Several people have
asked about our solar set up and the equipment we have so I thought a
blog post about our system would be helpful.
We knew starting out
that we would be doing some boondocking and plenty of dry camping so
solar was always going to be part of the modifications we would add
to the Airstream. We considered, briefly, using a generator for
battery charging and those times when there may be some high
electrical needs but liked the idea of solar for its simplicity,
clean energy and quiet operation. Not having a generator also means
no extra fuel to carry around and less equipment to haul in the bed
of the pickup. You can get propane powered generators that can run
off of the same propane tanks on the Airstream but the idea of the
extra equipment and the noise that they generate didn’t really appeal to
us.
We had a simple
solar set up on our Sportsmobile, prior to buying the Airstream, so we
had a little knowledge about panels and batteries but knew we needed
someone with a lot more expertise than we had. Our research on
Airstream Forums led us to make a call to Lew Farber. From the Forum
we could tell that Lew had the knowledge and experience and that he
would do a first class job.
We contacted Lew in November 2016 to
start the discussions knowing he would be in Hood River, OR for the
summer and we planned to be making our first extended trip with the
Airstream at the end of May as we would be heading for the Oregon
Coast. We thought that if he had a time slot open, we could drop the
Airstream off with Lew while we were at the coast for two weeks and
then pick it up after our stay. As it turned out, that’s exactly
how it worked out.
We had several
conversations with Lew over the first few months about panels,
batteries and whether we needed to upgrade the inverter. Our
Airstream, a 2017 27FB International Signature, came with the
standard Interstate batteries located in the box on the tongue, a
1000 watt inverter, and a simple converter for charging the
batteries. We also discussed the advantages and disadvantages of AGM
batteries vs Lithium and the size and number of solar panels that we
needed, and could expand to, given the roof area we had. Lew put
together several options and what each would cost. It didn’t take
long to know that we had made the right choice to have an expert like
Lew design our system and educate us on our options.
Lew works with AM
Solar out of Springfield, OR for all of the equipment and does the
installation himself at his shop across the River from Hood River in
Bingen, WA. (Lew is an authorized installer for AM Solar)
In January of 2017,
we sent Lew a small deposit to assure a spot on his calendar for June
1st. The plan was for Lew to purchase and install the
following major pieces of equipment:
4 - 100 watt SP100
high effeciency monocrystalline solar panels with mounting feet and
tilt bars
1 - 300 amp hour
Victron LiFePO4 (Lithium) battery
1 - Magnum MS2000
Inverter/Charger
1 - Victron
Bluesolar MPPT charge controller
1 – 200 amp
Victron Battery Monitor
1 - Soft start on
our rear air conditioner
1 – weBoost
cellular booster/amplifier with larger, enhanced antenna
Having the 300 ah Lithium batteries and the soft start allows us to run the air conditioner for 1 to 2 hours on the battery bank without being plugged in to shore power or a generator.
We also have a blue tooth monitoring system that runs through an app on our iPhones which allows us to monitor our panels and batteries.
The battery, battery
monitor, charge controller and inverter/charger are all located under
the bed. The panels, of course, are on the roof. All the wiring is
run down through the refrigerator vent so no penetrations were made
in the roof, including the weBoost wiring. The panels and weboost
antenna are mounted with double stick tape and Dicor sealant, also
assuring that no mounting holes were made in the roof.
I won’t go into details about the equipment and the specifications. If you are
interested, AM Solar (amsolar.com) has a great web site and discusses
equipment options, specifications and advantages and disadvantages of
each component. Lew at Solar Tech Energy Systems has been in the RV
and Marine solar installation business for many years and is
recognized as one of the top providers/installers in the United
States. He spends his winters in Naples, FL and summers in Hood
River, OR. You can contact Lew, if you are interested in working with him on a solar setup, for your RV or boat at 4rvsolar@gmail.com.
We have been on the
road for 7 months and have relied on our solar many times. It has
never failed us and we know that if issues arise, Lew is just a phone
call away!
![]() |
A drone shot of our new panels, right after the install. |
![]() |
MacKerricher State Park, panels tilted to better capture to the sun. |
![]() |
Trona Pinnacles |
![]() |
I know this is too far away to see the solar panels, but what a cool shot, huh?!!! |
Parkdale, OR...we didn't see a lot of sun in these trees, but we sure enjoyed this spot. |
Walmart in Butte, Montana |
![]() |
Trona Pinnacles |
![]() |
Death Valley, Furnace Creek |
![]() |
Mounting of the tilt bars |
![]() |
Battery, inverter/charger, charge controller and battery monitoring system under the bed. |
No comments:
Post a Comment