Down the road with PVs Richard Perez How many photovoltaic modules can you fit on the roof of a recreational vehicle? Well, this one holds fifteen panels. The system's owner, Brint Gilbert, is using this RV to find his country home. And when Brint eventually finds his homestead, he will know where his power will come from. The Mission Finding a suitable place for a homestead is not easy. In early 1970, we put 14,000 miles on a truck looking for our homestead. We drove from California to Maine and back again. We traveled the back roads crossing the largest blank spaces we could find on maps. After four months of ceaseless travel, we got lost and found our homestead on Agate Flat, Oregon. This is Brint's mission. The RV carries Brint and his mother in solar-powered style as they search for their country home. When they find their home, then the PVs and system components come off the RV and be installed in their new homestead. Meanwhile, when Brint is at his present home in Mesa, Arizona, he plugs into the RV and uses its solar power to run some the appliances his downtown home. The RV's Appliances This is an all electric RV. PV supplied power is used for cooking, water heating, air conditioning, refrigeration, entertainment electronics, and lighting. Appliances aboard Brint's motorhome are detailed in the table below. INSERT TABLE Resting in the drivewayÉ When Brint's RV is not on the road, it sits in his driveway with a power cord stretching into Brint's grid connected home. Brint has taken many of is downtown appliances off of the grid and powers them from solar electricity made by the resting motorhome. Some of the appliances powered at home by the RV are: a 24 inch Color TV for 16 hours daily, a 900 Watt microwave oven for 45 minutes daily, three Osram compact fluorescents each five hours daily, three ceiling fans for ten hours daily, and occasional use of a clothes iron, a washing machine, a sewing machine, and a vacuum cleaner. The RV's Hardware All this electricity is produced by fifteen ARCO M75 PV modules each reated at 47 Watts. Total peak PV power is about 750 Watts and the array produces over 4,000 Watt-hours daily. This power is stored in six Trojan T-125 leadÐacid batteries. Total storage is 705 Ampere- hours at 12 Volts DC. PV power is controlled by a 50 Ampere SCI charge controller. The system also uses a Trace 2012 inverter with battery charger to supply the most 120 vac powered appliances. The installation of all this power equipment on and in an RV could not have been easy. Brint's installation is immaculate. Each panel has its own hand fabricated aluminium mounting brackets. The panels are mounted in the free spaces between the two roof mounted air conditioners and all the other stuff found on RV roofs. Nowhere is there a dangling wire or funky connection. When I walked up to the RV, I couldn't see that the panels were even on the roof! The batteries are tucked into a slide out compartment accessible from outside, just behind the pilot's seat. Here they are outside of the living compartment, secure and easily maintained. The inverter and controls are tucked under one of the couches in motorhome's forward cabin. Once again the installation is totally ship shape. A Rolling Solar Power House No matter where Brint goes in his motorhome he will always has electric power. Brint is often surrounded by curious RVers trying to find out how he's running his air conditioner and everything else without generator. Brint mentioned that it nice to have the conveniences without having to listen to a generator yammering as it gave the entire RV a vibramassage. And when Brint settles down, he already has his power system and several years of PV living experience. Access System's Designer and Installer: Brint Gilbert. 6409 East Desert Street, Mesa AZ 85205. Author: Richard Perez, C/O Home Power, POB 130, Hornbrook, CA 96044 ¥ 916-475-3179.