Solar power here we come!

Tobey likes things to be efficient. Tobey is also really good about finding ways to save money and when it comes to operating the RV, he is no different.

Last year he was concerned about our energy consumption, so after MUCH research, he installed a monitoring device a TriMetric TM-2025-RV. http://www.bogartengineering.com/products/TriMetric.

He can now tell how full our battery is and can isolate what devices take the most power. (I’m glad he understands all of this because I sure don’t.)

Another thing he did to conserve power in the RV was to install some LED lights. He found that they only use a fraction of the power normal bulbs use and has been happy with the results.

ANYWAY, he has been talking about adding a solar panel to the RV as another way to conserve energy and replenish our batteries for the last two years. Now that our upcoming trip to Mexico is imminent, he put the solar panel project on the front burner.

He researched and researched. We looked at all kinds of options at the Quartzsite RV show in January. He measured and remeasured.  He talked to the manufacturers. He even discussed the installation with our son, Tyler. Last week Tobey took the plunge. He ordered a Uni-Solar PVL-68 flexible solar panel and the parts necessary for installation.

Unfortunately, for Tobey, when the UPS driver rang the doorbell we were in the middle of a meeting with our financial guy and Tobey couldn’t dive in to see what goodies had arrived! As soon as Todd was out the door, the box was opened and packing paper was flying!

Yesterday, Tobey & Tyler started the installation process. They measured and drilled. They ran wires. They were on the roof and under the RV. They thought they were ready to roll out the panel only to discover the adhesive was not only on the bottom side of the panel, but was on the top, so it will have to be returned for one that isn’t defective.

And so, the wait begins again!