Monday, June 23, 2008

Solar Panel on the 'Stream

I finally did it--I got a solar kit for the Airstream and installed it over the weekend. It was a pretty easy installation and not too many surprises during the project and it was easy enough and actually kind of fun.

I researched lots of different kits and settled on the AM Solar's AM-100-22B kit. They're super to deal with and walk you through everything in getting the right parts. It was shipped quickly packaged impeccably with lots of attention to detail. If I were to recommend that they do anything differently it would be that they post the instructions online so that you can readily read-up on the instructions the night before on your laptop.

It probably took me about 5 hours in total to install it, and I went the route of using the 3M adhesive as opposed to screwing it into the roof. I was apprehensive at first but after applying it, I have no doubts the stuff will hold on to the roof. I did just in case mount the panel to roof mounts along the ribs of the trailer so I can always run a screw or rivet should it seem necessary. Probably the biggest hassle was running the power from the roof down to the factory pre-wire area behind the fridge--it was a bear to get the new panel wire down behind the fridge and I could have pulled the fridge to do it but I didn't.

Today I had a brief chance to check the charging status and not in an optimal position it was charging at 5.8 amps which I consider to be very satisfactory--I believe this should be ample for keeping the batteries charged under most circumstances unless we're really using the power (i.e., lots of furnace time or lots of time using all the halogen lamps).

This is likely to be the biggest upgrade/modification I do on the trailer for some time as there isn't a whole lot more that I would want to do for some time.

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