Solar Power on Vans

When you are doing off-grid living in a van, you have to optimize every possible area. The budget must be taken into account, and there are various layouts and items that you can choose from, some being far more expensive than anything truly necessary.

This is one option for the interior build of a van with the raised bed and “garage” layout (Camper)

Although the exterior of the van is something that you have some choices with you still do not have many, therefore the exterior of the van can be something that is not a huge additional expense off the bat. the interior layout also can be designed in ways that allow you to save some money upfront and you can always add stuff going on.

One of the few exterior decisions is whether you are going to add solar or not. While adding it gives you true flexibility, it is a larger financial burden. you have to buy more than just the panels itself, you need the inverters, and the control panels, and more wiring than you would expect. Solar energy is becoming more popular in general, partially due to the fact that, “many studies focus on renewable energies, because these have the potential to provide an unlimited, clean and sustainable energy” which makes them a good long term investment at the moment (Eddine).

Flexible vs. “Stationary”

When you are considering adding solar, the first thing is figuring out if you want flexible solar panels, which are usually thinner, or do you want the built panels that lie flat and are thicker.

Some of the different models and makes of solar panels (Poly)

Then, do you want to be able to walk or sit on the panels? How do they need to be taken care of, will just watching them off with some soap and water do the trick or is there more?

Looking on amazon at the “best choices” flexible panels run about 140 dollars for a 100 Watt panel, whereas the built panels run 104 dollars for a 100 Watt panel.

This Van has 1000 Watts of solar mounted in a way that it can be tilted to the side, aiding in maximizing the amount of sun the van can take in. (Eamon)

You need to consider where you are going to put them, and how you are planning on mounting them. If you are mounting them stationary on your roof, then you typically have more options than if you are trying to mount them on a tilting rack, or if you are planning on covering half of them with a roof bag or a roof rack.

Works Cited

Camper Van Floor Plan & Interior Layout. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2020, from FarOutRide website: https://faroutride.com/interior-layout/

Eamon \u0026 Bec. (2018). 1000 WATT SOLAR OFF GRID CAMPERVAN // van life meetup [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N-aFunuOxo

Eddine Mahdi, B. D., Abdelatif, H., & Zafrane, M. A. (2020). An interactive approach for solar energy system: design and manufacturing. International Journal of Electrical & Computer Engineering (2088–8708), 10(5), 4478–4489. https://doi.org/10.11591/ijece.v10i5.pp4478-4489

Poly Vs Mono Vs Flexible Solar Panels & Series Vs Parallel Circuit. (2020, March 8). Retrieved October 11, 2020, from Coulee Limited website: https://couleenergy.com/mono-solar-panels-series-vs-parallel-circuit/