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[postquote quote=174942][/postquote] We actually have two remotes. One for the TV/stereo combination and one for the Maxfan. The combination remote must be a fairly new change as the one we have is not pictured in the 2019 owner's manual. Ours looks to have many more buttons than the one pictured. Here's the "truth in lending statement": My wife is the tech savvy part of this partnership. I'm the guy that can't even spell "ATM" much less use one. (Seriously, I've never used an ATM.) Same with a debit card. I don't use those either. I pay cash (issued to me by my spouse) , use "credit" or write (please don't say it) a check. After all, how many pictures of Hobos have you seen with them carrying a cell phone or laptop??

Thanks to the new narrow panel size that Zamp designed to fit Airstreams, I think you could make it work. No TV antenna, of course, like the 480W system. The trick would be to straddle the AC and MaxxFan with the narrow panels. There's just enough width between them and should be just enough length to maintain the Penguin II clearance requirements at the back of the unit. Here's how it might work. The three panels at the front are what Oliver will do for a 480W system - all I did was add the two narrow 80W panels to the rear. Worst case, they'd just need to use a low profile plumbing vent to slide the panels forward enough, or slide the AC back a bit, just to maintain the AC clearances. Add a couple Zamp 200W portable panels, and you've got yourself a 1kW mobile power station.

New nautical clock for the Ollie! Chelsea from the Patriot collection. Fits nicely. https://www.chelseaclock.com/style/patriot-collection/

This size seems like it would fit on both sides up top. The feet are even made for curved roofs. There is even an extra plug-in on the factory roof install for the solar panels. It would be super easy if you could get an SEA splitter cable and just plug them in, then you would just have to mount the feet. Just wondering if anyone has done anything like this. The whole parallel vs series and panel compatibility is beyond my expertise. Though it would be nice to have a 500W system. https://www.zampsolar.com/90watt-long-expansion https://www.zampsolar.com/y-connector 30-AD-90L-InstallGuide.pdf

Mike, I have awnings on both sides so they mount the same. Oliver did the mounts for me and I’ll post some photos below. You might call service and see if they’d do the same for you. Not sure about mounting them at an angle since what you gain one side you’d lose on the other so it would probably be a wash at best. Some of the Ollie solar pioneers mounted their larger panels at an angle like you’re talking about so you might search some of the early posts for photos. It would be nice to somehow hinge them or attach them with pins so that they can be removed for cleaning. Though as mine are, I can clean under them though it’s a bit of a bother. The A/C is the only thing to worry about shading the panels but that’s late in the day when you aren’t getting much solar anyway and shading those panels won’t affect the others.

KWR, you can use your trailer without an electrical hookup. I never bother plugging in when power is available, unless it is stinky hot and I want to run the air conditioner. Try it, it is one less thing to fuss with when you arrive and leave. That is why the solar option is there, to free you from that cumbersome umbilical cord. The only exception is if you are parked in shade or the days are short. Since you have a port on your trailer, you can plug in an external panel directly, as long as it isn’t bigger than about 130 watts and has its own built in controller. The Furion port connector is limited to 10 amps. I think the Zamp port can carry more current but I am not sure. The port is wired directly to your batteries, it is independent of your onboard system. You don’t need any more batteries, your system is perfect as is. A portable panel can be moved around and aimed as needed to stay in the sun, so you can park under a tree in hot weather to reduce the solar heat gain. Down sides include cost, you need a place to store it and any extension cables in your tow vehicle, and it might get stolen if left unattended. You can use a cable lock around a tree but that is easily defeated. The folding “suitcase” units are more compact than the single panel versions, and usually come with a padded case. The roll-up flexible solar blankets used by overland vehicles are super light and compact but uber expensive. Most people who travel with a generator to run the air conditioner don’t bother to have an extra solar panel, since you can run it for an hour or two and have fully charged batteries. I don’t plan to buy one in the foreseeable future, but I like this one, it is only 20”x 27” x 3” when folded. ..... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079JVBVL3/?coliid=IQOA7UNUKCHSA&colid=1X5H11EH41351&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it John Davies Spokane WA

Not sure this is the best topic category to place this suggestion, but since you folks are discussing refrigerators, here goes. I just noticed my 2019 Oliver LE2 (Hull#444) Norcold Refrigerator outside vent door was missing one of the two plastic vent door clamps. I found this on Amazon and suggest folks order a spare or two unless someone has devised a better way to keep the vent door in place.

