How We Use Solar in the Northeast + Go Power! Celebrates 30 Years of Off-Grid Adventures

For a long time, RV solar felt like something designed primarily for hardcore boondockers heading deep into the desert or spending weeks on public land out West. That has never really described the way we camp. We live in the Northeast. We still love campgrounds with full hookups. We stay at KOAs and Jellystone Parks. We don’t regularly disappear onto BLM land for two weeks at a time. And yet, after roughly a decade of camping with solar, we now consider having a solar system an absolute necessity. Using Solar in the Northeast used to be rare–but everything is changing and changing fast.
Solar hasn’t fundamentally changed why we camp. Instead, it has given us more choices about where we can stay, how comfortably we can travel, and how dependent we need to be on hookups. It has opened up a world of options for us–even though we lack BLM land in our part of the country.
On this week’s episode of The RV Atlas Podcast, we look back at the many ways solar has changed our own camping life. Then Jeremy talks with Jake Erwin from Go Power!, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, about where RV solar technology is heading next—including smarter integrated systems, new Shade Tech panels, common solar misconceptions, and what RVers should know before building their first system.
To listen to our interview with Jake please click on the media player above or subscribe to the RV Atlas wherever you get your favorite shows!
Why We Got Serious About RV Solar
When we first started RVing with our boys, we were not trying to rough it.
We had twins who started camping before they were a year old, and Wes began camping when he was only about six weeks old. For several years, we had three very young boys along for every camping trip. Creature comforts were part of what made RV travel work for our family.
We liked having electricity. We liked using the appliances. We liked staying at places where we could plug in, turn everything on, and concentrate on enjoying the trip instead of rationing every bit of power.
But as the boys got older, we started noticing something.
Many of the places where we really wanted to camp didn’t necessarily have hookups.
Assateague State Park was a perfect example. Electric campsites were limited and incredibly competitive, while many more beautiful campsites were available if we were willing to dry camp.
We weren’t looking to give up our comfortable style of RVing. We wanted to expand our options without sacrificing the things we enjoyed about having an RV. That was where solar entered the picture.
Our first major system with Go Power! was installed on our toy hauler about a decade ago. At the time, it was a substantial setup with six AGM batteries, and installations like that were far less common than they are today. Even our RV dealer was learning through the process because it was their first installation of that scale.
Stephanie even had one particularly ambitious request: she wanted to be able to run the convection oven without plugging into shore power.
Did we absolutely need a convection oven while dry camping?
Probably not.
But that was our use case at the time, and it illustrates one of the most important lessons we’ve learned about solar:
Build the system around the way you actually camp.
Here are six ways that we use solar in the Northeast — and why we can’t live without it!
1. Having Power in the RV at Home
One of the first benefits of solar surprised us because it had nothing to do with camping.
Our RV was always powered in the driveway.
At that time, we didn’t have a dedicated 30- or 50-amp RV connection at home. But with the solar panels continually maintaining the batteries, we could walk into the RV and use it.
Over the years, our RV has served as:
An office
A filming space
Extra space when friends visited
A place to wrap Christmas presents
An extension of our house when we simply needed another room
It sounds small, but having an RV that is always functional rather than essentially dormant between...