Solar pay off?

[suprz]

I have a question for those who added solar to their RV. In hindsight was it honestly worth the expense, and how long do you think it has taken you to recoup your investment by boondocking, camping without hookups, etc. The way we camp right now, our single deep cycle and generator work well for us. Im just curious because i see videos and read articles about folks just going crazy adding solar to their rv's. One guy spent $5000.00 on Lithium batteries alone! :E

[Vintage465]

I have solar and generator. I never figured I would recoup the cost of solar......as this is recreation right? Not really sure how one would figure a comparison between generator and boon docking and being a location with hook ups. They are usually pretty dis-similar types of places.........normally, not always though. Never use the generator. I don't like the noise of a generator and I don't like being near people using generators. I'm not really sure why people are so addicted to their 110v stuff. I mean, I suppose if you full time and you make your living on a computer there could be a reason. If there is a health reason, then of course. But otherwise.....why do we need 110v if we are camping? I make my coffee on the stove and I think it's better then any Keurig or Mr.Coffee type drip. We use the oven and stove to cook on or we cook outside. If we boon dock then I'm gonna boon dock when it's not 90 degrees or more. If I have to be somewhere that is that hot........I'm stopping at a place with hook ups.....If I get stuck somewhere boon docking and can't get out for some reason, like snow or something else......and I have to use the generator....I have it. Otherwise my solar keeps my batteries up for weeks at a time. Not looking for a fight here, just think there are other options besides living out in the boon docks like you live at home.

[Almot]

shelbyfv wrote:

Almot wrote:
I remember one Mexican....

When I first heard this he was a West Virginian.

I doubt senor Marcos had ever been to West Virginia, though people can find themselves in a similar situation in any corner of the world.

The point (or one of the points) was that "single battery with generator working fine" is a questionable statement in offgrid. Also that without A/C and MW you can live off a small solar quite reliably. Not trying to convince anybody here, just my observations.

[shelbyfv]

Almot wrote:
I remember one Mexican....

When I first heard this he was a West Virginian.

[Almot]

Itinerant1 wrote:

Maybe the OP just wants to justify his simplistic way of "camping"

Or simplistic way of killing a single battery by undercharging and/or running generator all day and part of the night.

I remember one Mexican guy, God rest his soul. He did have a solar - 160 or 200W with cheap controller, probably under $250 total cost. Bought it as soon as panels have become affordable. Didn't debate whether it was financially wise decision, between generator and solar it was an obvious choice in a village with no electricity.
When his single battery gone sour, he had to run a generator from sunset until his family turns satellite TV off - for several weeks. He was well aware that was losing money, just didn't have $300 to buy a pair of deep cycle batteries. Was suffering all that time, watching his hard earned pesos going down the fuel tank.

[Traveler7]

One thing to consider- this is a fun thing to do if you are a science oriented person- like a Science Fair Project with good practical applications! Fun!!

[Itinerant1]

suprz wrote:
Im just curious because i see videos and read articles about folks just going crazy adding solar to their rv's. One guy spent $5000.00 on Lithium batteries alone! :E

^^
Maybe the OP just wants to justify his simplistic way of "camping" why some of us folks go "crazy" with solar and LFP for our way of "living".:h

[Almot]

Rice wrote:
the OP asked about recouping the investment--how long it took--and people answered with specific time periods, like three years. I was wondering what numbers they used to come up with that.

Cost of living with solar VS cost of paying $$ for hookups VS generator fuel, maintenance and amortization. Many different scenarios, some apply to you and some don't.
The factor of silence, no smell and no pain of repairs is difficult to factor in.

What the OP really wanted to know and why, remains a mystery, IMO.

[Itinerant1]

Rice wrote:
For those of you who are saying your solar has paid for itself, what numbers did you use in your calculations?

Rice that's easy before solar install in April '16' we fulltimed since 2014 and part time (7 months a year since 2012). Using That time period paying daily, weekly and monthly rates.

Dispersed camping
2016 (4/16 - 12/31) 200 days
2017 (1/1 - 12/31) 365 days
2018 (1/1 - 8/9) 220 days

Using previous years of rving (fulltiming) prior to solar install (4/13/16), RV park cost averaged to $25.00 a day.
443 days of dispersed camping needed for return on solar. Since Aug last year system has paid for itself.

As I said in the other post a properly installed system just operates in the background day after day and certainly don't miss walking out the door looking at someone's septic pipe and slide outs within touching distance.
Peace and quiet.

[pianotuna]

Rice wrote:
For those of you who are saying your solar has paid for itself, what numbers did you use in your calculations?

Cost of fuel for generator for a similar power generation as the solar panels. And my system is tiny by today's standards.

[Rice]

allen8106 wrote:
I don't particularity care if the payback is 50 years. I didn't install solar with thoughts of recouping my investment.

Okay, but the OP asked about recouping the investment--how long it took--and people answered with specific time periods, like three years. I was wondering what numbers they used to come up with that.

[allen8106]

I don't particularity care if the payback is 50 years. I didn't install solar with thoughts of recouping my investment. My only thought was I wanted the ability to go camping anywhere I wanted regardless of power availability. With my solar I can do this.

[profdant139]

Rice, that is a tough question. What is the value of a silent evening, miles from anyone else, sitting with my wife in camp chairs outside the trailer, watching a meteor shower without the sound of the generator? How much would I pay NOT to listen to a generator?

I can tell you that we go to a lot of trouble to boondock in total isolation, so maybe you could use the labor expended in that process as a substitute for the market value of the silence itself?

Pick a number.

Now multiply that one-time value by the total number of nights I have been able to avoid using my generator. Hundreds of times??

I think that my point (and there must be one in here, somewhere) is that the intangible and unquantifiable benefits of solar are far greater than the actual dollars involved. I won't say it is infinite -- if someone offered to pay me a million dollars to miss that quiet evening and listen to a generator instead, I would do it.

But not for a hundred dollars.

[Rice]

For those of you who are saying your solar has paid for itself, what numbers did you use in your calculations?

[Gjac]

I have asked myself the same question and I think the answer really depends on what you camp in, where you camp and your energy needs. Some on here camp in 5 wheels and trailers that don't come with gensets some in class A's with built in gensets. Some like to stay in one site for a week or more some like to travel and see the country every several days or so. For example I have minimal energy needs, water pump, refer controls and a few lights and 230 AH batteries. In 14 years and 80k miles of travel I have never used my genset just to charge my batteries and I dry camp 95% of the time but I never stay in the same spot for more than a week at a time. I travel more than stay for weeks in the same spot. After 7 days I am out of fresh water and my batteries are 50% SOC so I need to drive to another spot anyway to dump and fill and my wife needs to do laundry. I have to look for ways just to exercise my generator but my generator has more hrs just running at home under load.