[AL]

Jon, you are right, I believe the technology for solar is a long way off, maybe we will have mini nuclear plants for big rigs in the future, imagine not having to stop for fuel for five years at a time, yes you will have to have the whole top of the bus covered in radiators to cool the nuke rods in th small reacter. The down side of this senerio is having to be inspected by the Nuclear reglatory agency evey month. Well so much for that thought!

[Rick & Denise]

An important issue that should be addressed in any solar energy discussion is the “feel good” factor. I have a friend who has 30 large solar panels installed on his Arizona home. He takes great delight in showing me the real time graph on his smartphone depicting the fact that his solar array output is greatly exceeding the total requirements of his home. The fact that in his lifetime, he will never come close to receiving enough payments from the local power company to offset his large initial investment does in no way reduce his excitement over getting “free” power from the sun. I too succumbed to this “feel good” addiction when I attained hero status by plugging my not-nearly-as-smart-as-I-am neighbor’s coach into my solar powerhouse to provide his lovely wife the pleasure of watching her favorite TV program at a no-generators-allowed rally.

Fred, go for it! Google “RV solar books” to begin your education. I remember reading an early guide ( http://www.amazon.com/Rvers-Guide-Solar-Battery-Charging/dp/093794808X ) before starting to build my first solar system. Go ahead, get a few panels that will fit in the open spaces on your roof, wire them up and enjoy the warm feeling that comes from being able to enjoy the sound of chirping birds a little longer before drowning them out with that noisy smelly generator. But beware of opening Pandora’s feel good box because you’ll soon be as addicted as I am.

One more caution: Those half dozen rooftop air conditioners on your beautiful store-bought coach all cast shadows. Many solar panel outputs go to zero as soon as the smallest shadow creeps onto the collecting surface. Build an ugly platform to raise the panels above the air conditioners or, taking note of the lack of shadow free roof space, realize that you just may not have the best vehicle to take advantage of the joys that solar living can bring. My roof is flat with nothing but solar panels on it, but I’ll die still dreaming of the day my coach is as nicely trimmed out as yours. Trying to build your own solar powered Liberty ain’t for sissies.

Rodger: Solar and wind power compliment each other perfectly. Often, at night and in bad weather, the wind is blowing briskly. Wind turbine technology is just beginning to reach the level I’m seeking. I’ll have one before long. Then I’ll be looking for the perfect hydro “RAT” to put out in that trout stream. We fighter pilots are always thinking outside the box.

Megan & Gary: I thought Coleman’s fuel cell was the answer to our dreams, but the outlook is not good as Dan’s Data http://www.dansdata.com/gz066.htm shows. ‘Sad because the outputs of fuel cells are electricity and pure hot water. Of course, pure hydrogen fill-up stations are still rather scarce. I won’t even ask the price per gallon.

[Ace]

Longer dry
camping without a generator running using solar power sounds like fun. The
peace and quiet in a secluded camping location without noise would be great.

However, I don’t
think solar panels and wind generators could ever come close to a reasonable
payback.

I believe the
best solution would be to reduce the electrical energy consumption in the coach
itself. Simply replacing your interior lights with LED lights will reduce your
light power load by approximately 90% Replace your television with an LED flat
screen. Replace your refrigerator with a propane/electric model.

What do you
still need 110 VAC power for? Not much, just the television assuming you will
not try to run the AC units and possibly an auxiliary air compressor.

Now that the
coach electrical load is minimized, why are you running two 3000 watt inverters?
They each have an overhead even when they are not making 110 volt AC power.
Turn one of them off or better yet replace it with a 1500 watt inverter.
Obviously your loads need to be wired to the operational inverter.

[Larry & Diane]

Somehow I cannot get past the concept of owning a highly equipped luxury coach, with all the bells and whistles the market demands, and trying to adapt it to a conservative lifestyle.

If the coach were to start life as a clean sheet of paper with the goal of being “off the grid” I see no disconnect. But to start with a coach that is clearly not built with that in mind becomes a challenge in literally adjusting a lifestyle while dealing with a coach at odds with that lifestyle.

John is correct in coming at the objective from two directions. The coach not only needs such power source as solar, but it needs to be heavily modified from its present configuration to reduce its need for power. I believe folks like Ron are successful because “off the grid” was a design objective, whereas the typical conversion of the last 20 years had a completely different design objective. To change is like trying to get an SUV to deliver the fuel efficiency of a Prius. It might be possible, but in the end the SUV will not look anything like what it started out as due to weight reduction and a more efficient configuration to eliminate drag.