How Does the Weight of a Solar Powered System Affect Your RV's Road Handling & Safety?
You want to go solar so that you can enjoy camping in your RV off-the-grid, far away from crowded campgrounds and RV resorts! We see some RVers build huge systems without a care in the world about adding significant weight, while others are concerned about how the extra pounds may affect their towing experience. Maybe this issue has never even occurred to you?
Regardless, with a few tricks up our sleeves to maximize energy production with limited space and solar equipment, you’ll likely be surprised by how little weight you need to add to your overall rig – especially if you replace the lead acid batteries that came with your rig with more modern LiFePO4 batteries!
First, it’s important to remember that solar power is scalable. Solar can power any size RV – from small Class B vans to moderately-sized travel trailers / motorhomes to full-scale luxury Class A off-grid homes on wheels. If your daily energy needs are limited to lights, fans and charging your smartphone, it's likely that the equipment you need will neither cost nor weigh much. If you are running several large household appliances, your system will be heavier and have a higher upfront price tag. Either way, you’ll save a ton of money within the first year by camping off-grid, rather than paying outrageous RV park resort prices...and feel freer than you ever have before.
Find out how to size the right system for you and your rig with our comprehensive and FREE downloadable Solar Sizing Worksheet.
Let’s Talk Towing Basics
Towing 101 probably wasn’t covered the last time you took a DMV test, yet the difference between driving a standard vehicle and driving while towing a trailer is significant!
Before you tow, you need to know:
Your vehicle’s towing capacity. Can the vehicle you drive safely pull a trailer (fully loaded) and bring everything to a stop safely? A good rule of thumb is for the GTW (Gross Trailer Weight) to never exceed 80% of your vehicle’s maximum towing capacity.
Your vehicle’s max tongue weight (MTW). Can the rear axle of your vehicle handle the additional weight of the trailer that isn’t being carried by the trailer axles? Generally this is 10% to 15% of the total trailer weight.
Making sure your vehicle and trailer are evenly matched is incredibly important to safe towing! Your stopping distance increases, perhaps doubles, at highway speeds – and adding more mass and momentum offers less mobility in a defensive driving situation.
All of this is important to understand when you’re thinking of adding anything to your RV rig, but how much will solar add to the overall weight of your rig?
Solar Weight Gain?
Let’s compare 3 different systems to get a better understanding of how much weight we are talking about…
Small Travel Trailer
A small yet powerful system like ours makes the most of a small roof, under bench storage for the solar components, with a portable solar suitcase stored inside the trailer while traveling!
Product Links for Components Above: 100W Flexible Panels, 400W Lightweight Portable Solar Suitcase, 100Ah LiFePO4 Self Heating Batteries, 40A Rover w/ MPPT Charge Controller, 700W Pure Sine Wave Inverter, Renogy One Core Monitor
*Just comparing batteries alone, the weight savings on a small system is significant when you compare LiFePO4 batteries with AGM or standard lead acid! LiFePO4 batteries could save you between 74 and 85 pounds! (100Ah AGM = 64 lbs. x 2 = 128 lbs. / 100Ah lead acid = 69 lbs. x 2 = 138 lbs)
Medium Sized Travel Trailer
The components we helped our friends Erin and Jeremiah install in their 2021 Forest River Wolf Pup 22’ travel trailer are powerful enough for them to live full-time and work from wherever they want to be!
*LiFePO4 battery weight savings on this system runs between 143 and 164 pounds (comparing AGM and lead acid respectively), not to mention the additional savings with fewer battery connection cables. (100Ah AGM = 64 lbs. x 4 = 256 lbs. / 100Ah lead acid = 69 lbs. x 4 = 276 lbs)
Larger RV, Motorhome or School Bus Conversion
We had a blast helping our friend Jacob install this large solar powered system in his School Bus Conversion, which offers a great option for off-grid and on-grid flexibility.
*LiFePO4 battery weight savings on this system runs between 128 and 143 pounds (comparing AGM and lead acid respectively), not to mention the additional weight savings with two-in-one components and shorter cable runs. (100Ah AGM = 64 lbs. x 3 = 192 lbs. / 100Ah lead acid = 69 lbs. x 3 = 207 lbs)
Solar Punches Above Its Weight!
As we’ve seen in these few real life examples, solar components won’t affect the weight and towing performance of your trailer by a significant margin. And, the weight it does add pays off in the freedom from power lines, high priced resort fees, and campground crowds! In each example we’ve seen that you can save the weight of a small person to a whole gang of grandchildren simply by choosing longer lasting and lighter weight Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries.
While it’s important to understand how extra weight affects your towing performance and safety, solar powered systems offer more benefits than they cost in weight. Build the right system for you and your rig with our FREE downloadable Solar Sizing Worksheet and we’ll see you on the road!
This blog contains affiliate links. When you use our links and promo code to make a purchase at renogy.com, you get a sweet discount and we get a small commission. In addition to volunteering our time, we donate a portion of our affiliate proceeds to non-profit organizations that support youth education/development, sustainability, health, environmental education, and access to outdoor adventure. Discover more about us and how we've been traveling with solar power since 2012 -- all over the North American continent.
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