In a message dated 01/05/2010 8:33:39 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
LISTSERV@GERRY.VANAGON.COM writes:

        All of what Loren says and  more.  You really need to do your
homework.  It is absolutey  imperative that you closely approximate your
electrical needs for daytime  and nighttime.  The angle of the sun is very critical.
 If you think  that solar panel is going to produce the max output of amps
all day long your  sadly mistaken.  We found that to get the max benefit
from our panel during  the two full months camped on the beach in La
Manzanilla, MX, we needed to move  the panel several times a day, a real PITA, if you
wanted to be away from the  camper.  Always asking other in the campers to
help out with the  moving.  An automatic motorized servo sun tracker would be
nice but pricey  and they take up valuable space and use up part of the
juice your making !   The other things we have noted is that a bigger panel
will outperform a smaller  panel in adverse conditions, ie: low light levels,
dirty panel, cloudy day,  etc.  AND, all this solar panel stuff is fine and
dandy but you also need  to think about your storage batteries.  BECAUSE, the
sun is not going to  shine for 24 hours a day unless your way up North !
Where we were for  example it went pretty much like this:  we  would not get
useful sun until around 10 am and by 4 pm the setting sun will no  longer
produce much power.  We  therefore have approximately six hours to produce
electricity, if there are no  clouds or storms, and then have 18 hours running
on the batteries.

    So  you quickly see that there's a lot to think about before jumping
in.  And,  why would you want to get rid of your propane system ?  What will
you cook  with ?  And, a propane powered fridge is much more useful for long
term  camping than an electric model.  You can always find a source for
propane  but you can not always find a source for electricity, unless you have a
 generator or want to run your engine to charge your  batteries !

      I just got back from spending the last five  months living in my van,
so that's where my experience is coming from.   Real world use !  See my
_www.westfaliatravels.com_ (http://www.westfaliatravels.com)  blog !

>>>>>>That's fine for
moderate use but you  really need to figure what your electric consumption
is
going to be and  then figure out how much solar charging capacity you will
need.
Several  people I know have their solar panels mounted on the roof and are
happy  with the results.  But I've never talked to them about how  careful
they are to park with the panel pointed south for maximum  charging.  I do
know, from watching the current flow, that the angle  to the Sun makes a big
difference in the output from the PV  panels.<<<<<<<<<

Cheers,

Frank  Condelli
Almonte, Ontario, Canada
'87 Westy & Lionel Trains (_Collection for sale_
(http://frankcondelli.com/trainsal.htm) )
_Frank Condelli &  Associates_ (http://frankcondelli.com/busindex.html)  -
Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in the Ottawa Valley
_Vanagon Stainless Steel Exhaust  Systems_
(http://frankcondelli.com/exhaust.htm)
_BusFusion_ (http://www.busfusion.com/)  a VW Camper  camping event,
Almonte, ON, June 10 ~ 13,  2010