This is how we learned to install our system..

What we did find was a how-to for making our own RV solar panels.  It worked pretty well, we have 6 panels up and running, which is plenty of power to keep us powered over night from one day in partial sunlight.  Building the solar panels was pretty simple.  It took us a bit of time to get the hang of it, but we got them done, even with no great handyman expertise.

We built the solar panels during a rainy weekend outside of Tacoma.  We were staying with our daughter and her husband so we had a bit of space and basic tools.  Except for the solar cells themselves, we were able to find all the parts at the hardware store down the street.  The solar cells themselves can be bought all over the web for about $70 each.  All together, the project cost us about $800 dollars for six solar panels, with all the batteries, wiring, and electronics.

According to the manual we used, the same method can be used to make solar panels for a home, boat, RV, or whatever else you want.  We found that they were pretty easy to build and they work great.  If you’re interested, you can read about Green DIY Energy here.

Good luck with your travels.  Until next time, may the roads rise up to meet you.

Unfortunately, it was quite difficult for us to be away for too long. That’s one of the downsides of old age I suppose, but it’s really difficult for us to be away from the little things that make lives easy. For example, having specific heart-healthy diet requirements prevents us from straying too far a refrigerator and a stove. It’s even harder for us to travel with the grandkids, young children just have a hard time dealing with cold meals.

We spent a fair bit of time checking out different ways to outfit our RV with a power supply that would do well for a week or more away from a charging station. There’s surprisingly few options, either we could buy a generator and take lots of fuel with us out into nature, or we could buy a huge battery bank and charge it before we leave. Both of these have the same two downsides in our mind. First, they’re very expensive; we live on a retiree’s budget, which wasn’t helped at all by the economy. The other is that we don’t like the idea of bringing lots of fuel or pollution out into the environment.

We’ve been considering solar panels as an alternative, they’re a bit expensive. Once they’re built though, we can spend as much time we want out in the wild. There would be no further maintenance, or gas to keep filling up. We’ll let you know if we come to any solutions.