Gave up and going Solar

[2Wanderers]

Don't dry camp very often, but when we do we count on the Honda to recharge the batteries. Well, it always works except when we really needed it. Apparently, I didn't add enough Seafoam or Stabil and the carb was totally plugged up when we really needed it. Spent three nights at a national rec area and were sitting around with a portable led bar at night hoping there would be enough batteries to close the slides and raise the front to hook up. Several neighbors all had solar, so we got familiar with the subject.
Enough!!! Went out and bought 10 led light bulbs to lessen the drain, a 600 watt sine wave inverter for TV and satellite, lots of 4 gauge wire, and a 145 watt solar panel and 30 amp controller (Go Power) to recharge the batteries. Everything has worked just fine so far. Got the inverter installed and now the solar. Lots of crawling around in tight places, working behind paneling, and etc. to get a clean professional look. Didn't want to spend too much, but still wanted it to be quality and expandable. Very happy with the results.
Update: Added an additional panel and replaced both batteries with some very good deep cycle DieHards . Works fine with sunny days. However, with just one cloudy day, the batteries ran down to 50 percent. The inverter shut down! Going to add one more panel and perhaps one more battery. Good news is solar panels have come down by 2/3 which makes improvements affordable.

[HamRad]

Sounds great.... Pictures man pictures! Please. Thanks, HamRad

[DQDick]

Congratulations! Solar is on our "Some Day" list. Hope we can get it done some day.

[PapaBeav]

We had solar installed at Quartzsite last year, what a difference.

[scattershot]

We had ours installed at Qsite a couple of years ago, and I'm only sorry we didn't do it sooner. It's the only way to fly! Don't hesitate, do it now!

[2Wanderers]

Update on solar!! Ran the slides in and out and then ran the television, satellite receiver, and several lights for about 4 hours during the night after installation of the solar and the inverter. Left the refrigerator and a light on overnight and by 9 AM the following day I checked the solar charge controller and the batteries were already at 100% charge. This stuff really works!!! If you are like me and have been thinking about it for a while now and wondered if it was worth it, let me tell you it will change where we camp and our concerns about hookups.

[7.3Ford]

The thing I like the best, is my Montana sits in storage lot, and the batteries are always kept charged, and I always have AC power at the storage lot if I need to do some maintenance.

It would be nice if Keystone offered it as an option, or at least a prep package with wires from roof to basement.

[DQDick]

Since we posted on this thread originally we had solar installed at Q. Love the freedom it gives us.