3150 Watts of Solar on our Avion

[tomkiser]

Here are some of the components used:

Rail system was purchased from PowerStore.com

IronRidge FlashFoot2
https://powerstore.com/ff2-01-m1.html

IronRidge XR-1000 Anodized Rail |14f

IronRidge XR1000 Bonded Splice (SKU Part Number XR1000-SPLC-M1)

Ironridge Slotted L-Foot, Mill (SKU Part Number LFT-03-M1)

Solar Panels:

https://www.renogy.com/solar-panels/rigid-solar-panels/
Renogy 450 Watt Monocrystalline Solar Panel

Ecoflow 15Kwh PowerKit (Independence Kit)
https://rackupgo.com/products/ecoflow-1 ... gLRufD_BwE

[tomkiser]

System design allows enough clearance so fan covers can be fully raised. Solar panels provide shade to trailer and seems to cause ceiling inside to be slightly cooler during sunny days. During summer sun I can run my AC during the day and still charge up my lithium batteries. On cloudy days when no AC is needed solar panels still produce enough electric to charge up my batteries. Still have vintage refrigerator that sucks a lot of electric when not running on propane. When I see next day forecast is cloudy I run my fridge on propane at night so don't drain my batteries down as much at night. Plan to upgrade fridge sometime to something that is more efficient.

I am able to monitor my solar system while I am away through Ecoflow App. Was in Africa last month for 2 weeks and monitored my system from 8,000 miles away. So nice to know we don't need to be hooked up to grid anymore. We have 8 children scattered all over the US. Spend hot months in upstate NY with sons there. Spend cold months with kids in Florida or Texas. Visit the others in KY, SC when temps are nice there. So glad I sold the big house and can change our yard whenever we wish.

Looked at Airstreams but decided I liked quality of Avion better. Searched all Craigslists in US until found our 34W. 90 year old couple hadn't taken it out of storage for 8 years. Super great shape. Hardly a scratch on the cabinets. Love it!

[MarkB]

That is interesting. Thanks for sharing. I viewed elsewhere someone used a water recycling setup. I see you are doing the same with the shower. Could you detail a little how you are processing the water? Thank you again.

[tomkiser]

Recycling shower system is still a work in progress. Normal operation allows me to hook a hose to my Avion in the standard way and use as much water as I desire when I shower. (I like long hot showers. Quick showers don't seem to get me clean enough. Probably just in my head but I like to really scrub.) When I do not have access to water hookup then I need to watch my water consumption. Fresh water tank holds 65 gallons but when you take a long shower you can go through a lot of water. To use recycling shower:

1. Close a valve on the tub/shower drain so water cannot drain to the gray tank.
2. Flip switch which closes electric water valves to regular hot and cold water supply and opens hot and cold waterline loop that pulls water from tub drain into a spin down water filter and afterwards through an inline water filter. Next the water branches into recycle shower hot and cold water lines. The hot line runs through a heat exchanger which pulls heat from our Truma Tankless hot water heater circulation line and then returns to the shower faucet system. The sanitized water is then reused, goes down the drain and is pumped again through the filtration system.
3. Pour 1 and 1/2 gallon of water into tub.
4. Flip switch which starts the circulation pump.
5. When finished with shower I open the tub drain and allow used water to flow into gray tank.

What I like about the system:

You can take as long a shower as you wish and use only 1.5 gallons of water.

What I don't like about the system:

-The heat exchanger doesn't get the hot water temp as hot as I would like.
-You must only use biodegradable soap and shampoo. Any shower products with petroleum ingredients will clog up you filters too fast and cause you to have to clean filters too frequently.
-Even with biodegradable soap after you recycle to water for a few minutes it will start to feel slick like softened water because some of the soap is getting through the filter.

I know if I add more filters to the system and perhaps an ultraviolet filter it will work even better but most of my camping is at one of my 8 Childrens homes where I have water hook ups that doesn't require me to recycle my water. Therefore I haven't taken my system to another level that would eliminate the soapy feeling.

I will add extra filtration to my system if I need to but for now it works. People with extra filtration often don't even dump their water after each shower. Some systems provide a week or more use of the same water. Here are links to the best recirculating shower systems I have seen:

Youtube:

Snow and Kurt. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0AR4COFJng&t=33s
Advanced RV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntGb1gZDwjk&t=2s

Extra blessing is the way I get 60 gallons into my fresh water tank when my Avion is parked where it is too far away to run a water hose.

Have been using 60 gallon Aquatank2 water bladder since march. Works so well. It's strong, lightweight and gravity feeds from the back of my Ford F350 right into my fresh water inlet. Takes about 30 minutes to gravity feed.

https://www.amazon.com/AQUATANK2-Water- ... FDEM&psc=1

When I get the system dialed in perfectly I will probably do a Youtube video on it.

[MarkB]

Thanks for the info Tom. Here is a link to the video where I was introduced to recycling gray water. I didn't know it could be done prior to watching this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqeKTq0RjLQ

[tomkiser]

Nice Video MarkB!

[Razorback]

Thanks for the info Tom. Here is a link to the video where I was introduced to recycling gray water. I didn't know it could be done prior to watching this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqeKTq0RjLQ

That was FUN!!!