Going Solar
RV’s are a work in progress. They are a labor of love that is always evolving. You probably already know that. You probably know that at any given time you have a list of projects up to your elbow that you really SHOULD be working on. Living in an RV really hones your ability to discern what MUST be done (yes the slide must be fixed, we have 3 kids and a dog…!) from what merely SHOULD be fixed (why do we have a drip in the water bay??).
Money, time, energy all get poured into our rigs. And a lot of love. It may be a natural side effect of the sheer amount of attention we put into it, some amount of affection must be present too, otherwise we’d chuck the whole damn thing.
We’ve been in, our rig, Lady Jupiter (or Lady Jupes as we call her more often) 4 solid years now. We have travelled just shy of 40,000 miles, while being partially stationary in the PNW, and partially nomadic. When we drive we tend to drive a lot, and shit breaks. I’ve been told shit breaks even if your standing still, and I suspect that is also true. This week we are investing in our biggest project yet on Lady Jupes, and this time it isn’t because something is broken, like the awning that was ripped out of its socket in a massive storm in Texas two years ago, or the living room slide giving up the ghost on THE SAME TRIP. No, this time we are biting the bullet to do what we have been contemplating doing for the entire time we have had her: Solar.
Not just solar. In fact, in my ignorance I somehow overlooked that solar was part of this upgrade. I knew we were upgrading the electrical system with lithium ion batteries and a new inverter that would allow us to use all of the outlets when we are off grid boondocking. I hate to admit this because it seems so cliche and so basic, but I have a hard time getting technical details to stick. I’m much more of a people and atmosphere person. Chris, my husband, is 100% in on the technical details (creating our own server, engineering and fine tuning the automation of our lights, security, mifi, and making sure that on rainy days (scratch that, MONTHS) in the PNW we always have access to kid friendly shows to watch while snuggled up. While my eyes glaze over after just 20 minutes of researching a solution to the myriad of RV related conundrums we as full time RVers face, he revels in the details, the reviews and the reddit induced rabbit holes. Bless that man’s brain.
So it turns out we are getting not only 6 Lithium Ion batteries installed (Battleborn’s if you were curious. I’ve been hearing about them ad nauseum for years now… and I am more than ready to try them out), 6 solar panels and a new pure sign wave inverter. Please please don’t ask me to tell you any more details about the specs. My ignorance has already been over-exposed today. I will eventually grasp all of this, but for me its a hands on learning, not theoretical that seals the deal.
Our 3 main reasons for wanting and finally choosing to do this upgrade are such:
We wanted to extend our ability to boondock to 4 days. (our current set up only gives us about 12 hours at a time before we need to run the generator, and due to some previous work done our generator will not charge our off brand lithium ion batteries, nor can we use auto-gen to get the generator to start when the batteries get low). I almost sound like I know what I’m talking about huh?
We really wanted a system that would allow us to use ANY of our outlets when we are off grid boondocking. Currently we have 4 outlets that work on the inverter.
General upgrade to our system: I am beyond done with the whiny electrical noise that comes with having modified sine wave inverter. I cannot wait to hear silence when we are boondocking, or even hooked up to shore power. Can any of you guys hear that whine? It’s like a teeny crowd of electrons screaming when you get close to an outlet that is being used. Creepy. We are also looking forward to being able to monitor our power usage, as well as the capacity with the load assist system to “mooch dock” and combine the power we are “mooching” albeit a tiny amount with the batteries to give us a smooth seamless source of power to all of our outlets.
And perhaps the most pivotal reason we are doing this upgrade now is:
Nothing else in the RV is broken at the moment. Or rather that was the case when we booked the appointment with AM Solar out of Springfield, Oregon. On our way down, our furnace decided to take a vacation. In January. When we had our 10 year old on board and didn’t have enough electricity in our current set up to use the electric heaters overnight. Open a window to invite the breeze in, make the kid pee out in the woods and we could’ve pretended like we were actually camping-camping!
So after 4 years of living aboard Lady Jupes we find ourselves making the 336 mile trek from our little town in NW Washington down to Springfield, Oregon to meet up with the tidy and efficient shop of AM Solar.
