When we were choosing solar panels for camper van it was one of the most important things that we needed to do. It was our goal to run a really efficient refrigerator to always have cold food and drinks available in our van. This would allow us to not have to deal with ice chest any longer. We would also like to be able to charge the batteries to run things like TVs, charge computers, power induction cooktop and even run a CPAP machine. This meant we needed to figure out how much solar we could put on the roof of the van. We had purchased an Engel chest type compressor driven refrigerator which had was extremely efficient. Getting a really efficient refrigerator allowed us to need more solar for the fridge.
Our solar would be installed on the roof of the van and we opted to install it on the roof rack. This made for an easier install and also made the solar a little more obvious which, to be honest, helps me sell solar kits for RV’s when we’re out on the road or camping. It is amazing how many times people will walk up to me in an RV park and ask me about my solar panels. This often creates a conversation and possibly a customer for our business outside Supply. I could have easily of mounted the panels on the roof without any issue.
Solar panels are like billboards for our business
A link to to buy the RV Solar setup on Outside Supply
Solar is kind of our thing and it has been one of our key product lines since 2002. In fact we have a lot of information on our site for RV Solar. We have learned a lot from actually using the solar to run our company Outside Supply off-grid for 2 years. The first lesson you learn is that leaving everything one, means you come back to a dead battery.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gFRLekaNqk?rel=0&w=560&h=315]