bought them early because I've learned that practically every community college in America will be training solar installers because of the stimulus money going to alternative energy projects soon. I'm afraid that will increase the price of solar panels. Why protect the panels so well? Take a look at the tree hanging over our trailer. See all those dead limbs waiting for the next wind to blow them loose. Note the holding tank vent? The combiner box will go next to that vent and on this side of it. There is a small space where I can drill a hole for the wire to pass through the roof.

Sunday, August 2, 2009: I've been living on solar power for six weeks now. It worked about 90% as expected and is now working perfectly. My only problem was with the 2,500 Watt Vector inverter (original purchase). I just couldn't get it to work. I tried every trick and resetting it several times but finally gave up and returned it to InvertersRUS.com. Initially I was impressed with InvertersRUS because they shipped immediately and seemed to have competitive prices. However, when I wrote them for help, they ignored my emails and ignored my request for directions for a return until I filed an American Express dispute. They finally gave me return instructions where I had to pay for the return postage. They received the package on July 9, 2009 according to UPS and I'm still waiting for a refund credit to American Express. I absolutely DO NOT RECOMMEND dealing with InvertersRUS.com. I used them in the first place only because I thought a friend had recommended them only to learn that the friend had never dealt with them. I do expect to get a refund but only when American Express forces the issue. I did some research and found Vector inverters were sold online by Home Depot and at a better price than InvertersRUS. I chose to order only a 2000 watt inverter from Home Depot thinking that I really did not need the 2,500 watt power. Since I had the remote already installed, the 2000 watt was a bit smaller and could be easily connected to the wiring and remote. The package from Home Depot arrived quickly and with a return UPS shipping label in case there were problems. It installed quickly and works fine. I keep the 600 watt inverter as a backup to the Vector 2000 watt inverter but use only the remotely controlled Vector. It's been working fine since installed about three weeks ago.

You already know I use the Trojan T125 batteries which must be brought to a voltage of 14.8 for a couple of hours before going to float at 13.4. This voltage varies to temperature so if the temperature is low, say 67 degrees or lower, the batteries must be brought to a higher voltage, say 15.1. This can be a problem with some inverters because the inverter will shut down automatically at a high voltage. For the Vector, it is 15.5 volts ± .5. I've always been in warm weather since installing the Vector but if it shuts off at 15.5 - .5, that's 15 volts so I won't have AC power when the batteries reach their full charge cycle. All I can hope for is an automatic shut off of 15.5 or better. Watch for this when you purchase an inverter because many have a lower automatic shut off than 15 volts. (October 4, 2009 update: First, I highly recommend any brand OTHER THAN the Vector brand. Ours is still working but we are unable to run the DVD player using it and I believe it's because of the way the Vector creates the modified sine wave. Second, the Vector shuts down at 15 volts even though the stats indicate 15.5 volts ± .5. I've learned it's not such a problem anyway because you simply turn on enough lights to bring down the voltage, then turn on the inverter and whatever AC items you wanted to power, then turn off the lights. The AC load will likely keep the inverter below the cut off point.)

I have seen the amperage coming from my solar panels of better than 21 amps so I know all three are working as they should. Each one should put out 7.1 amps. in ideal conditions. The sun is high in the sky during these months so I should be getting a maximum return from my panels. I have noticed when the panels are even at a slight angle to the sun, the charge amperage is affected somewhat.

We are committed to solar. While camping at Gerber Reservoir (June, 2009) another camper offered to buy our Honda 2000 generator and we took him up on the offer. We are now solar only. We not only don't have to carry the generator as we travel but don't have to carry the gasoline to power it.

Friday, February 26, 2010: My friends Dick and Ralph admire my new Yamaha generator. They both own the Honda 2000, the same one I sold back in June so they were envious of my new Yamaha. Yes, after having high expectation of surviving without backup power, I have yielded and purchase the Yamaha EF2000iS. The specifications are identical to the Honda but slightly lighter, less noise, has a fuel shut off valve and most important, it's blue. It's cost is slightly higher than the Honda but I shopped the Internet, and found Stalkups RV Superstore in Casper, Wyoming selling this generator for $879 including shipping. They also did not charge sales tax since it was shipped out of state. I had it shipped to the "Pack and Ship" store in Safford, Arizona who charged $3 for this service. The shipping time was less than 48 hours from Casper, Wyoming to Safford, Arizona. What is interesting about this purchase was that I did not have to pay the huge 10% Arizona sales tax. Had I found this generator in a local store for $879, I would have to pay another $87.90 in sales tax. Gwen and I have found that it is stressful to be solely dependant upon solar power. We are relatively big power users watching TV and using the Internet daily. On cloudy days, we can't store enough power to do everything we wish to do, without sacrificing TV, Internet or both. During multiple cloudy days which we experienced in Truckee, California and during a few stormy days in Arizona, it really becomes stressful. The generator eliminates the stress, even though we don't expect to use it on a regular basis. It's also a great backup for the air compressor and microwave. I'm no longer a "purist" like my friend Handy Bob below. I have added a new feature to my "Weather Data" page to show not only how much solar energy I've stored for the day but whether I have used the generator (G) that day. Running the generator WILL store energy in the batteries through the converter. Generally, if the batteries are in a low state, my converter will charge at the rate of 55 amps for the first 30 minutes to 1 hour before dropping to a lower charge rate. Even a small amount of solar charge will top them off at that point.

