Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 09, 2025 ...

Safe to say $15-20K?

Jim - If you mean total operating voltage AM Solar has posted on their website the operating voltage for each panel.  So would thaT be 312V (12 100W with 20V operating voltage and 4 90W with 18V operating voltage) for one controller and 352V (14 100W with 20V operating voltage and 4 90W with 18V operating voltage)for the tother controller.  I am not sure if I am properly answering your question so forgive me I gave you the wrong info.  They once had 115W panels in the build but I see now I only have 100W and 90W panels in sets.

Oscar. believe your controllers can only take 150 volts max, so they would need to parallel some panels, [voltage stays the same but current increases] and series some [voltage increases, but current stays the same]. or they could run all in parallel which would require massive sized wires. If they specify  150 volt controllers, suspect they are going series/parallel. But they are experts and might know something I don't.  My old 45 ft Newell with basement airs, could probably have taken 4000 watts  

Today they did more internal wiring and have the leads now up through the refrigerator vent.  They installed four sets of 100W panels.  They hope to finish the front solar array tomorrow and start on the rear solar array next week.  I am hoping to get some pictures on the internal wiring tomorrow.  In the picture with the four sets of panels the one panel set was not yet installed for they had to reorient the panel set to fit better and the feet were going to have to be moved to the side so it could be tilted.

What about the 4 inside corners?

I like the orange strings off the lift.  I wonder how many coaches they hit before doing the strings.

To add to Jim's question, is tilting for a walkway/maintaining roof, or to tilt for more sun in the winter months?

Yes to both.  I would not be tilting the front 4 sets of panels for maintenance for they are beyond my A/C units.  I will see what my consumption is when we get to our wintering spot this year near Temecula, CA.  I prefer not to tilt any for additional sun unless I have to.  The Solar Irradiance figures for that area and the direction the side of my coach will be facing with my panels down flat are:
Nov - 3.34
Dec - 2.79
Jan - 2.99
Feb - 3.73
Mar - 5.28

If I tilt them 41 degrees from vertical:
Nov - 5.36
Dec - 4.91
Jan - 4.95
Feb - 5.14
Mar - 6.15

So if you multiply your total panel wattage by the solar irradiance factor that in theory is what you can expect to produce given clear blue skies and no obstructions.  My total panel wattage is expected to be 3320W.  So, for example, in Dec I would only be able to produce 9,262.8W in perfect conditions with the panels down flat.  If I tilted just 3 sets of the 100W two panel sets (total of 600W) that would increase to 10,534.8W.

Oscar, I am confused. Understand that with proper tilt to get max. sun, solar production will be greater, but not sure how you would get over 9000 watts out of 3300 watts of panels?
Mine are flat, but even under ideal conditions, have never seen more than 90% of their rated capacity.
I need your secret.

I believe he is talking about watt hours.

I believe he is talking about watt hours.

While parked close to Craneman's coach at June Lake, I saw his total for the day exceed 5kWh with 1450 watts non-tilting panels. Ours is a 36 footer and has one less panel. Will still go over 4kWh if no trees.

Pierce

Glad to hear that you all are not having to tilt your panels and still get back up to 100 SOC!  I am going to try to not plug in while we winter at the Jojoba Hills RV Resort near Temecula, CA, and just run off of solar and batteries to practice.  Our coach is now all electric except for the heating and hot water that can also run on diesel.  I will start off keeping my heat and hot water on diesel and see how it goes and then switch over to electric if I have enough power left.  Our major appliances that draw the most power are:
washer/dryer combo
induction cooktop
dishwasher
residential refrigerator
speed cook microwave convection oven
coffee maker
toaster
instapot
vitamix
water pump

I left out the A/C units for I will not need to use them in the winter.  I also assumed using diesel for heat and hot water.  I made a spreadsheet of all my electrical items and usage and it came out to about 13kwh a day.  It will be interesting to see what my actual usage will be since the system will record usage.