A caravan inverter connected to a battery and solar panels gives you the freedom to avoid caravan parks and allows you to set up home wherever you choose. You are only limited by access for your vehicle and van.
Solar panels fixed to the roof of the caravan are in a perfect position to supply power from the sun which is then stored in one or two batteries which gives you power whether or not it is day or night. However there is one vital piece of equipment required to complete the picture – a power inverter to turn DC current into AC.
Most electrical equipment is designed to be run on AC power, and a battery only supplies DC power. Another problem is that batteries are usually 12 volts or 24 volts and electrical equipment runs on 240 volts. The job of the caravan inverter is to turn 12v or 24v DC power into 240v AC power.
Here is a story of a guy who discovered the hard way the need for solar panels to charge his caravan batteries and the freedom that solar panels and an inverter provided.
Enjoying Real Freedom With Your RV Through Solar Panels, Batteries & an Inverter
By Steven Garb
When I bought my first RV (trailer) I had visions of freedom, traveling, and being able to stay in the middle of the woods or parked next to a lake for days or even weeks at a time. The whole purpose of an RV was to get away from other people and enjoy some solitude. I still remember my first trip. The day after we got our first trailer we headed to the woods and planned to stay there for three days. The first day was excellent. We found a quiet spot in the woods, setup camp, and began to enjoy the amenities of our new trailer. No more sleeping on the floor of a damp tent. We had a real bed, bathroom, and even a small refrigerator. That night we stayed up late playing cards while listening to our favorite CD’s on our new CD player.
By morning, our whole world had come crashing down. The refrigerator stopped working, none of the lights were functional, the CO2 detector was off. Basically everything that ran off the battery was dead. So we packed up our campsite and headed home in disgust wondering what we had done wrong.
The next day I headed to the RV dealer with the trailer to try and figure out what had happened. Surely we must have done something wrong, right? The mechanic came out, ran a few tests, and promptly determined that we had completely drained our battery. Confounded about how this could have happened, I protested that the battery must be faulty. The dealer explained how easily it is to drain a single battery. Everything runs off the battery he explained, the lights, radio, CO2 detector, refrigerator (even though it used propane it requires 12 Volts to run the brains). The dealer immediately offered to install another battery and I accepted since I did not want to run out of battery power again. Little did I know that even two batteries were not enough. Our next camping trip, the batteries died again, although it took slightly longer to happen this time.
I was shocked at how quickly the batteries ran out. The next few times we went camping we began to resort to extreme power deprivation. We would use a battery powered radio and flashlights instead of the built in lights and radio. This helped a little bit; however, the batteries would still run out quickly. Soon we found ourselves resorting to staying at RV parks where we could plug in. This did not sit well with us since it seemed to defeat the whole purpose of having an RV. Once again we were crammed into an RV park, 5 feet away from our neighbors. Where was the freedom in this scenario, I thought. Looking for a better way, I resorted to purchasing a small generator that I could use to plug in the RV and charge my batteries. This was a little better, at least I could stay in the woods, however, Now I had to listen to the hum of a generator all day instead of the quiet and solitude of the forest and forest creatures.
A few years later my wife and I decided to quit our jobs and travel across country for a year. The plan was to buy a larger 5th wheel, take our dogs and go wherever we wanted. As we began to plan we quickly realized that we would not be able to use RV parks since we had two Rottweilers which are not welcome at most RV parks due to insurance reasons. That sat fine with us because we hated RV parks anyway; however, it presented a huge challenge. How were we going to keep our batteries charged if we could not plug in each evening? Additionally, my wife was teaching online and we had planned to get an internet satellite dish which would also require power, not to mention her laptop and the other amenities we wanted while traveling for a year.
Thus began my year long research project on exactly how we were going to be able to accomplish our lofty goals of being able to travel without being able to plug in. The fifth wheel that we planned to purchase did come with a generator; however, we were not fans of a loud smelly generator running all the time. My first thought was that maybe we could use solar panels. I knew others were doing it, however, I did not know much about solar. I could have paid someone else to install them; however, that was not my style. I am a geek at heart and love to work on my own projects.
After almost a year of research, planning, and educating myself, the end result was better than either of us could have dreamed. We purchased the new RV (fifth wheel) and I spent a month retrofitting it with all our new equipment and toys including Internet satellite dish, DirecTV, 34″ flat screen TV, 15″ flat screen TV in the bedroom, a cell phone repeater and antenna, and wireless access point for the internet connection. All of this was powered by solar panels, batteries and an inverter.
A lot of research went into this project. I needed to figure out how much power all of my toys were going to use as well as determine how long I might use them each day. Using this information, I had to size my battery bank, inverter, and solar panels properly. I had to learn how to wire all of this equipment together safely and properly as well as integrate it into my new RV. Additionally, deciding what batteries to purchase and how to install and mount them all was vitally important. The biggest challenge was finding all of the information that I needed to complete the project. Although scattered around the web, none of it was located in a single place, therefore, I vowed that I would document my installation on a website for others to learn from.
In the end, we ended up with an amazing RV. As long as there is sunlight we can stay out in the woods indefinitely, our batteries are always charged and we have more than enough power for everything. The only things that bring us back to civilization are the need to dump out waste and get fresh water. Everything in our RV can run off of our battery bank except the air conditioner and microwave. Now we can enjoy the freedom of camping or stopping anywhere for an extended period of time. This is exactly what we had dreamed of when we purchased our first RV. This is the life!
If you would like to learn more about how I completed my project including information about Solar RV Panels, Inverters for your RV, RV Batteries, and RV Wiring then please visit us at http://www.solarrvpanels.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steven_Garb
http://EzineArticles.com/?Enjoying-Real-Freedom-With-Your-RV-Through-Solar-Panels,-Batteries-and-an-Inverter&id=4720516
Although this article referred to the USA it is equally applicable to Australian recreational vehicles. You can buy a caravan inverter designed for use in Australia from PowerInvertersAustralia.com
Click Here for a wide range of Australian caravan inverters that convert from 12 or 24 volts to 240 volts.
Tags: first trip, caravan batteries, 24v dc, co2 detector, cd player, rv inverters, 12 volts, sleeping on the floorRelated Information: