20w solar

20w solar

« Previous12345Next »

Is solar for your RV really worth the money?

There are many reasons to like your RV but, the number one expensive of owning an RV is gas. Like a car, gas propels the RV's engine, the RV's engine runs the alternator, the alternator recharges the starter battery and the battery that runs the appliance (house battery). When the RV's engine is turned on, the batteries are constantly recharging. However, when the RV's engine is turned off, the batteries are discharging rapidly when you are running appliances. Appliances that draw larger amounts of amperage, such as microwaves, can leave your RV's batteries at dangerous discharged levels, decreasing their usable life.  Typically, RV owners run gas generators or pay for an electrical hookup at a campground to run the appliances and recharge the RV's house battery on the RV's engine is not on.

Every RV owner has to choose which power source to use when the RV's engine is not running. The 3 main chooses are a gas generator, electrical hookup at a campground, or green energy (solar panels or/and wind generator). Paying for an electrical hookup at a campground is the most costly alternative for an RVer. At $20.00 a night, a frequent RV user can pay $1600 - $2500 a year just on electric hookups.

When looking at a gas generator, one can easily see the cost of owning a generator. Let's compare the 800W Generac Generator with the 420W RV Solar Kit from GoSolarOutdoors.com. The cost of a 420W RV Solar Kit is $1,495.00. The cost of the 800W Generac Generator is $371.99. If you want to use the generator in the winter or on cold nights, you must buy the Generac' Cold Weather Kit for $134.99, which brings the total cost to $506.98. However, the cost to run and maintain a gas generator, overtime, costs drastically more than a RV Solar Kit.

Lets look at the cost of maintenance in detail. The Generac' Yearly Maintenance Kit cost $14.95 and you will be paying $19.95 for oil when you do your yearly oil change. You will pay $34.90 just in general yearly maintenance. This does not include replacement parts when you need to repair the generator.

When looking at the cost of gas, one can easily see the advantage of a RV Solar Kit. The 800W Generac Generator running at 50% capacity and the 420W RV Solar Kit will both produce approximately 333.3Amps of recharging current for the RV's house battery in 10 hours of sun light (400W/12V = 33.33Amp x 10 hrs = 333.3). The extra 20W of the RV Solar Kit compensate for loss. According to its specs, the 800W Generac Generator will run for 3.6 hrs. on .5 gallons of gas at 50% load capacity (400W). With gas prices in Minnesota currently at $2.89 per gallon, it will take $4.02 to run the 800W Generac Generator for 10 hrs and produce 333.3Amp to recharge the RV's house battery. If you use your RV 25% of the year (91 days), you will be paying $372.19 per year on gas just for the 800W Generac Generator. Thus, the total cost of owning the 800W Generac Generator for the first year is $914.07 (Generator = $371.99, cold weather kit = $134.99, routine maintenance = $34.90, gas = $372.19). This is a very conservative estimate. The second year will add an additional $407.09 cost of ownership if you continue to travel 91 days in your RV (gas = $372.19 and routine maintenance = $34.90), which increases the total cost of owning the 800W Generac Generator to $1,321.10. In 2.5 years, the cost of owning the 800W Generac Generator will be more than the price of the 420W RV Solar Kit. After the third year, the 420W RV Solar Kit will save the RV owner over $400.00 of gas and routine maintenance cost a year if the RV owner continues to uses their RV 91 days of the year, assuming the cost of gas stays the same and doesn't continue to increase.

As you can see from my discussion above, the choice of using solar panels over a gas generator is an good investment regardless if you are a "Tree Hugger" or not. Depending on your usage, a RV solar kit will pay for itself in 2 – 5 years. When adding the complication of carrying a generator and the hazard of storing additional gas, one has to ask himself why haven't more RV ownership switched to Solar before this?  Don't wait, get yours today at: www.GoSolarOutdoors.com.

 

About the Author

Joaquin Thomas is the president of Xtra Lite Solar, Inc., the parent company of GoSolarOutdoors.com.  GoSolarOutdoors.com is a superstore retailer of solar products for Camping, Hiking, Boating, RV Boondocking, and other outdoor activities.  GoSolarOutdoors has helped outdoor enthusiast discover solar products that help them save money, explore remote locations, and reduce their carbon footprint. Visit our blog at http://gosolaroutdoors.blogspot.com for helpful tips. If you would like to contact Joaquin Thomas, email him at jt@gosolaroutdoors.com or call him at1-800-XTRALITE ext. 110

Solar Fountains 1360L/H "Holy Moly" 20W solar panels