Panels on a tear drop camper?

softdown

My turn in the RV department. But I don't have a large roof to work with. I have a lot of used ~170 watt panels but they are too big to be used I think.  The roof has a ventilation fan right in the middle. Knowing that unproductive panels cancel out productive panels - this seems like Mission Impossible right now. Perhaps one panel just to keep the battery from dying? Not much one can do with a size 24 (weighs ~50 lbs) FLA battery anyway. 

The camper is a 6 x 10. Giving it a small chance of doing something worthwhile. Many are 5 x 8. 

I could install a real battery bank and charge via generator or campsite electrical. But that would contribute to over burdening the tow vehicle - a Prius. Camper weighs 1200 pounds. Prius rated to "1600 pounds tow".

Then again, one can't do too much without a $izable battery bank. Weird to be a solar guy and feel kind of tied up on this one. Not buying lithium batteries either. Budgetary reasons.

706jim

A camper that small shouldn't have too many electrical loads. You could store the panels inside the trailer while travelling then bring them out and set them up on the ground when you have settled at your campsite. I don't think it is at all practical to mount them on such a small curved roof.

That said, it seems my idea would entail a lot of work and you would quickly tire of all the bother of setup and take down.

BB.

In theory, you can run a ~1,200 Watt maximum AC inverter off of the 12 VDC battery bank (and the traction battery supplies the bulk of the energy). One link here:

http://hiwaay.net/~bzwilson/prius/priups.html

More information on this thread:

https://forum.solar-electric.com/discussion/11546/using-a-prius-as-a-generator/p1

-Bill

Marc Kurth

My opinion is to enjoy it for what it is: A compact lightweight rig designed for fairly primitive camping. 

softdown

BB. said:

In theory, you can run a ~1,200 Watt maximum AC inverter off of the 12 VDC battery bank (and the traction battery supplies the bulk of the energy). One link here:

http://hiwaay.net/~bzwilson/prius/priups.html

More information on this thread:

https://forum.solar-electric.com/discussion/11546/using-a-prius-as-a-generator/p1

-Bill

The hiwaay.net article and application is a bit beyond my level of comfort. I'm still figuring out Prius "idiosyncrasies" - such as the aforementioned  Using 'stealth mode', we returned home showing 99.9 MPG but the next morning it was down to 1 or 2 MPG. 

softdown

706jim said:

A camper that small shouldn't have too many electrical loads. You could store the panels inside the trailer while travelling then bring them out and set them up on the ground when you have settled at your campsite. I don't think it is at all practical to mount them on such a small curved roof.

That said, it seems my idea would entail a lot of work and you would quickly tire of all the bother of setup and take down.

You are unto something here. 

softdown

Many tear drop campers are over $20,000 and equipped with a/c, heat, cooking, sink, and refrigeration. Mine is missing heat and refrigeration being a $15,000 unit. Nothing compared to many "adventure campers" but still desirous of more energy than one might have considered. 

What comes to mind right now is an ~ 350 pound battery bank in the Prius cargo department that is kept charged by a small generator and  possibly a solar panel. I figure the "1600 pound tow" guideline is figuring four passenger in the Prius. So I have room for additional weight in the Prius. Though at 237,000 miles the Prius can no longer be considered as robust as a less traveled model. Shoot - my average vehicle has at least ~200,000 miles. Most are over that mark. Unsure why I sense security in a fleet of very high mileage autos that I saved from destruction.