Need Help With Solar Vendor
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Forum Name: I need HELP!!!
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URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=12517
Printed Date: 11 May 2025 at 8:35pm
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Topic: Need Help With Solar Vendor
Posted By: 2wolves
Subject: Need Help With Solar Vendor
Date Posted: 07 Jan 2019 at 10:57pm
Good evening all. Just picked up my 189. Leaving for Florida from Kentucky Wednesday. Does anyone have a recommendation for where I may get solar and inverter installed. Anywhere between Kentucky and Florida is fine. I'm not on a schedule. Just retired from military and this is my first TT, and I'm not much of a handy man. Thank you for your time and help. Much appreciated.
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2022 196
2021 Chevy Tahoe
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Replies:
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2019 at 7:12am
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2wolves, I don't know of any vendor/installer on that route but one piece of advice I'd have is to know what you want to have done before you go to a vendor, otherwise you're highly likely to get sold something you don't really want or need (just like any other purchase).
There are any number of solar and inverter options you can consider depending on what your objectives are. Lots of good threads on those topics on this forum.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2019 at 7:31am
When you search, use the advanced search function. That way, you can change the date range used for your search. The standard search will bring up topics six months old or less. With the advanced function, you can view the older topics which are likely still relevant.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...
http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS
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Posted By: JR
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2019 at 2:38pm
The suggestions that offgrid gave you was spot on if you are looking for a solar system figure out just what you want to run on solar and if your going to be boondocking a lot (on non-electrical hookup camping). I put in an extensive system and am patiently waiting to use our pod this spring and test out the solar system. I ordered much of the system from Northern Arizona Wind & Sun Inc. in Flagstaff Arizona and found them to be very helpful. Their email is www.solar-electric.com and phone number is 800-383-0195. If you call them they might be able to give you a line on a reputable installer along your route. Hope this helps.
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Jay
179/2019
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2019 at 3:08pm
AZ Wind and Sun is a good company. Been around for decades doing off grid solar for remote homes and RV's. Lots of solar companies are pretty new and focus mostly on residential grid tied systems. Totally different animals.
Some grid tied resi solar companies unfortunately view solar as the aluminum siding of the 21st century. High pressure sales tactics, bogus performance claims. Caveat emptor.
Most people don't need a big solar system on their rPods. Lots of folks are happy with 100 watts either portable or on the roof. If you stick with a portable kit with a charge controller there really is no significant installation requirement, FR already provides a connector for it.
For most people an inverter isn't really needed either, IMHO. I don't have one, I changed my TV out for a dual voltage one and run it on 12Vdc. The only other 120Vac appliances that come in a Pod are the microwave and air conditioner. Both of these are big energy hogs, although you can run a microwave on solar if you limit usage and install a big inverter. Forget about running the air conditioner on solar.
So, it all depends what your objectives are.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: 2wolves
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2019 at 3:59pm
Thanks to all. I would only want to run TV and heat. I had the dealer to add a second battery. The dealer told me I can't run heat without 110. I'm not sure that's true. TV not a big deal. I've also considered Mr Buddy or the Olympian option. Again thank you for responding
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2022 196
2021 Chevy Tahoe
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Posted By: JR
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2019 at 4:12pm
2wolves, the TV is a minor draw depending on how long you're going to be watching and if you're talking about electric heat that's a different matter maybe you need to consider hearting by LP gas still need electricity for the fan on the furnace and the next question is are you going to be stationary for long time periods because while your pulling your tt the tv should be charging the batteries on the tt which should take care of your tv viewing, lighting, water pump, and running the ref on gas (which needs a small amount of DC current to run). The good thing is you have to batteries hopefully deep cycle, which should give you quite a bit of DC operation. It's all up to what you want to do
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Jay
179/2019
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2019 at 4:47pm
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2wolves, if you're referring to the propane heater it draws 2A at 12Vdc when operating. 120Vac not required. I have no idea what your dealer was talking about. Forget running an electric heater on solar, its even worse than trying to run an air conditioner.
So the propane heater might require say 24 amphours per day if it runs on a 50% duty cycle, which is quite a lot of runtime unless you're camping in midwinter in a cold location. If you want to run that on solar only you might need around say 100 watts for that. Add another 100 for everything else would be more than plenty.
