Solar 19

[Bobbito]

What great information on the electrical system options. We opted for a generator rather than a solar panel because we needed it to charge our boat's battery PLUS in heavily wooded campsites and in cloudy weather we doubt there would be sufficient light to adequately charge our batteries solely on solar north of the US border. If we hadn't been trying to save on our build sheet we might have gotten the solar anyway for when it would be helpful.

Bob K

PS We just experienced a minor earthquake as I was typing this.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by Bobbito

PS We just experienced a minor earthquake as I was typing this.

Oh, I gotta go and tell my wife. She said she felt one last night, I thought she imagined it.

Ron

[dfandrews]

Originally Posted by Bobbito

PS We just experienced a minor earthquake as I was typing this.

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Oh, I gotta go and tell my wife. She said she felt one last night, I thought she imagined it.

Ron

Yup, that's big enough to notice.
M4.8 - 19km NNE of Victoria, Canada

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Oh, I gotta go and tell my wife. She said she felt one last night, I thought she imagined it.

Ron

I too am in North Van and was watching the news when it happened. Caused me to start. I didn't know what it was until they broke into the newscast. I felt no shaking, saw nothing move, but there was a noise like a gust of wind rattling a tarp.
I think it depends if you are sitting on rock or in a silt basin.

[Brian B-P]

Since we're talking about the earthquake, here's the Canadian equivalent to the USGS link:
Earthquake Report (2015-12-29)

[Dave Walter]

Here is a link to a good article regarding potential large earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest. The Earthquake That Will Devastate the Pacific Northwest - The New Yorker. It appears to be fairly well researched and raises some really good points to ponder. I personally would think twice about picking a retirement home in an area at risk of major quakes.

[LarryandLiz]

Originally Posted by Bobbito

What great information on the electrical system options. We opted for a generator rather than a solar panel because we needed it to charge our boat's battery PLUS in heavily wooded campsites and in cloudy weather we doubt there would be sufficient light to adequately charge our batteries solely on solar north of the US border. If we hadn't been trying to save on our build sheet we might have gotten the solar anyway for when it would be helpful.

Bob K

PS We just experienced a minor earthquake as I was typing this.

So far we haven't had solar problems when on shaded sites. We monitor the solar panel and watch our usage when on shaded sites. I suppose it depends on your electrical power needs.

For example our Escape is stored on our driveway and over winter gets sunlight about 1/2 the day. The solar panel always shows 100 percent. During a recent 24 hour plus power outage, we used a small portable inverter in the trailer to grind coffee beans and the trailer's kitchen to perk coffee. It's nice having the trailer and solar system around when we think of power outages/earthquakes.

In my opinion I wouldn't stay away from going with solar out of concern for too many shaded camping sites unless we had heavy electrical needs.

Larry

[LDRay]

We passed on the solar but did get solar ready. Our thought was if needed we will use a generator to top off the battery when boondocking. A lot of our camping will be in the Michigan woods so questioned if solar would be helpful then.

We are new to camping, 16 nights on the way home being our only experience, already I am wishing we had the solar option. No power for about 7 of the days on the trip back (not all consecutive) and we were constantly checking the battery level, no generator on this trip.

We will camp in Florida in February for 12 days and then move to an electric site. Will take the generator but having the quiet sun recharge our battery would be much nicer. After this trip we will know how much of a bother the generator is.

Maybe solar is in our future, we will see.

Caren

[Trav]

What do you think of having ETI put in the solar panel hatch for a portable solar panel? Our thinking is that we can just plug in a portable panel when we need the batteries to be charged instead of using a generator. Would that work?

The only things we would probably use the inverter for would be the microwave and coffee pot, but if we only get one outlet wired for the inverter, we can't figure out how we would use it for both items when the microwave is built in. What have you guys done in the 19?

[thoer]

Originally Posted by Trav

What do you think of having ETI put in the solar panel hatch for a portable solar panel? Our thinking is that we can just plug in a portable panel when we need the batteries to be charged instead of using a generator. Would that work?

Trav - we have been discussing the best type of receptacle to have Reace wire in. I'll look for the thread for you...

Here it is: http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f3...hers-6908.html

I plan to ask Reace to wire it in for us as I already own an external panel and will use it to supplement the roof mount.