Lots and Lots of questions.....Good!!!
First of all , let me say that I have no experience with running a 40'MH on solar....I do have extensive experience running regular homes on Solar.

You will need to make a good assessment of how much energy you are using on a daily basis....How long will you batteries last between recharges..??
That will give you a place to start.....Solar is used in 2 ways...Primarily to charge the batteries..(replace the used power).....and can be used as a direct power source....(not recommended) Solar is temperamental and unreliable (clouds etc.)...To get optimum performance you will have to adjust them like your SAT TV about every hour. Not good....If you just want to have them on top of your coach then you will need to over size the array to adjust for the lack of perpendicular solar radiation (the best)

Once you realize your needs then you can begin to determine how much solar you want.... If you want to be able to replace all of the energy used during the last 24hrs.......in 1 day (9AM to 4PM) then you will need a large array......If you can get by with 50% from solar or reduce your usage.....Smaller array could work...

You will need a voltage regulator and charge limiter on the solar array...but that's about all....All of the other things you have in the coach will work just as they have in the past.....If they are adequate now then they will be after the solar installation.

Good Luck and Go For It....You will be glad you did...!!!! :approve: :approve: :approve:

As for the AC Units.....You would probably need to increase the size of your inverter.....Be sure it is rated for continuous load and have at least 25% reserve in the capacity......Would recommend 5000Watt unit.... And then you will need moooore batteries and a larger array..!!!

To give you and idea....20Amp AC unit running at 115 volts takes about 191 AMPS of 12 volt power to run PER HOUR...

There are a lot of people who do much of what you hope to do in the winter months, by dry camping on the desert, mostly on land owned by the Bureau of Land Management in areas that they call Long Term Visitor Areas or LTVA's. There are minimal services to no services at all, depending upon where you go. They haul their fresh and and waste water and make electricity with solar, wind generators and gas/diesel generators. Some stay in those locations for as long as 5 to 7 months.

The air conditioner is not at all realistic to consider operating from solar power. The secret to living with solar is to minimize the need for electricity. Most who successfully do this have solar panels that pretty much cover the roof and many have additional ones that are set up on the ground, and/or a wind generator or two. But even with this there is no air conditioner use. The cost to have enough solar power for your air conditioner (even just one) would far exceed the savings that you would see and your RV is not nearly large enough to carry that many solar panels or batteries to store that power.

Excellent Advice ALL!! Thank you all so much for the input! I will review all this with DH and see where we go from here.

BTW---this financial mess has made a TOTAL mess of our retirement plans.:angry: DH will now have to stay in Abu Dhabi at least 1 more year (he was supposed to come home and retire in Jan 2009), he may have to stay until Jan 2010 now! :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:

We are not supposed to be 'political' on this forum, but I can tell you, most everyone I speak with is AGAINST this 'bail out'....for all the same reasons!! Why are we REWARDING the people who caused this mess?? :angry: :question: :angry: