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Portable Solar - Any recommendations?

Hi,

I would like to purchase a portable solar system (non-rooftop) to keep my 4 AGM house batteries charged up while off-the grid. I have an all electric coach and mostly the solar charge will be for the Samsung refrigerator. I can always fire up the 12.5K generator for the other stuff.

Any recommendations on a system that I can pull out of the storage bay (Joey bed) and set up to capture sunlight without having to do too much internal wiring. My thought would be to have a pigtail assembly attached to the (+) and (-) of the battery bank.

Thanks
Pat

Re: Portable Solar - Any recommendations?

Reply #1 –
I am unaware of any portable system that I would buy. The "system" needs solar panel(s) and a charge controller that meets your battery's specific needs.
1993 U225 Build #: 4285
500 Watts Solar
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Retired, Full Time Off Grid Snowbird

Re: Portable Solar - Any recommendations?

Reply #2 –
Amazon.com : sucase solar

Just a solar novice but I don't think you will find anything portable that will keep up with an electric frig.  All the ones in the link above are only 100w-300w and  won't do much more than trickle charge your batteries.  And a Frig will require much more than that.  I have 200w on the storage shed that I plug into when I store it that will keep the batteries charged and it does a great job in the summer and it kept up over the last winter as well.

Other more experienced will jump in and let you know more.

2000 GV320 4010 build #5712  2019-?
1999 Bounder 2000-2008
Bardstown, KY
🥃The Bourbon Capital of the World🥃

Re: Portable Solar - Any recommendations?

Reply #3 –
Pat,

There are quite a few threads on this Forum where solar is discussed.  In some of these threads our "solar experts" examine the power needed to run a residential fridge, and how much solar capacity is required to support this power demand.  I'm not one of the experts, so I will leave the details to them.  However, I do know that our 960 watt (nominal) PV system is barely adequate to power our Samsung fridge over a extended period of time.  We have 2 AGM8D house batteries.

I think you will find that a portable solar setup big enough to support your residential fridge will also be so large as to be very unwieldy.  It will be a BIG hassle getting all the panels out and placing them around on the ground, then connecting them together and stringing a cord to your coach.  They will be very susceptible to damage, and easy for someone to steal.

I could be wrong, but IMO if you want a decent PV setup it is gonna require multiple panels mounted permanently on the roof.
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Re: Portable Solar - Any recommendations?

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Chuck & Jeannie –
I could be wrong, but IMO if you want a decent PV setup it is gonna require multiple panels mounted permanently on the roof.

I agree with Chuck and Jeannie.  That being said, I would recommend starting out with a simple to install Victron BMV 712 to measure your daily kwh usage and also know what your batteries are doing.  It is simple to install or have installed at your house batteries with monitoring on your cell phone.
Amazon.com: Victron BMV-712 Battery Monitor: Electronics

Second if you just want to play with some portable units that will fit down below, I'd start with a couple of these.  Eventually you will put a decent system on the roof.  At that time you may be able to retain these for those days you are parked under the trees and want a break from running your generator.
Amazon.com : Renogy 200 Watt 12 Volt Eclipse Monocrystalline Off Grid...

I do not know your battery situation.  Therefore you may want to research that before even the solar, as you do have an excellent generator (and rv) to get you bye.

In the forum "search" screen I typed in "solar watt", and got 511 posts if your looking for the opinions of other forum members.
https://www.foreforums.com/index.php?action=search;sa=results;params=eJwtzEEKg0AMBdCrlG66ycJRK_QcPcAQMwErU1Niqghz-GaKu_9fwse04UKcyq005VpGrekOA_TQQYDQQ2ggtPCA1s_rJHskeX8yG_tjpe84M1mUJR-niJon5cz_7ZNieqlz4pWqMCpN3p-SUS87mv0AGgAymg..;start=510

Best of fun finding what you want, it will be a fun journey.

I purchased my FT 3 years ago.  In that time I went from 150 watts to 560 watts.  Then 560 to 1200. And now I have 1800 watts. Today's technology, with same real estate space used on the roof, I now could easily have 2,200 watts. I too started out looking at the portable option and found the capability to charge and return for the dollars spent, too little. 

I decided to go for the roof solar and use the gen for those days or hours I need to.  We also often use our roof air conditioning, either plugged in or with the gen, so at the same time, our house batteries are being recharged.  I am far from being an expert, however I've used solar on my rv for 15 yrs.

The picture below was 1200 watts, I've since added two more 300 watt used panels for $125 each for a total of 1800 watts.  One is mounted between the the two roof a/c units, and one is mounted at the front.
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Re: Portable Solar - Any recommendations?

Reply #5 –
Thanks for all the great input. I'll keep doing my research.

Pat

Re: Portable Solar - Any recommendations?

Reply #6 –
Here is a link to my do it yourself solar. It also has a couple of links to other forum members solar. If your patient you can buy panels pretty cheap.  The experts here provided my blueprint to follow. Also recommend Justin at Bay marine.  He can walk you through any questions you might have.

Solar project. What am I forgetting. What would you change?

2000 GV320 4010 build #5712  2019-?
1999 Bounder 2000-2008
Bardstown, KY
🥃The Bourbon Capital of the World🥃