You do have to manage your power usage during the day. We are often on the Internet first thing in the morning which requires AC power and I use AC to make a cup of coffee while Gwen uses AC to blend a smoothie for breakfast. We must consciously turn everything off during the best solar times of the day to allow the batteries to recharge fully before the evening. On a cloudy day, we would need to be even MORE conscientious about this. So far, we've had no problems.

I highly recommend you read the information at HandyBobSolar.com before choosing any solar installation whether you do it yourself or have someone do it for you.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010: When you look at the ampHour reports on the Weather Data chart, you should have some questions.

Question: Why do you get a full charge on some days when you get only a minimal number of AmpHours generated? For example, March 12, 2010, you got only 71.4 AmpHours yet the batteries were fully charged. Answer: This must have been a day when we left early in the morning to explore so no one was home to use any power. When the batteries are fully charged, the charge controller meters the solar ampHours to the batteries because they no longer need a charge so the recorded ampHours are few.

Question: Why don't you get a full charge on some large ampHour days? For example, April 14, 2010 you got 157.8 ampHours, yet the batteries were not fully charged. Answer: Sometimes we will begin using power early in the day, say turn on the Internet or watch the French Open tennis match which must be watch before noon our time. So the power is coming from the solar panels but instead of all the power going to recharge the batteries, some is siphoned off to power appliances we are using. The batteries never get quite enough ampHours to bring them to full charge. Generally, if we are able to leave appliances off in the morning (when the French Open is not in season) and allow the batteries to come to full charge THEN turn on the Internet or TV, the batteries will STAY at full charge until late in the day when the sun is at too great an angle to the panels. Another situation is using a lot of power on the previous evening draining the batteries to a lower state. A lot of ampHours are needed to bring those batteries back to a full charge. Perhaps the morning is clear so we begin to get a good charge from the panels THEN clouds begin to roll in. We get a good charge only when the sun peaks through the breaks in the clouds. This keeps the charge controller passing through all the ampHours available but stretches the ampHours over the entire day (as long as 14 hours of daylight) but the batteries never quite get to a full charge.

Question: Why is there such a huge difference in ampHours to charge the batteries when you are on shore power (sp)? For example on April 30, 2010 it took 85.9 ampHours to charge the batteries yet on May 8, 2010 it took on 5.4 ampHours for a full charge. Answer: This has to do with the way I have wired our trailer. I use TWO inverters. One inverter is a 600 watt pure sine wave inverter and is dedicated to our entertainment center and computers. The other inverter is a 2000 watt modified sine wave inverter used to power everything else. In general, I leave the 600 watt inverter on and connected even when we are using shore power. This means that ONE circuit is still getting all its power from the batteries but the batteries are being recharged from the solar panels as well as the converter. The converter STOPS charging the batteries at about 13.4 volts but to be fully charged the batteries MUST be brought to 14.8 volts plus or minus a few volts depending upon the temperature. These extra ampHours to bring the batteries to full charge come entirely from the solar panels NOT the converter so you might see 85.9 ampHours just because we are using the entertainment center or computers. On the other hand, it only takes about ten minutes to switch the wiring back to eliminate the inverter where ALL power is coming from the shore power connection and NOT the inverter. In that case, NO power is coming from the batteries and it takes only a few ampHours per day to maintain a full charge on the batteries.

is off. Finally, you CAN NOT bring your batteries to a full charge using a generator. That's because you plug the coach into the generator which charges the batteries through the converter. My Trojan batteries must be brought to 14.8 volts at 77 degrees (higher if colder) and held there for three hours to get a full charge. I have one of the best converters which delivers 55 amps to the batteries until they reach 14 volts then it cuts back to a trickle charge thinking the batteries are fully charged. You can see all this on either of my meters. It takes solar panels with a programmable solar charge controller like the Morningstar to bring the batteries to proper full charge voltage. Also you can't equalize your batteries using your converter. When we know it's going to be a cloudy day we will often use the generator in the morning to give the batteries a boost then let the solar panels bring them the rest of the way to a full charge. All this is detailed at Bob's solar site if you care to read volumes about it.

To summarize the use of the two meters, the Morningstar remote meter tells me what is happening with the solar panels while the Tri-metric meter tells me what's happening with the batteries. I can read the number of AmpHours coming from the solar panels on the Morningstar meter, the total AmpHours in a day, battery voltage and battery temperature. With the Tri-metric meter I will know how many of the AmpHours coming from the panels is being stored in the batteries (some may be used in the trailer if appliances or electronics is on). I will know how much power each individual item in the trailer uses (like our power-hog TV uses 10 Amps while the LED light over the dining table uses 0.2 Amps). The Tri-Metric meter also counts out the total Amps used from the batteries at night then counts them back in while charging during the day. For example, the meter reports 60 AmpHours needed to bring the batteries back to full charge and counts down as they are being replaced ... 59 ... 58 ...57 etc. If my solar panels are putting out 20 AmpHours, I know it will be 3 hours to get the 60 AmpHours I need for a full charge. It will also tell me the percent of charge in the battery. For example, today was a cloudy day so my batteries came back to 95% of full charge from solar charging. Normally, they will be back to 100% between noon and 3 pm depending upon the amount of power we are using during the day. Finally, I can remotely start a battery equilization using the Morningstar meter. Using both meters, I can better manage my power usage and storage.