As JR says the TV is a minimal load because you won't be running it that long on a daily basis. Ditto on JR's comment that if you're moving camp fairly often you can get by with less solar because you can rely on your tow vehicle for some of the charging requirements. You might want to start with 100-120 watts and see how that works for you.
If that is what you're objective is then I'd suggest forgoing an inverter and getting a dual voltage TV instead. For the life of me I don't get why FR doesn't just install a dual voltage one to start with. Its not expensive and everything else in there is 12Vdc.
I got this one but there are lots of choices:
https://www.amazon.com/SuperSonic-1080p-Widescreen-Compatible-22-Inch/dp/B0066AE4M8
Direct bolt up replacement for the 120V one that comes with the pod. You'd need to wire up (or have your installer wire up) a 12V cigarette lighter socket to plug it into.
The next question is do you want portable or roof mount solar? There are pros and cons to each.
Portable is an easier install, no holes in the roof, and you can move it into the sun, but its more at risk of theft and its another thing to have to deal with when setting up camp and to store somewhere while towing. Roof mount is pretty theft proof and you don't have to think about it, but is a more complex install, depending on what you get you end up with holes in the roof, and if you're in a shady campsite you're out of luck.
Either way you'll need a battery charge controller as part of the solar package. Good news is you've already got dual batteries which are a must if you are boondocking much, especially with solar.
Good luck!
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: Ben Herman
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2019 at 4:58pm
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twolves - in my opinion, portable solar is a better approach than permanently mounted on the roof; at least in my experience, I always prefer to find a site that is shaded to avoid getting blasted by the sun. I have a Renogy 100 watt suitcase-style system, it has a built-in controller and packs up into its own case. I added a 20 ft long cord so that I can move it around for best solar advantage during the day.
Here's a link to the unit I have:
https://www.renogy.com/renogy-100-watt-12-volt-monocrystalline-foldable-solar-suitcase-w-voyager/ - https://www.renogy.com/renogy-100-watt-12-volt-monocrystalline-foldable-solar-suitcase-w-voyager/
I would imagine that the company could set you up with a longer cord. It's an easy plug and play system, your Rpod should have a solar-ready plug near the door.
I only have a single battery and have no issues keeping up with this system - although we do not use it for TV. Like others, I would suggest getting a dual-voltage tv so that it can run off of 12 v. For heat, we rely on the furnace which is propane and battery for the fan and thermostat.
Feel free to ask if you need anymore info.
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Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2019 at 5:04pm
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The dealer told you what? Maybe she was thinking of an electric space heater.
We dry camp for days at a time, often using our 100W solar panel, and have plenty of power for running the furnace fan. The rest is propane. Under normal camping conditions, you should be able to keep your batteries charged with solar indefinitely unless you are using high wattage ac appliances. Your dealer probably gave you some sort of 12V battery which you may want to replace with 2 six volt batteries. As a general rule they give you more amp hours for your 12V system.
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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2019 at 5:35pm
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lostagain, I completely agree that 2 6V golfcart batteries in series are a better way to go than 12v batteries in parallel if you're starting from scratch. That's what I have.
Not to start an argument but if 2wolves already has 2 brand new 12V batteries I wouldn't suggest changing them until they age out in a few years or otherwise cause a problem. Is that what you're suggesting?
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2019 at 5:42pm
Yep, use 'em till they die, then replace w/ 6V.
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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost
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Posted By: 2wolves
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2019 at 7:36pm
Question. How many hours are you guys getting out of a 20 gallon tank? Also will my two group 24 with 200 watt solar run furnace and tv. I will switch to the 12volt. I will mostly be using fridge, tv, furnace. Boondockin 50% of time.
Again thank you!
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2022 196
2021 Chevy Tahoe
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Posted By: Ben Herman
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2019 at 7:53pm
Originally posted by 2wolves
Question. How many hours are you guys getting out of a 20 gallon tank? Also will my two group 24 with 200 watt solar run furnace and tv. I will switch to the 12volt. I will mostly be using fridge, tv, furnace. Boondockin 50% of time.
Again thank you! |
Not sure how to put it to hours - but one tank will do most of a season for me (we probably camped 10 times last yr, anywhere from 2-5 nights). I added a 2nd tank onto the front of the hitch, just so I don't ever run out. I did once, thankfully at the end of a trip so was able to switch fridge to battery for the ride home.
