To Solar or Not To Solar

[booster]

Originally Posted by Saldar

"Pre-absorption"
"MaineSail" at compassmarine. He argues a big degrader of marine batteries is "pre-floatulation".

Certainly can't disagree with that!

Interesting coincidence that Blue Sea actually has a stage in their chargers that they call "PREFLOAT". MaineSail is right on for them.

[prairieboy]

We have a 2000 LTV with a basic solar setup.
80 watts of solar, roof mounted with 3M adhesive, charging through an 8 watt regulator direct to a single 27 size deep cycle battery.
We can dry camp for extended periods in sunny areas without driving using limited furnace, unlimited water pump, LED lighting, cd/radio, and small 125 W
inverter. In poor weather we have never encountered unusable power for as long as 4-5 days.
Very simple, easy to install and inexpensive. Much better than the Onan we had in the last LTV.
A lot depends on your lifestyle and the amount of gadgets you require to keep you happy.
More solar would not be a waste, but 80 watts seems plenty for us.

[mlts22]

One side recommendation. If choosing a solar charge controller, for a van with a very limited area for solar, and where you need to wring every last watt from the panels, get a MPPT charger. They are more expensive, but worth it.