Solar Power

[ronwalker]

Joe, you'll never see the conversion companies who put out a coach that requires two 50 amp plugs for shore power or a 24k generator suggest that solar panels will do much of anything for you. The output of the best solar system available will be a drop in the bucket compared to the power the ladies are accustomed to using on a daily basis. Consider that a roof covered with panels in full sun will compare with only a half day's running of a little 1000 watt generator. Can she run the AC, cook supper on that 220 volt cooktop and watch that 40" TV for six hours without draining the batteries? Hardly! She's not gonna be a happy camper and when mama's not happy, no-one is!

On the other hand, if you make good use of the wheels to get to comfortable temperatures and cook the steak and potatos on the gas or charcoal grill while she watches the smaller TV, there's a chance you might get to boondock on the shore of that picture postcard lake for more than a couple days. You could also extend your stay by cooking the game hens in the convection/microwave in the middle of the day when the solar system is putting out more than what the batteries will accept, then nuking them later to just warm 'em back up. Asking her to conserve much more than that is pressing your luck. She doesn't like the idea of cooking those smelly trout in her clean kitchen anyhow. (In all fairness, my wife enjoyed the freedom from hook-ups and was an expert at putting every one of those free amphours to good use.)

Is investing in companies that sell solar panels a smart decision when we can't get the average family to buy one energy efficient light bulb to help us attain energy independence? I'm a believer and I have a friend who sells power to the grid from the $50,000 array on his house, but he won't break even in his lifetime. I doubt the public will get serious until pressured heavily to do so. Sad!

My two cents worth.

[truk4u]

Just for the record, many Marathon's, my ex 97 included, came from the factory with a solar panel to keep the gen battery charged and it worked well.

[sawdust_128]

Joe, you'll never see the conversion companies who put out a coach that requires two 50 amp plugs for shore power or a 24k generator suggest that solar panels will do much of anything for you. The output of the best solar system available will be a drop in the bucket compared to the power the ladies are accustomed to using on a daily basis. Consider that a roof covered with panels in full sun will compare with only a half day's running of a little 1000 watt generator. Can she run the AC, cook supper on that 220 volt cooktop and watch that 40" TV for six hours without draining the batteries? Hardly! She's not gonna be a happy camper and when mama's not happy, no-one is!

On the other hand, if you make good use of the wheels to get to comfortable temperatures and cook the steak and potatos on the gas or charcoal grill while she watches the smaller TV, there's a chance you might get to boondock on the shore of that picture postcard lake for more than a couple days. You could also extend your stay by cooking the game hens in the convection/microwave in the middle of the day when the solar system is putting out more than what the batteries will accept, then nuking them later to just warm 'em back up. Asking her to conserve much more than that is pressing your luck. She doesn't like the idea of cooking those smelly trout in her clean kitchen anyhow. (In all fairness, my wife enjoyed the freedom from hook-ups and was an expert at putting every one of those free amphours to good use.)

Is investing in companies that sell solar panels a smart decision when we can't get the average family to buy one energy efficient light bulb to help us attain energy independence? I'm a believer and I have a friend who sells power to the grid from the $50,000 array on his house, but he won't break even in his lifetime. I doubt the public will get serious until pressured heavily to do so. Sad!

My two cents worth.

I agree with your assessment of condition/opinion/attitudes here in the U.S. BP Solar, Kyocera, Seimens and other global industry movers and shakers are jumping in the game. They saw the rapid deployment of cellular phone technology to eastern Europe after the fall of the wall. It was driven by the lack of infrastructure. This is very similar to what is happening with small-medium sized, stand alone power production in many third world locations. Thus, there appears to be a growing investment opportunity here, especially in off-shore and emerging markets.

Also, over investing in solar array to sell power back to the grid ranks right up there in the "sure thing" investment category as buying a Prevost conversion to make money.