In order to Boondock fulltime (RVing off grid and not being tied to anything for extended periods or Dry-Camping) and be able to be self supportive, we needed a solar system that would allow us to charge our batteries and not have to worry about finding a campground with shore power every night.
I’ll say right now that living in Michigan and trying to find anyone knowledgeable on solar power is like finding someone who knows about ice-skating in Mexico. I did hours of research on the internet and finally found a site where they knew what they were doing. AM Solar actually makes solar panels specifically for the RV industry and tests all their own equipment in the real world environment of RVing themselves. I’ll also say that AM Solar has one of the friendliest and knowledgeable staffs I spoke with in my research, I called a few different times and each time was treated like a good friend by Kathy who was busy with her end of the year inventory. Their panels at AM Solar are smaller and lighter than most of the competitions and their kits come with everything needed to get you on your way to self sustaining renewable power. I’m not to much of the handy man type and know nothing about electrical wiring so I made an appointment to have the guys at General RV install the system for us. In two days time they had a Sun Runner SR-100-22, 3 panel solar system installed with AM 100 Solar panels, a Heliotrope's HPV-22B Series Charge Controller and four 6-Volt Lifeline Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) Batteries. General RV mounted a 2000watt inverter in the pass through bin up front and the system looks so clean, you’d think it was factory installed.
Chris, the master electrician over at General RV does some of the best work I’ve seen in years and I can’t say enough about how good the install looks. Dave the shop manager bent over backwards to make sure our coach was in and out in record time. We’ve only had the system installed for a few weeks now and I’ll keep you posted on how long the batteries are lasting without having to be plugged in. I'm hoping this should be all we need to be self sufficient. Chris said with the batteries fully charged, he was able to run the Air Conditioner without blowing a fuse off of battery power!! I cant wait to get out on the road and test this stuff out.
We'll be sure to keep you all posted
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