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Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2019 at 8:53pm
Propane use varies with outside temperatures. In Spring or Fall, with some furnace use, I can get a number of days out of a 20 lb tank. When we were camping in the winter in 4F temperatures with wind chills in the definite negatives, I was lucky to get three days from a tank, and that was turning the furnace down at night to 60 and not turning it up over 68 during the day. That also included running the refrigerator, but that take so little gas that it is insignificant. The propane stove took more but we were sparing with use of it. Water heater use was later after we were in mostly above freezing temps where I could de-winterize.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...
http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS
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Posted By: Tars Tarkas
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2019 at 9:18pm
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It may have been a typo, but it's a 20 pound tank, not a 20 gallon tank. How long one lasts, like Stephen implied, can be all over the place. If it's cold enough, two or three days sounds about right. If you're going to Florida in winter and want to burn off the chill -- of course it matters where in Florida -- but a 20 pound tank could last two years.
I have a 100w Renogy suitcase with a 30 ft extension. My old Pod isn't solar ready, so I just hook directly to the battery and I've been very happy when I'm where I can use it. I leave it home when I'm going to the Smokies and take my generator.
TT
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2010 176
FJ Cruiser
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Posted By: 2wolves
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2019 at 9:21pm
Stephen, thank you so much for the info. I will not have temps down to 4 the worst probably 40, so hoping for 4 to 5 days.
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2022 196
2021 Chevy Tahoe
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Posted By: Happy Tripping
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2019 at 10:03pm
Originally posted by 2wolves
Stephen, thank you so much for the info. I will not have temps down to 4 the worst probably 40, so hoping for 4 to 5 days. |
With a good sleeping bag, you can shut off the furnace at night, which is a propane hog, and cut your propane consumption sharply. Don't forget to keep widows cracked to minimize condensation.
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 09 Jan 2019 at 2:51am
RPods have a 20000 btu furnace, meaning that it burns 20000 btu of propane per hour of operation. Propane contains 91600 btu per gallon. So the furnace will consume 1 gallon of propane in about 4.5 hours of operation. A full 20 lb cylinder contains 4.7 gallons, which will give you about 21 hours of furnace runtime. The fridge, water heater, and stove in comparison use a tiny amount of propane so you can ignore that.
Actual days of operation on a cylinder will depend on the furnace duty cycle, which is a lot harder to estimate.. You’ll see a huge difference between furnace usage at 4 degrees vs 40. Around 3x the heating requirement depending on where you set your thermostat . I doubt the furnace would even keep up at 4 degrees, travel trailers aren’t very well insulated. You’d be going through a cylinder in a day probably.
For the kind of 3-4 season camping you’re describing you should take a second propane cylinder with you, many of us do, Myself included. Last thing you want is to run out at 2am on a cold night, an hour out in the boonies from the closest place to swap a cylinder. You can either mount the second cylinder on the tongue or just carry it (upright and secured) in your tow vehicle. If you mount it on the tongue you can install an automatic changeover so you don’t have to go outside and fool with propane cylinders in the middle of a cold night. Luxury!
Just a sidebar comment, while camping at sub freezing temps be sure to keep your rPod winterized. The furnace won’t keep your water systems from freezing up, large parts of them aren’t in the heated space.
Back on your electric power system one other consideration is to take a portable generator with you. You can still use solar most of the time when available and keep the generator for backup and for cloudy weather, shady campsites etc. it’s also the only semi- practical solution if you want to run your air conditioner some of the time while boondocking in the summer. And you can kick it on a couple times a day for a few minutes of microwave operation as well.
A good year round 3+ season boondocks setup for the southeast/mid Atlantic is dual batteries, dual propane cylinders, 100-120 watts solar, and a 2300 watt inverter/generator. Provides for lots of flexibility at a reasonable weight and price point. Just my opinion. And yes that’s overkill for west coast campers with less shady campsites, less cloudy weather, and low or no summer cooling requirements, or for folks who mostly camp with hookups.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: 2wolves
Date Posted: 09 Jan 2019 at 4:26am
Offgrid,
Wow thank you for the detailed reply. Exactly what I was looking for. I purchased a Yamaha 3000 during black Friday for 1100. I'm going to carry an extra tank of propane. I'm also going to buy 200 watts of solar and chase the warmer temps. Heading out for Florida this morning and probably out to Arizona after that. Again I really appreciate your input. This is my first TT, so I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm looking forward to seeing this beautiful country. The military sent me a lot of places over 38 years, but it's time for me to see our country. Again thank you! I need people such as yourself
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2022 196
2021 Chevy Tahoe
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 09 Jan 2019 at 5:23am
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Anytime 2wolves. Sounds like you're another early riser.
