Roof Mounted or Portable Solar Panels For Boondocking?
Our RV came with an 100 Watt flex solar panel already mounted and wired. We knew 100 Watts would not even be close to enough - it was mostly there to entice buyers to purchase a “solar ready” RV, and for those who were just looking for a bit of solar to supplement a generator for a 1-2 night camping trip. Once we did some research and found out how easy it would be for us to add a few more solar panels, batteries, and an inverter, we decided to go for it and we now boondock full time, without the use of a generator. The question was - what kind of solar panels do I need? We had a flex panel installed, but did we need that kind of panel? Should we put all of the solar on our already crowded roof or have portable panels on the ground? After hours upon hours of research and a couple months of living off of the grid, we feel confident that we made the right choice in our solar panel array.
Read Next: How to Mount Solar Panels and How Much Solar Do I Need?
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We already had 1 100 Watt flexible solar panel that came preinstalled on our Winnebago Hike. We added 2 Renogy 100 Watt rigid panels and 1 Renogy 200 Watt portable suitcase.
Why You Should Consider Rigid Over Flex Panels?
Rigid panels last longer than flex panels and cost less. They are heavier, but you can mount them on a roof rack and also mount them with tilt brackets, enabling you to get more energy throughout the day. Flex panels are best for rounded RVs, such as Airstreams. Renogy also makes a 100 Watt flex panel, which you can find here.
Why You Should Consider Roof Solar?
Although ground solar seemed so much easier than mounting panels on the roof, we wanted roof panels as that way we would charge our batteries as we were driving, when we are away from the RV on our hikes, and in the early morning before we are awake. Because it is easy to steal a suitcase solar panel, we only have it out when we are awake and here during the day.
Why You Should Consider Ground/Portable Solar?
If you ever plan on parking in the shade during the day, you will need some sort of ground solar. Because air conditioners need a lot of solar panels to run off of, we never use ours. Therefore parking in the shade in extreme heat, would be a good idea to keep the indoors cool during the day. It is also very convienient. The suitcase solar suitcase that we purchased from Renogy comes prewired with its own charge controller. All we have to do to get it going is to unfold the panel, set it on the ground, and place the alligator clamps to our battery. We also purchased some extension cables through Renogy so we can ensure the suitcase is out of the shade. If you do not already have a RV prewired for solar, this would be the easier option, as you would not have to run wires through the roof down to the battery and a separate charge controller.
Why We Chose Both Roof and Ground Solar
We decided to choose both to be prepared for all conditions. Our roof solar charges all of the time, and is usually enough in the southwest, as it is sunny most of the time. We were prewired for solar and already had one panel installed by the manufacturer, so it was pretty simple to add a couple more panels. We have tilt kits on both of the rigid panels, which we can tilt toward the sun if we need more energy throughout the day. Although we have rarely needed the extra solar in the southwest, we also have the solar suitcase in the event that we are parked in a shaded area, and our rooftop panels end up being partially blocked by trees. We plan on using this more when we are parked in other regions of the country (such as the PNW).