Okay, I get it… People who can’t legitimately discredit the facts, try to confuse them, and/or discredit the messenger. I’ve seen it happen many times in many places. Perhaps some people just can’t see the vital importance of the bigger picture. We’re getting off topic, and devaluing this thread.
Personal experiences are largely irrelevant to the bigger picture. The overall success to failure ratio is really important on this subject. Proper research reveals such things, and when the problems outweigh the positives, people should only proceed with extreme caution.
I’ve struggled with this for days, writing replies, then deleting them because they were too long. Seems as though some would prefer to ignore or deny the most important facts. The cold hard truth is readily available if you google “RV solar problems”, I got 26+ MILLION results. On youtube there are 29k+ of videos about RV solar problems & failures. And let’s not forget all the negative side effects either, like lower gas mileage, worse handling, shorter battery life, and MUCH more. This type of information truly helps people.
When buying a car they tell you to research it’s problems, since solar is often the most expensive part of a build, similar research should be conducted. Simple, undeniable logic.
Cheers!
"There are those who learn, and those who wish they had learned." ~ Good2Know
Strange, if you google “RV solar good” you only get 64+ MILLION results. Perhaps we should not be basing our claims by the number of results returned by google and youtube.
We’ll never convince Van Dweller otherwise - like talking to a wall. That’s the problem these days: people, even when faced with a mountain of evidence contrary to their beliefs, still don’t change their minds.
Bottom line is that with ANY battery charging system, solar or otherwise, one has to be realistic with its capabilities and limitations. Ignoring that can only lead to failure unless you’re really lucky. It sounds like Van Dweller didn’t fully understand the system that he put in, and when it failed to meet his needs he decided right then and there that solar is “bad.”
Solar is still a poor choice according to the facts, and google proves it. Failures far outnumber the successes, and if you dig deeper, many of those success stories, later report problems and failures. Those are the FACTS, not opinion, just the cold hard verified FACTS.
I’m not asking anybody to believe me or even agree with me. I’m just asking people to google it and do their own research. The facts speak for themselves. Suggesting that people research it is never wrong.
29+ million people reporting problems and failures can’t all be wrong… Google is your friend.
Defending your choice, your success, and your beliefs is fine, and maybe you should create a blog or FAQ to help others if you haven’t already. It won’t change the facts, but it’s a step in the right direction. Helping others is never in vain.
Cheers!
"Ignoring the facts is a fools errand." ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas
Can you elaborate on the “failures” that you speak of?
Dude, there is more than 97,000,000,000 (97 billion) watts of solar installed in the US right now, mostly on rooftops, and that number keeps climbing exponentially.
Almost 67 terawatts of power was produced by solar in 2018 - I’m sure a lot more now; yeah, 67 with 12 zeroes behind it. That’s a lot of power, and certainly not a failure.
Now back to camper vans - if one camps a lot where there’s no RV hookup (anywhere but an RV park or other powered site - costs add up quick) and is reasonable with how much power they use it’s completely worth it. With a total investment in my system of just over $200 I can camp almost anywhere I want without having to worry about running out of power. My system has never let me down despite having never been plugged into shore power. I have a battery charger just in case, but have never ever used it. It just hasn’t been necessary, even when camped in a tall forest for a week in New Hampshire a few months ago, most of that week cloudy and rainy.
It helps to share and understand vanlife’ experiences, especially if you’re thinking of going on an adventure yourself. You may want to compare vanlife vloggers successes and pitfalls on our website called channel stats.
Hopefully you’ll learn a few tricks along the way!