Going off-grid ? Maybe this can help you !
Going off grid in an RV until you build ? Read on !
I design and build only off grid homes so maybe some of this will help you or others starting to live off grid. I want you to consider first that, making power is way quicker, than the using of power - if you use a generator. You need to consider the fuel, but if it's a propane system tank gas works and so does other gasses such as homemade methane, or "woodgas or coalgas", or perhaps my favorite, producer made and yes very legal, Ethel alcohol, in place of gasoline to be really off the grid. Solar is slow charging and if directly used only there in daylight with out batteries, by comparison, but quiet, but you normally need a lot to run a big RV with AC electric water heaters , electric heaters etc.. Solar hot water is great too, and can be bath and wash water plus heat the house as well, and can come from the water cooled generator as power is made. A on demand water heater will use less hot water, but must be fueled somehow too.
Batteries are the needed BIG element, to not have to run the generator all the time ( charge them and draw off the batteries, then have a automatic switch turn on the gen set as it's needed) and these are the expensive part.
Somewhere aong the line, an inverter must change that battery power over to 120/240 volt, but RV's and other specially designed homes (like I design/build) use 12 volts a lot too, so electric power conversion (and their losses) are not always so large or fully required for every appliance
For most newbies, their first battery set, sadly only gets about half their normal life span, due to too deep of a discharging, due to less maintenance of the batteries than is needed and charge cycles not being used properly. So start small, cheap and learn, but get enough, maybe AGM's as they are the easiest to maintain, (they're almost: charge, draw and forget until they die in 3-7 years, if your are lucky).
I like nickle iron batteries best, but they cost a boat load of money compared to all others, but they do last 100++ years and you can't hardly kill them even when your'e new to off grid. Every 7-10 years all the other batteries normally need replacing, yes, even if they are maintained properly, but with nickle iron batteries, you just change the water and koh (chemical) and you have new batteries again ! All The While, everyone else is paying the new price, for new batteries at whatever that becomes in the future ( lithium is around $22,000 a pound last I checked, but was double that last year. Someday, a Nickle/63 radioactive battery will be available to the public and it's a change every 100 years with no recharging ! They're just not available yet today maybe 10 years from now - maybe.
Nickle iron batteries weigh more than lithium, more than lead acid, and more than AGM batteries, but not so much that a 48 volt system (which is best) or a 24 volt system can't be added to your home, and they don't burn down buildings in an uncontrollable fire, like the lithium batteries do either.
Thomas Edison actually invented these (maybe the only thing he actually invented himself) and occasionally E-bay has some old ones, in their antique section for sale, but to get a set of 40 to achieve 48 volts is about 11 grand plus today's freight costs from RED COMMUNIST CHINA !!! Uhh, Or half that for 20 batteries for a 24 volt system (only useful for home power in 100 amp hr, AH 200, 300, or 400 AH) are the right choices figured by your power needs .
If solar is the only choice you have then so be it, it's quiet gotten cheaper lately as building and solar additions has dropped down like a rock from heaven due to the bad economy and high interest rates and as a power production device it's great to have in addition to a great generator with the automatic switch, if kept low enough to get to to service (clean replace diodes, remove leaves, etc) , get the many panels needed out in the sun, but keep the RV-home in the shade, as the RV-home will overheat inside, very quickly, in full sun. (You could pull a tarp over the RV with a air gap to put it in a shade too, but maybe that's too much ).
The sun is out for solar production, mostly between 9 AM and 3 PM, so if you and all living beings are out of the house, then no problem with the all day heat, but it will be Way Too Hot For Pets ( THEY'LL DIE), if left in the RV when it's out in the sun most times.
Budget for quick energy production first and some but minimal storage, with these yes still expensive (& I think dangerous) lithium batteries, or non lithium AGM's and then build your forever system with your off grid lifestyle savings, that you can take over to the next off grid house too. Let us know if we can help you.
Best Wishes !
Joe
http://www.georgiaadobe.com