Add a complete Solar package or buy a portable power pack with solar?

[jwhtng55]

Good day to all. I have a 2020 imagine 2670MK, It only has the plug for solar that just goes no where. We are wanting to travel more across the US and want to be able to do more boon-docking along the way. I have been looking at both Solar packages to be installed in the camper and portable power (ECOFlow Delta pro 3600 watt) with fold up solar power panels. I am not sure if I want to spend the money adding solar to the camper and then when i sell it all that money goes with the camper.
So, I am looking for opinions and experiences with adding solar to an existing rig or using a power pack to power an RV.
Thanks for the help. Jim

[Country Campers]

If you will need to operate the ac or any of the 120v AC appliances then you would need and inverter. Either way an easy way would be to install a couple Lithium batteries, a Lithium capable converter/charger and then get a small or even medium size generator and/or portable solar panels. The generator would make up for when sunshine is less than stellar. The 2 or more Lithium batteries could last you 3 or 4 days depending on usage. The generator could also be used to power most of the 120 v AC appliances, even the ac if you keep it on low, might need the soft start installed depending on the generator. A 2500 watt generator should do you well. Portable solar panels are great to be able to get them into the sunshine for optimum performance. Just some other thoughts to consider. Most portable panels will have their own controller and can be wired directly to the battery or batteries.

Brian

[TucsonJim]

Hi Jim.

Where are you located at? This is a tough question to answer with just a couple of paragraphs response in a forum. If you're in the SW USA, we're going to be on the road in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Texas, and Oregon. Maybe we could meet up and I could help you determine exactly what you need. But here are some intial tips.

Before planning on a solar charging system, you need to determine what your electrical requirements will be when you're boondocking. Once you know that, then you can size your battery bank to meet your needs. The battery bank is the key to any boondocking situation. And then once that's in place, you need to determine what you're going to charge those batteries with. It could be solar, a generator, a wind turbine, etc.

So determining how much solar you need really depends on how much battery recharging you need. And then items such as shade, clouds, latitude, time of the year come into play.

Jim