. Don't know where you are located, if you don't mind going to Southern California you might look up Thesunworks.com and talk to Mike. He did ours in one day great guy very reasonable prices.

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Reply #8 – May 22, 2017, 10:43:49 pm

Lots of variables in planning a solar installation.  Since your U225 is a 36', you have slightly less "real estate" on your roof than the 40+ footers.  What you might do is read the many threads on this Forum dealing with solar installations to get a general idea of what's involved.  Then do some research on solar panels - determine what size panels are currently available and what they cost.  If you can pin down the physical size of the panels that interest you, then you can cut some templates out of cardboard.  Take them up on the roof (on a calm day) and play around with different layouts.  See how many panels you can fit on the roof while still allowing enough room to walk around (safely) up there.  Remember, you must try to minimize any shading of the panels by adjacent items like air conditioners and vents.  A little shade on a panel can greatly reduce its output.

Once you have decided on how many panels your roof can handle (and you can afford), then you can design the rest of the system.

Here's one thread to get you started - installing PV system on a 34' coach, so the worst case scenario as far as "room on the roof":

Solar Installation Progress - John Palmer in Mayo, FL (Palmer Energy Systems)

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Reply #9 – May 23, 2017, 01:12:36 am

Just as important as the amount of solar is the size of the battery bank.  How many rainy days can you go in a row before you run out of juice?

Most important decision when sizing out solar/battery is your power usage.  Some conservative energy users will only have 1 LED side lamp on a time, while others are less power conscious and have all 5 overhead florescent lights on at all times.  The different items you use and the power that you consume on a daily basis will lead you to the appropriately sized system.

Therefore, I would suggest using the coach for a few months, and using your generator when needed, in order to determine how quickly you use up your existing battery.  Take note of of the battery monitor display - what do you use that really sucks down the juice?  And how many Amp Hours do you go through in a certain period of time?

We have 1140 Watts and 1200 Amp Hour (600 AH usable) of battery.  Most days, we would be fine with 400 Watts of solar and 400 AHs of battery. But because we are never ever plugged in, and there is peace of mind in energy insurance, we went with overkill. That being said, e could survive easily 3 or 4 days in a row with no sun because don't really use much power outside of work-related electronics.

I work at home (the MH), so I have two computers and a monitor running all day.  Our TV is on a lot of the time.  We have music playing all day.  Charge 2 cellphones, a tablet, and a baby monitor at night.  That all runs us 100-150 AHs over the course of a full day.

But we rarely keep more than 1 light on at a time, we use the microwave only for a minute or two each day, and we have a propane fridge and I make coffee on the propane stove.

You'll find that computers, lights (except florescent tubes), tv screens, cellphone chargers, and electronics in general all have a very reasonable power use level.

Big power hogs are things that heat or cool.  Essentially anything in the kitchen.  Microwaves, residential fridges, coffee makers, hot plates...  The more you plan to use these things, the beefier your system will have to be.  Six minutes of microwave use, a standard coffee maker in the morning, and using an electric griddle to cook some pancakes could run you another 100-200 AHs of energy consumption before you realized it happened.

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Reply #10 – May 23, 2017, 09:26:07 am

Quote from: Blinded04 – May 23, 2017, 01:12:36 am

...we went with overkill.

James,

You make some excellent points, and highlight many of the factors to be considered before investing in a PV system.  You certainly did your homework, and ended up with a enviable system.

Every time a solar thread pops up on the Forum, I am intrigued by the different approaches to designing a PV system.  In a nutshell, there seems (to me) to be three common ways members decide on what to install.  They ask themselves:

1.  How much do I need?  (requires a energy audit, close examination of power usage, daily habits, camping location preferences, etc.)

2.  What will fit in/on my coach?  (roof size, battery compartment size, possible mods to coach like removing propane tank to fit more batteries)

3.  What can I afford?  (checkbook size versus desires, pro-installed or do-it-yourself, budget equipment versus bleeding edge technology)

We are lucky on this Forum to have members (such as James) who took the time and trouble to document their PV installation.  A thorough understanding of all the factors involved in these projects is tremendously helpful to any "first time buyer".

Thought for the day: "Have you ever heard a RV owner complain that his PV system puts out too much power?"

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Reply #11 – May 23, 2017, 10:56:34 am

We were in the same set of circumstances as you are in. We enjoy boondocking more than using campgrounds ( but I must admit that we have met the friendliest, most fun, people at campgrounds ).
I began by searching this forum and buying books on solar power design to gain knowledge. Freewheeling on your build usually involves ending up with a lot of expensive components that won't accomplish your goals. Bad for the bank account. Design your system according to what you have to start with. Our roof area is similar to yours, so I  did the roof template procedure that Chuck outlined, and purchased the panels with the highest output that I could afford. I bought tilting mounts to adjust for location without moving the coach during the day. Since we could only fit panels that were 180 watts each, I have 360 watts at 24 volts to my MPPT controller. The solution was to replace the house batteries with AGMs that provide 800Ah..
Before starting the install, I replaced ALL incandescent and florescent lights with LED substitutes. The power usage dropped by an astounding level.  Also installed a switching system that will move the charge from house to engine battery banks as needed.
 After researching, I found that the most important consideration is the charge-controller. DO NOT SKIMP ON THIS ITEM. Buying cheap will result in having to spend on a second controller on top of the price of the first, inadequate, unit.
  Welcome to our world, and to the Foreforum community. Isn't is great how quickly answers to questions are offered by these fine folks? Between Chuck and James, I think you will have a great start to this project, and lots of others will chime in as you progress.

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Reply #12 – May 23, 2017, 11:25:47 am

Come to Q (quartzite) go to slab city get solar done in a day, very low cost..

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Reply #13 – May 23, 2017, 08:08:22 pm

For solar, it makes no difference "how much you need", in my not so humble opinion. Put on all of the solar you can, the only limit is space & budget. A "energy audit", while not hurting anything, and MAYBE raising areas of concern, are a waste of time. You'll never have to much solar or to much power in your coach.

From my past experience with Quartzsite solar installations, I'd avoid them....unless you KNOW what you want, and are willing & able to follow them & "supervise" 100% of the time. If I could do that then I'd do the job myself.

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Reply #14 – May 23, 2017, 08:28:08 pm

Agree with Toyman. Yes you can say "1 led light for 3 hours, 1 70 watt tv for 4 hours, so I only need ....."
How bout when you get stuck someplace because of weather, or decide to put in that surround sound system, or make an extra pot of coffee. Solar is cheap now and if you do not use all you produce, no big deal, it will not harm your batteries, get as much as you can afford. You will not regret it. I had 1200 watts with 4 8d's and sometimes wished I had more.

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