Planing to dry camp? Or be prepared to stay in a parking lot when normal RV hookups are not available? Solar charging is a great silent source for “Green” power. Add a 110v inverter option and you can run microwaves, computers, TVs, etc. even at a roadside rests. According to many of our full-time customers, a single optional roof mounted 110+ watt rated solar panel keeps up with their average 12v dc power use. Nothing goes “putt, putt, putt”.

Now that statement is like “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”. A single solar panel won’t keep up with a high demand, such a LED HD TV or microwave running all day long. Or, turning on all the lights and letting them run for long periods of time. However most of our customers are practical conservative users of 12v electrical power and therefore the single panel, with normal sunshine, keeps up with their 12v power demand. If you do want more available power, one way to get it is by adding additional golf cart batteries for additional power storage. The next step is to add an additional roof mounted solar panel or panels. We normally have the space available for at least 4 roof mounted solar panels.

The control panel shown above reads battery voltage, battery charging amps, battery charge condition and also acts as a voltage regulator, to help prevent overcharging.

Our custom battery box is vented. Our 4 golf cart battery option hooks 6v batteries in series to produce 12v, then the two 12v battery assemblies are hooked in parallel, with a rated maximum storage charge of 270 amp hours @12v. That’s a lot of 12v “juice”. The black wire loop sitting on the top of the batteries is the control cable loop for the optional 2000 w. 110v. inverter, which is normally ordered with solar power. Golf cart batteries last longer, charge faster and give up more of their charge in usable electrical form, than do RV/Marine deep cycle batteries.

Ron and Dan, with the mobile service trailer, are our normal solar and inverter installers, at the Elkhart, IN upfitting center. They often winter in Arizona.

Dave & Judy Fairbanks are pictured checking out in their new RT model at the Native Indian AVI KOA Resort, near our Colorado River factory order display location in Bullhead City, Arizona. Their solar system was ordered with 6 golf cart batteries, as their home park has a separate meter for each camper and they wanted to reduce their metered electrical grid power costs.