My Scamp 16 will have a Group 27 battery. Somewhere on the web I read that , when boondocking, 75 watts of solar charging per person should be allowed. I'll use a watt tester ith all of the appliances ,devices and lighting to calculate requirement. Of course the first thing I plan to do is change all lights to LED.
1) calculate your total daily power needs (furnace+lights+water pump etc)
2) find a solar panel that will keep your battery charged sufficiently to meet your daily needs (remember it won't always be sunny and that some solar panels do better with shady/part-shady conditions than others.
3) you'll likely need a solar controller to prevent overcharging your battery, so you'll need to decide whether to have an integrated controller+panel combination or a separate controller+panel install. Our current 19' Scamp setup uses a portable folding Renogy 100W panel with integrated controller - available also on Amazon (where you can see the controller integrated on the back of the panel). [We also considered the Go-power 120W panel - available on Amazon - but opted for the less expensive Renogy]. In our previous trailer's - a 17' Casita SD - setup we used a separate controller+panel setup which I think is preferable since the solar controller can selected to be more powerful and efficient - but this is more complex to install.
As a second step toward extending your boondocking capabilities, after converting your lights to LEDs, you can increase your battery capacity by converting your single 12 volt battery to a pair of 6 volt Golf Car batteries. The 6 volt batteries increase your electric storage capacity by having increased amp hours and a deeper discharge cycle than the 12 volt battery.
Here is my strategy for extending my boondocking capabilities...
Step 1, Convert all lights to LEDs and use propane for refrigeration.
Step 2, Convert my battery system to use 6 volt batteries.
Step 3, Add solar capability...
Step 3(a), I would start with a portable solar system (around 60 watts).
Step 3(b), Install a permanent solar panel on the roof (100 + watts)
Step 3(a) could be skipped in favor of step 3(b) if you know you will be boondocking for extended periods.
Once you have converted to the 6 volt batteries and added solar to your roof, Electricity should no longer be the factor limiting your boondocking, Water and Waste will then become your limiting factors.
Considering I haven't even started trailering yet, it may be presumptuous of me to offer advice about solar. But my thinking is that with a portable solar panel the solar can be moved away from the RV if it happens to be parked in the shade. It also would be easier to point the panel toward the sun. Please correct me if you disagree.
Spot on Bill. Frequently we have to chase the sun with our portable panel (besides the Scamp battery we also use it to charge a trolling motor battery).
My Scamp 16 will have a Group 27 battery. Somewhere on the web I read that , when boondocking, 75 watts of solar charging per person should be allowed. I'll use a watt tester ith all of the appliances ,devices and lighting to calculate requirement. Of course the first thing I plan to do is change all lights to LED.
Bill
1) calculate your total daily power needs (furnace+lights+water pump etc)
2) find a solar panel that will keep your battery charged sufficiently to meet your daily needs (remember it won't always be sunny and that some solar panels do better with shady/part-shady conditions than others.
3) you'll likely need a solar controller to prevent overcharging your battery, so you'll need to decide whether to have an integrated controller+panel combination or a separate controller+panel install. Our current 19' Scamp setup uses a portable folding Renogy 100W panel with integrated controller - available also on Amazon (where you can see the controller integrated on the back of the panel). [We also considered the Go-power 120W panel - available on Amazon - but opted for the less expensive Renogy]. In our previous trailer's - a 17' Casita SD - setup we used a separate controller+panel setup which I think is preferable since the solar controller can selected to be more powerful and efficient - but this is more complex to install.
As a second step toward extending your boondocking capabilities, after converting your lights to LEDs, you can increase your battery capacity by converting your single 12 volt battery to a pair of 6 volt Golf Car batteries. The 6 volt batteries increase your electric storage capacity by having increased amp hours and a deeper discharge cycle than the 12 volt battery.
Here is my strategy for extending my boondocking capabilities...
Step 1, Convert all lights to LEDs and use propane for refrigeration.
Step 2, Convert my battery system to use 6 volt batteries.
Step 3, Add solar capability...
Step 3(a), I would start with a portable solar system (around 60 watts).
Step 3(b), Install a permanent solar panel on the roof (100 + watts)
Step 3(a) could be skipped in favor of step 3(b) if you know you will be boondocking for extended periods.
Once you have converted to the 6 volt batteries and added solar to your roof, Electricity should no longer be the factor limiting your boondocking, Water and Waste will then become your limiting factors.
As Always,
Happy Scamping !!!
Considering I haven't even started trailering yet, it may be presumptuous of me to offer advice about solar. But my thinking is that with a portable solar panel the solar can be moved away from the RV if it happens to be parked in the shade. It also would be easier to point the panel toward the sun. Please correct me if you disagree.
Happy trails
Bill
Spot on Bill. Frequently we have to chase the sun with our portable panel (besides the Scamp battery we also use it to charge a trolling motor battery).
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