RV Solar Inverters
(By Sam Streubel)power inverter converts DC (Direct Current) power from your solar or wind charged battery into AC (Alternating Current). Anything that plugs into a wall outlet in your home runs on AC.
RV (Recreational Vehicle) power inverters are designed for use with RV mounted solar panels. Having an RV solar power system is like having a mini onboard power plant. It allows you the freedom and flexibility to camp out where there is no conventional power source; what’s commonly known as living off the grid.
The key to portable solar powered success is investing in a properly sized power inverter. As with everything else, when you purchase an RV power inverter you get what you pay for.
A well made power inverter should be efficient at all input levels, rugged enough to stand up to changing environments and won’t overheat while providing the power to run your small appliances.
Various brand name inverters include Outback, Magnum, Xantrex and Go Power. Choosing and installing a properly sized inverter is a task best left to your local RV professional or alternative energy store.
In order to pick out an RV inverter perfectly suited to your needs, you will have to provide your local professional with some basic information.
You need to know what appliances are going to be powered with the system, how much power they consume (amp/hours), and the phantom load.
Phantom load is the electricity consumed by an appliance when it is turned off. Your television set is one example, but the worst offender is that cube shaped transformer used to charge cell phones. These transformers are 60% to 80% inefficient and should be unplugged when not in use.
The power consumption of each appliance is stated somewhere on the appliance itself, and is expressed in terms of AC watts or AC amps. What the RV owner really needs to know is the equivalent in DC amps, since that’s what the battery bank is supplying.
Where an appliance’s power consumption is expressed in terms of AC watts, one can use a simple formula to calculate the equivalent power expressed in DC amps:
DC Amps = AC Watts / 12 volts
Example: A TV set with a 100 (AC) watt rating used for one hour would consume 9.17 DC amps.
Look for an inverter with three distinct charging rates: a bulk charge at 100 amps; then dropping to a lesser rate as the voltage increases in the battery bank; and finally applying a float charge just sufficient to maintain the batteries in a fully charged condition. The result is much faster recharging of the batteries, either from shore power or from the motor home or tow vehicle alternator.
A good quality solar panel can deliver approximately 3 amps of power during daylight hours. A conservative estimate for sunny weather might be 6 hours of full solar power per day and somewhat more during summer months. Thus one panel would put roughly 18 amps back into the batteries; 2 panels 36 amps; and 3 panels 52 amps.
The remote monitor and control mechanism mounted inside the coach performs a wide range of functions pertaining to both the inverter and charger functions. It also has the basic “on/off” switch for the inverter. When “on”, the control panel provides information about whether the unit is operating in inverter or charger mode. If operating in the inverter mode it will tell you the present level of amps being consumed and the present voltage under that load.
If in the charger mode, it shows the present level of the amps in, along with the voltage at which it is being charged along with various warning functions pertaining to overheating and overloads.
Clearly this is not a “one size fits all” choice. Especially important is the need to consider your RV lifestyle when determining whether or not an inverter would be a useful resource.
Alternative-Heating-Info.com provides unique alternative heating information for geothermal heating and cooling, outdoor furnaces, corn boilers, radiant heat, solar heating systems, fireplace inserts, and cheap pellet stoves.
contact 
Posted in 
Websites you should visit…
[...]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[...]……
coming up in the form of lyon…
in the last 16 of the champions league which astonishingly, they’ve been knocked out at this stage of the competition for the last 6 years running despite real madrid’s force. jose mourinho’s arrival in real madrid was very much with the…
Thanks you…
There are some interesting points in time in this article but I donft know if I see all of them center to heart. There is some validity but I will take hold opinion until I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we want more! Added to FeedBur…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
[...]just beneath, are numerous totally not related sites to ours, however, they are surely worth going over[...]……
Superb website…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
Recommeneded websites…
Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over…
Superb website…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
Thank you…
I was very pleased to find this web-site.I wanted to thanks for your time for this wonderful read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you blog post….
Recommeneded websites…
Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over…
Recent Blogroll Additions……
[...]usually posts some very interesting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[...]……
Wikia…
Wika linked to this site…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
[...]usually posts some very interesting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[...]……
Thanks…
When I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Thanks!…
Wow!…
A very fascinating post….
Website worth visiting…
below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit…
You should check this out…
[...] Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well [...]……
Check this out…
[...] that is the end of this article. Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over[...]……
Recommeneded websites…
Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over…
Recent Blogroll Additions…
I saw this really good post today….
Recommeneded website…
below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit…
hello…
you have a great blog here! would you like to make some invite posts on my blog?…
hello…
you have a great blog here! would you like to make some invite posts on my blog?…
Hey…
very nice post, i certainly love this website, keep on it…
Hey…
very nice post, i certainly love this website, keep on it…
Recent Blogroll Additions……
[...]usually posts some very interesting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[...]……
Bored at work…
I like to look in various places on the online world, often I will go to Stumble Upon and follow thru…
Thanks…
When I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Thanks!…
Hey…
very nice post, i certainly love this website, keep on it…
Hello!…
An interesting discussion is worth comment. I think that you should write more on this topic, it might not be a taboo subject but generally people are not enough to speak on such topics. To the next. Cheers…
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Thanks you…
There are some interesting points in time in this article but I donft know if I see all of them center to heart. There is some validity but I will take hold opinion until I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we want more! Added to FeedBur…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
[...]usually posts some very interesting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[...]……
Superb website…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
News info…
I was reading the news and I saw this really interesting topic…
Wow!…
A very fascinating post….
Websites worth visiting…
[...]here are some links to sites that we link to because we think they are worth visiting[...]……
Wow!…
A very fascinating post….
Wow!…
A very fascinating post….
Blogs ou should be reading…
[...]Here is a Great Blog You Might Find Interesting that we Encourage You[...]……
Websites we think you should visit…
[...]although websites we backlink to below are considerably not related to ours, we feel they are actually worth a go through, so have a look[...]……
Wow!…
A very awesome post….
Wikia…
Wika linked to this website…
Thanks…
Can I just say what a relief to find someone who actually knows what theyre talking about on the internet. You definitely know how to bring an issue to light and make it important. More people need to read this and understand this side of the story. I …
Arigatou…
Hello! I just would like to give a huge thumbs up for the great info you have here on this post. I will be coming back to your blog for more soon….
Sources…
[...]check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[...]……
Great blog…
The next time I read a blog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as much as this one. I mean, I know it was my choice to read, but I actually thought youd have something interesting to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you coul…
Bonjour…
You should take part in a contest for one of the best blogs on the web. I will recommend this site!…
Arigatou…
Hello! I just would like to give a huge thumbs up for the great info you have here on this post. I will be coming back to your blog for more soon….
Sites we Like……
[...] Every once in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose [...]……
Recommeneded websites…
[...]Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors[...]……