SOLAR PANEL INSTALLATION

  The last two weeks have been spent on an assortment of preparation tasks.  Effort continues on scraping, paint touch up, caulking and re-sealing.  Cleaning and waxing is taking place in small sections so that it somehow seems much less overwhelming.  One running board has been removed, rust repaired, repainted and re-installed.  The second one is undergoing the same process and we hope to have that re-installed next week.

  The big project completed this past week was the "successful" installation of the Solar Panel on the roof.  We are currently simulating "living off the grid" with the exception of morning coffee from our Keurig courtesy of the generator.  It's a daily must have:)  The Solar Panel installation took two days and was completed just as the overcast weather rolled in, however it is still creating enough energy to keep our house battery charged.

  Day one involved the mounting of the Solar Panel on the roof and running the wiring from the panel down through the refrigerator vent to the Charge Controller that was flush mounted in the wall just inside the entry door.  The space under the refrigerator was the perfect spot to use for this install.  

 

  Day two required some gathering of additional materials.  We made two trips to Home Depot, one to Lowes and stopped at two auto parts stores.  Now we were ready to finish the install. Work started back up in the late afternoon with installation of a conduit from the engine compartment along the chassis to the midsection of the RV and up through a newly drilled hole in the floor under the refrigerator. The two 6 gauge stranded wires were snaked through the conduit from the battery to the controller. A 30 amp in line fuse (optional) was installed on the positive side and the final tie to the Charge Controller was made. We had everything wrapped up by the time the sun was going down.
 

 
The next morning we woke up hoping to see an indication that the panel was doing its thing. We had a reading from the battery indicating voltage and percentage of charge, but no reading from the panel. Lunch break involved two calls to tech support and with the 'flip' of two wires we were in business!!! The days haven't been too sunny, but we are able to live on the 12-volt electrical system (that means no microwave, no hair dryer, no toaster oven) and it looks like we are maintaining a sufficient level of charge to our house battery. This brings us one step closer to traveling without having to depend on stopping at a traditional RV park with Water, Sewer & Electric hookups.

There are thoughts about more Solar Panels, a possible Wind Turbine and a larger battery bank that will support a 2000 to 3000 watt inverter to change 12 volt to 120 volt so that the everyday appliances we have in the RV can be used if need be without using the generator.  We have become very dependant on our Keurig and microwave for cooking and reheating things as well as the use of our toaster oven.  We still have our gas range and oven to use as well as a portable gas grill.

 
 Those things will probably have to wait for now because next month we have to bring the RV in for new tires, new shocks, tune up, brake check, oil change, new ignition switch, repair of broken bolt on one exhaust manifold and a few other things on my list.  Plus we can't forget to find time for family and fun before we pull out in November.


  In the evenings we are spending time reading about boondocking, full time RV travel, living off-grid, water conservation tips, and cooking ideas that don't require electricity. This next year will no doubt be an awesome experience and as long as there is a cup of coffee every morning we should be able to enjoy where the road leads us.
FP & RG