We have a working demonstration of a solar setup and it’s a total failure.
We purchased a brand new travel trailer this year and in our shopping the majority of travel trailers restricts the buyer to running the fridge on 12v only supported by a solar panel.
We typically stay at federal CG’s such as National Forests or parks that do not have 110v AC hookups. We knew the 12v fridge and solar were a joke, so we paid $3,000 for the dealer to remove the 12v POS and install a AC/propane fridge.
The solar panel could not keep up with lights, water pump and other common 12v appliances on cloudy days. On sunny days the solar controller shut off the solar panel until the battery voltage got down to 12volts, which is considered a 3/4 charge. If this happens at sundown you are screwed, for evening battery use will bring the battery to the half charge condition before bedtime. THIS IS ALL WITHOUT HAVING A 12 VOLT FRIDGE!
We knew the solar panel was a political joke, so we brought our Honda generator and never ran out of power.
The dealer told us the RV industry was voluntarily going with California standards for the elimination of propane, which was why they started out with refrigerators. Next will be electric heat and water heater going solar for an RV.
Some dealers also had lithium batteries on their campers. That’s great, for if you run out of charcoal for the BBQ just wait until the battery sets your camper on fire so weenies and marshmallows can be roasted there.
We asked other dealers what happens if there is a cloudy day, they said just run the tow vehicle and plug into it to charge the battery. Great, run a V8 gas hog all night just to keep the steaks frozen.
Thanks for sharing that. I’m planning an overlanding rig and phase 2 will include a small refrigerator. I was considering solar but recently started thinking of charging the battery with the engine.
It helps that I have a friend who manufactures and sells wiring systems.
With 500w of solar panels + 300Ah battery storage i can keep garage fridge+freezer operating “indefinitely”. There will be times it may not keep up.
I would say your RV solar and battery are undersized. But even “right sized” your point is still valid