How Easy Is It To Put Solar Panels on Your Camper Van or RV?
Whether youâre building or buying a camper van or other RV, modern lifestyles demand it has some kind of steady power supply besides the vehicleâs battery. An on-board generator is one such option. But a cleaner and easier-to-maintain alternative is to install solar panels on your camper van or RV. And with a bit of prep-work, itâs something you can do at home or hire (us) the experts to do it for you.
What kind of solar panels do you want on your camper van or RV?
You may have seen large solar panels installed on homes or by power stations. However, those arenât the only kind available to camper vans and RVs, Parked in Paradise reports.
Panels come in a variety of sizes and arrangements. Some are small and flexible enough to lean against your windshield. Others are rigid, with enough surface area that they have to be installed on the roof. That doesnât mean you canât mix-and-match panels, though. For example, you can have a few small portable panels to recharge a phone, while a large fixed one helps power the rest of the RV.
How many solar panels does your camper van or RV need?
Given thereâs only so much space in and around a camper van and RV, knowing how many solar panels you can install is an important concern. However, not necessarily for the reason you may think.
Your camper vanâs or RVâs solar panels donât power your lights, fridge, or other electrical devices directly, eXplorist explains. Instead, the current they generate goes into a current controller which feeds into a battery or power bank. Itâs that battery/power bank thatâs drained when you plug in a heater or laptop charger. As such, adding more panels doesnât change the available power, but how quickly the power source recharges.
Solar panels are rated based on how many watts they produce. To calculate how many watts youâll need, you first have to find out how much power your devices use in a typical day. That means either measuring it directly with a wattmeter or calculating it directly based on each deviceâs amp-hour (Ah) and voltage rating and turn-on time, Motorhome reports.
Once thatâs done, you can estimate the bare minimum battery capacity youâll need. And after that, you can calculate how many solar panels your camper van or RV needs based on estimated daylight duration.
For example, say I have a 12V battery with a 100-Ah capacity. That works out to 1200 Wh of power. If I can only guarantee 4 hours of usable sunshine, Iâll need a 300 W solar panel array.
What youâll need
If youâre building your RV or camper van yourself, youâll need a few things besides the solar panels themselves. As weâve mentioned, youâll need a battery and a charge controller to store the charge. Plus, if the battery/power bank supplies DC power, youâll need an inverter to convert it to AC.
If youâre using rigid panels, youâll also need mounts to secure them to your roof. Parked in Paradise recommends tilt mounts because they maximize how much sunshine hits the panels. Youâll also need to wire the panels together. Usually, thatâs done in series, which doesnât require fuses or expensive wiring, but some charge controllers require an in-parallel setup. Luckily, many manufacturers, like Renogy, supply camper van solar panel kits with all the necessary hardware.
Once you have the hardware, youâll need to figure out where to place the panel and how to arrange the wiring. So, before you install anything, measure your distances, or create a van mock-up to see if you have long-enough cables, Far Out Ride recommends. However, while drilling into the roof to mount your panels is the go-to method, Wayfarer Vans reports there are panel adhesives available.
If youâre buying a pre-made RV or camper van, some come with solar panels pre-installed. Others, like Airstreamâs Basecamp trailer, come pre-wired for solar panels. Wayfarerâs camper van conversion kits donât come with solar panels, but they can be ordered with a Goal Zero power station thatâs ready-made for solar panels. All you need to do is buy the panels and plug them in.
