Sticking Big Ol' Solar Panels On The Roof Of A Van | Vanlife Solar Setup

#vanlife #solar #vanconversion

Solar! Harnessing the power of the sun! Hip! Cool! Rad!

I feel like there are hundreds of videos about this on YouTube, but I might as well share my experience with it too. Solar is one of those topics that I kind of understand, but I still have a lot to learn. I managed to figure out enough to get by and I’m happy with what I’ve got going on.

Again I want to give a shout out to Trent and Allie (https://tinyurl.com/yy38dybw) for helping me figure out what I needed when I asked for help! They really did me a solid.

Supplies and Tools

After I figured out what I need to power, I ordered all the components to my solar setup. If you want to know about all those things I needed to power, go check out the electrical video and the van reveal video.

Renogy 300 Watt 24V Monocrystalline Solar Panel : https://amzn.to/2mrtE6k (I purchased 2)
Renogy 20ft 10AWG Solar Panel Extension Cables : https://amzn.to/2mqU6Ns
Link Solar Weatherproof ABS Solar Double Cable Entry : https://amzn.to/2mV9kdz
PowMr MPPT Charge Controller : https://amzn.to/2lwniT1
12V 200ah Deep Cycle Battery : https://amzn.to/2A2Qq81 (I purchased 2 of these)

The unistrut can be purchased at your local hardware store. Luckily we had some of it on hand so that’s why we went this route. To mount the unistrut to the Ram Promaster specifically, you can purchase hardware from Vantech.us. That way you don’t need to drill any more holes into the roof of your van.

Superstrut : https://tinyurl.com/yxffk2wh
Superstrut 1/2-in Spring Strut Nut : https://tinyurl.com/yyoand2s
Promaster Roof Mount Adapter Kit : https://tinyurl.com/yxoejfvu

Finally, there’s the bluetooth battery monitor I purchased. This was definitely a splurge purchase that not everyone needs. You can get battery monitors that aren’t bluetooth for a lot cheaper, but if you want to be a fancy pants then this one can be a good option. It works well and has a very user friendly interface.

Victron BMV-712 Battery Monitor : https://amzn.to/2mTc7nB

This part of the build took me about two days of about 8 hours of work per day to finish. Again, I had help from several people which sped up the process tremendously. I would advise getting some help with this especially when it comes time to put the panels on your roof! I guess you could go with a smaller solar setup and the process could be a lot simpler, but hey…...it’s your call.

If you have any questions make sure to leave it in the comments or shoot me a DM | @dogcatmanvan

Видео Sticking Big Ol' Solar Panels On The Roof Of A Van | Vanlife Solar Setup канала DogCatManVan