Our Quest for a Solar Egg - Escape Trailer Owners Community
Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×

Go Back   Escape Trailer Owners Community > Escape Tech > Modifications and Alterations
Click Here to Login
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 09-19-2011, 09:51 PM   #1
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 11
Our Quest for a Solar Egg

Hello everyone, we're getting our dream trailer built by Escape with a January delivery. Over the last couple years we've been doing a lot of reading on various trailers and we ended up deciding on a 19' Escape.

We have some unique goals for our trailer (hence the name) and we're hoping to share our experiences with others. The main requirement of our trailer is to run, without a generator, using only solar power and batteries. Yes this sounds impossible but I think every boondocker is going to find our solution exciting and interesting, even if it's not your cup of tea :-).

We're going to document the build in all its gory detail on solarriderz.com. We have three posts up so far:
  • An intro to us and our needs
  • An thoughts on deciding what type of rv to buy
  • Our thoughts on the various molded fiberglass manufacturers and our ultimate decision to go for an Escape

I hope you all enjoy our blog and share it with those you feel it would help. If you have any things you'd like to see us cover in the build please let us know.

Cheers,

The Solar Riderz
Solar Rider is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-20-2011, 01:42 AM   #2
Senior Member
 
LBaranyai's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Port Coquitlam, British Columbia
Trailer: 2011 Escape 17B
Posts: 250
Re: Our Quest for a Solar Egg

Read your first entries and signed up for blog updates. It will be interesting to read how successful you are at living solar. I'm curious about the number of solar panels you plan to use - too many and you might end up a fried egg!

Look forward to hearing more.
__________________
2011 17B - 2019 GMC Sierra HD3500 Duramax Diesel
Our "FIRE ESCAPE"
"Put the wet stuff on the red stuff"
LBaranyai is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-20-2011, 08:56 AM   #3
Senior Member
 
Jim Bennett's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Trailer: 2017 Escape 5.0 TA
Posts: 15,532
Re: Our Quest for a Solar Egg

Welcome aboard, and congrats on your purchase.

I too am looking forward to what you end up doing. Do keep us posted on here as well as the blog.

Read your blog entries, and your reasoning for buying an Escape were much like mine. I too liked the Oliver except for that enormous sticker price. Interesting to see you liked the moulded fiberglass interior in them, this was one of the features both my wife and I liked least.
__________________
2017 Escape 5.0 TA
2015 Ford F150 Lariat 3.5L EcoBoost
2009 Escape 19 (previous)
“Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” — Abraham Lincoln
Jim Bennett is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-20-2011, 10:39 AM   #4
Senior Member
 
JeffZ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 893
Re: Our Quest for a Solar Egg

Great choice in trailers!! I too will look forward to your posts.. We actually interviewed Technomadia so you might want to watch that video..

Also on our travels we ran into this couple that had a 'green' Airstream - I forgot their names, but they had a website documenting their decisions.. I'll try to find them as they had some interesting things in their trailer.. like a composting toilet and catalytic furnace (no fan) and of course solar.. I believe they were living full-time in it..

And you know Reace is always up for trying something new, if it's feasible and safe!

__________________
Former 17ft Plan "B" Escape
Toyota Highlander w/tow pkg


favorite quote: "Put the candle back"
JeffZ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-20-2011, 01:53 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
JeffZ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 893
Re: Our Quest for a Solar Egg

Here's the link to their website..
http://www.ecodiscoverytour.com/home.html
__________________
Former 17ft Plan "B" Escape
Toyota Highlander w/tow pkg


favorite quote: "Put the candle back"
JeffZ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-20-2011, 02:50 PM   #6
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 11
Re: Our Quest for a Solar Egg

Thanks everyone,

I took a quick look at the airstream project - looks interesting, the composting toilet they're using is very popular for Marine use, many swear by it vs tanks, its something we're looking at currently but still integrated with the black tank.

I'm not sure how much solar they have on their roof, doesn't look like a lot, I'd guess 300-350w by the size of the panels and I doubt that giant airstream holds the heat/cold in unless they've done some serious upgrading of the insulation. Going with double pane, extra insulation and a foamed in bottom will provide a much easier envelope to heat/cool, plus the trailer is relatively quite small.

Our goal for solar wattage is between 700-900w (yes its a lot), we're working through the placements with Reace, but in many locations that can mean 4-6 hours of total solar hours - that's 3500 - 5400 wh into the batteries each day, that's enough juice to open up a lot of possibilities. Microwave for 20min no problem - 350wh, A/C on full stop for an hour before bed time 900wh, boiling some tea - 200wh, cooking on a hot plate for half an hour - 600wh.

The battery we're going to use is another story, going with EV technology so that we get really high density, deep discharge and very low weight.

We'll go into more details on our plans in an upcoming blog post, stay tuned

Solar Rider is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off




» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Escape Trailer Industries or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:54 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright 2023 Social Knowledge, LLC All Rights Reserved.