We had our oldest kid with us (Dylan, 10, not to be confused with AM Solar’s crew leader, also Dylan, also awesome) and our little dog Levi. Chris drove the RV, and I chased him in our little black VW (long time RVers will sniff out a future project on our list by reading this paragraph). We started late Sunday afternoon after doing a deep purge of the fridge and freezer and tucking everything away into cubbies and cupboards, sinks and shower. We got 2 plus hours under our belt before stopping at a rest stop for the night (and realizing our furnace was taking a sabbatical). We buried ourselves under blankets and despite incredulous look from both dog and son, were back on the road by 4:30am Monday to complete the last 4 hours of the drive.
AM Solar HQ: 3555 Marcola Rd, Springfield, OR 97477
Chris had, of course, done a lot of research on who should be doing this install. We felt quite lucky to have this shop be so highly recommended AND be with in a 7 hour drive. I on the other hand just trust his judgement implicitly. I read his face to get a sense of how pressing an issue is, and then I just back him 100% in getting it done. So far this has worked out well for me. So while I had not read a single review of AM Solar, and was going on Chris’s word that they were THE TEAM to work with, I do always keep a keen eye out for intention. My standards are such: I prefer to only work with companies where the employees ENJOY their work. Call me weird, call me woo-woo, call me an acupuncturist (thats what my clients call me), but I really think people who enjoy their work do a better job, and I think you can feel it. I also want them to be human, be honest and be clear in their communication.
When you are looking at a big job, and this is a monumental job in our history as RVers, I think it is fair to rely more heavily on the reviews and technical details, but I always hope that we find our way to the “good guys”. We almost always do.
And such was my opinion of AM Solar as we pulled into their red brick drive. The shop was tidy and clean, the grounds friendly, and we were immediately greeted by Cody their Installation Manager and then by Blue Bonnet, their boxer mascot dog. Levi (our terrier) was thrilled. Bonus points for being dog people, and for not blinking an eye when we brought our dog in.
We arrived early enough that the team was still in their morning meeting, but when that finished (on time) they all came into the waiting room to shake our hands, get our names and say hello.
My good guy spidey sense was impressed. I had an immediate sense that while this job would be routine for them, they understood that it was not at all routine for us to be walking away from our home for a week, spending a big chunk of change, and hoping that it would fit our needs.
By the time we left we had ALL (the team of 6 or so, lead by Dylan the crew leader) walked around our RV and talked about how we use it, what we needed, what we weren’t sure if we needed, what was precious and shouldn’t be touched in the RV (read: nothing is precious. 3 kids and a dog, remember?), and what can be shuffled anywhere (read: anything, move whatever you want.).
They did all of this patiently, in the rain, answering all of our questions, quietly assessing our home and its requirements. It felt respectful. And it put us both at ease. They promised to be more in touch with us than we probably would want, to keep us up to date, and to get our approval before they started the actual install. True to their word I had an indepth conversation with Dylan today about some changes he recommended to the original plan, as well as a clarification about why the labor cost was different than we anticipated. Each conversation so far has been one where they stop to make sure we are okay with their plan, and in each situation they told us how we could work it with out this component or that spec depending on whether we wanted ease or a lower bill. I appreciate enormously that they didn’t assume we would always choose ease over saving money, or even worse in my opinion, assuming that we wanted the cheapest option. Clear communication is a must.
Today I called in and talked with Genevieve in the front office. I had a few questions about their company that I wanted answered before I wrote this post. They have been offering evolving solutions for off grid energy management since 1987. They have the most installation hours under their proverbial belt of ANY COMPANY IN THE US. A large portion of their business is with DIYers, and they ship kits all over the place. They have great relationships with smaller dealers and one off installers. They use solar panels built in their own state. And what struck me as the most impressive is that they have been employee owned since 2012. When Genevieve mentioned that I got why the team felt so intentional and cohesive - they OWN the place. As a small business owner myself, married to another small business owner, it means a lot when people take ownership of their work.
The entire appointment took about an hour or so. We climbed back into our little black car, all three of us, and the dog and we left our home in their hands. We’ll be back in a few days to see how it all came together.