I think you're right on target with your energy system plans. You shouldn't have any problems running whatever you need to with that setup, especially if you stay south/low in winter and north/high in summer.
Have fun and keep us posted!
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 09 Jan 2019 at 6:06am
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2wolves,
One other thing to consider if you haven't already.
With all that gear plus the water you'll be hauling if you're boondocking, plus your normal travel trailer cargo, plus you'll probably want a better mattress, etc, etc, you'll have a pretty heavy rPod, both on the tongue and the axle. It adds up fast. Then there's the generator and everything else you have in the bed, most of which also loads the truck rear axle.
While likely not a requirement with that tow vehicle, your rig might tow more comfortably with a weight distribution hitch/sway control system. And you might consider a tire upgrade from the low spec rubber that the trailers are sold with. Blowouts can spoil your whole day.
Just sayin'.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
|
Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 09 Jan 2019 at 8:20am
+ 1 to the WDH. You'll be much more comfortable driving the distances you described 2wolf. With a good WDH, you'll hardly feel the trailer, except when you are driving up steep grades. Many folks have different opinions about which WDH is the best. Check out the discussions by doing a search. The solar/propane/generator configuration offgrid mentioned is exactly what we have out west. For us, most of the time the generator sits in the garage and we take it along only if we anticipate running the AC. We got a duel fuel inverter generator to keep the fuel simple. Though it is not quite as efficient on propane, it still meets the power needs we have. It's a Champion that we got at Costco. They also sell a Yamaha that would work quite nicely. Both are priced very competitively.
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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 09 Jan 2019 at 8:58am
I’ve converted my Honda 2000 to dual propane/gasoline as well. I find I never use gasoline in it now, propane is so much less messy and stinky.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: 2wolves
Date Posted: 09 Jan 2019 at 1:53pm
Thank you all for writing. The only thing in the trailer is my foam mattress. I have everything else in my TV. I placed it all in front of my rear wheel. I did put on a sway bar. Any recommendations on WDH? Also are the Goodyear tires any good? Again thanks to all of you. My journey to Florida is going well so far.
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2022 196
2021 Chevy Tahoe
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Posted By: JR
Date Posted: 09 Jan 2019 at 2:45pm
In your travels you might want to give New Mexico State Parks a try when you get out there, they are a LOT less expensive than Arizona, and still good weather in the south.
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Jay
179/2019
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 09 Jan 2019 at 3:01pm
Good you’re moving weight forward.
I’d defer to others re preferences on wdh’s. I got mine with my Pod when I bought it used, it works but I don’t particularly like it.
Lots of folks like the Goodyears. Personally, I think brand is less important than load rating. The standard tires are load rating C. I’d recommend goinng to LRD’s. You can get LREs but there is a school of thought that those are overkill, so stiff that they could shake the trailer apart.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 09 Jan 2019 at 5:19pm
We use a Fastway E-2 for WHD. Easy set up, easy connect and disconnect. Great ride. Check out the archives doing a search and you'll find a ton of discussion and opinions.
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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost
|
Posted By: Ben Herman
Date Posted: 09 Jan 2019 at 7:56pm
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Check out the equalizer wd hitch. Kind of the industry standard, and its a good company to do business with.
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Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 09 Jan 2019 at 8:42pm
+1 to the Fastway E2. It's what we use and it also has a simple but effective anti-sway feature. The Equalizer and Anderson are also popular brands.
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost
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Posted By: michaeln
Date Posted: 12 Jan 2019 at 7:37pm
I just installed an e2 today. Have not towed with it yet, but next week I want to get it out to some level ground (I live in the mountains and we don't have a lot of that) to do the final adjustments and torquing. I am hoping all the great stuff I have heard about the e2 holds true for mine too.
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Avery, CA
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