Attached photo of my Remotes. The only remote not in my 2109 Oliver LE2 when picked up April 2019 (Hull#444) is the Roku remote. My young adult tech-savy kids shared with me the wonderous world of Roku - With internet connection through either my WifiRanger or my Verizon Jetpack 8800L, I am able to watch an incredible amount of TV (including my ESPN channels). Not sure why would ever need satellite dish (except possible for those areas where internet is not available). Anyway, I seem to have two removes for my Jensen setup - one for the TV and one for the Jensen stereo system (I can not use either very well).

Just keep in mind, the more stuff you hang up top, the harder it is to get up there to clean and wax the roof and service stuff like the air conditioner. With a single big factory installed panel, you can unbolt the curb side, install a set of extension bars, and tilt it WAY up so you can easily crawl all over the roof on a foam pad. The awning keeps you from sliding off... if you have two awnings this won’t work since there isn’t enough clearance to get the panel high enough. I personally think on this compact trailer that a big remote solar panel makes more sense, one you can move with the sun and use when the trailer is shaded. John Davies Spokane WA

Yup - http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/640w-of-solar-on-the-roof-with-ac-im-pretty-sure-its-possible/

It is the 6 in dial version and it has a brass screw lock on the left side.. the whole front swings out to reveal a small German made quartz movement (AA battery). Made in USA otherwise. Does not tick. Me too... the original is a metal wind-up, super nice but very heavy and expensive. This one fits and works nice for this application. The back is perfectly flat, so it is an easy install with some VHB tape. @John, after some use I realized it does have a mild tick noise.

Randy - I agree on the Kyocera, but I understand that Oliver is limiting themselves to Zamp since it's all plug and play and much easier for them to install and support. My personal opinion of Zamp is that their stuff is way overpriced, but I'm fine with the panels themselves, and if that's what Oliver uses now, so be it. Dave - We've asked Oliver to provide us with a port for adding portable panels. It will be a Zamp port rather than andersen, but that's easy to swap out. My concern with portables is theft, which is one of the reasons we want to maximize the rooftop solar first, and only think about portable solar as an expansion, though your reasoning on positioning the panels is 100% valid. Of course, if we buy the whole kit together, we can take the tax credit on the portables, so it may be worth going ahead and maxing out the system. Buzzy - My primary goal is to have enough solar to not have to think about it. But apart from that, we do our camping in the winter and spring, when sunlight is scarce. Remember that we're adding a 12V fridge to our trailer, so our usage is upped by ~50Ah/day. It seems from others that the typical Oliver usage is 70-80Ah/day (which includes some microwave use, coffee maker, etc.) so adding the fridge to that we're at a budget of around 120-130Ah/day. (And you can probably add another 50Ah if we want to make good use of an induction cooktop or toaster oven, so it adds up fast.) The two rules of thumb that I find repeated most often are 1) size your panels to 2W per useable Ah of storage; and 2) assume 20Ah/day/100W of solar. Some say 30Ah, but for winter camping, I'm sticking with the lower estimate. So for us, you'd start with 2W x 200 useable Ah = 400W of solar, and by that, we'd be good with Oliver's 480W option. By the second rule though, we're falling behind: 360W = 72Ah/day 480W = 96Ah/day 640W = 128Ah/day If you accept those estimates, then 640W solar is what we'd need for our electrical budget, plus external panels if we want to use induction or a toaster oven. We can supplement with a generator at 45A per hour, but of course would rather not. I like my quiet. It does give me pause that we have one rule of thumb that gives us an answer that's 60% higher than the other. So much for rules of thumb, but I suppose it's accounted for in assuming 20Ah rather than 30 per 100W of solar. Perhaps the first rule should be 2-3W/useable Ah of storage. One other thing that pushes me toward the higher estimate is the fact that, at 120-130Ah of usage, we don't have a big cushion in our battery bank for rainy days, shade, snow, etc. I'd love to go with a 400Ah LiFePo battery bank, which would provide 320 useable Ah, but that requires swapping out everything for the Victron system that I mentioned to you before and I suspect that for that to happen, I'm going to have to do it myself. I do know one traveller who is limited to 400W of solar on his roof and he has to supplement with alternator charging (he's in a Tiger, which is very similar to an EarthRoamer). The advantage of the EarthRoamer type vehicles is that they have diesel engines with dual alternators that aren't 25' away from their batteries and can recharge quite efficiently that way, at least for their bulk charging. Alternators for bulk charging + solar for acceptance and float is a great combination. They also use a Webasto diesel system that gives them heat, hot water and a diesel cooktop, so their electricity needs are actually very similar to ours. The Webasto system is awesome, by the way - from both an efficiency standpoint and for travel in countries where propane isn't as easy to find - but the cooktop takes a bit to heat up and cool down so it's not really tuned for American expectations. Plus you end up carrying propane anyway if you want a grill or a gas campfire, so I'm good with the Oliver on that front.