How to choose an RV solar kit
The current Megawatt solar calculator does not crown a single best kit. It takes your daily watt-hours, divides by peak sun hours times 0.75 system efficiency, and rounds up to whole packs of 200, 400, 800, and 1,180 watts. Those four short links are the only solar products this rebuild carries forward.
Start with the load, not the roof photo. The calculator’s preset classes (luxury Class A, mid-size, compact) are planning figures James published, not a measurement of your coach. Uncheck the air conditioner unless you truly intend to run it from batteries. That one box moves the array more than any other.
Then measure. The original calculator says RV roofs lose space to air conditioners, vents, and antennas, and it tells you to verify the layout before you purchase. The solar planner on this site draws a roof from the length and width you enter. The panel footprint in that drawing is an editable planning size, not a dimension copied from a product page.
The 75 percent factor is in the published calculator. It stands in for heat, wiring, and controller loss. It is not a promise of daily watt-hours. For a week of real sky at a ZIP code, use the solar forecast, which reads Open-Meteo irradiance and applies the same 0.75 factor.
If the array is large, or the battery calculator steps you up to 24 or 48 volts, hire the work. CCRV is the solar installer listed on the old Megawatt partners page. This guide does not rank installers.