Tired of lugging around that obnoxious generator when trying to camp off-grid? Or want to dispersed camp for longer periods of time without having to cut your trip short? You’ve come to the right place. It’s time to upgrade to solar power, my friend!
(What is Dispersed Camping? Read more here!)
How Do I Know If I Need Solar for My RV?
I’ll be honest — when adding a complete solar system to your RV, the possibilities not only seem endless, but overwhelming! When we first purchased our Airstream, it came with a single 45-watt portable solar panel and two 100Ah lead acid batteries. To be fair, we never really tested this system to see what it was capable of since we were camping in an RV park for the first couple of months. (Read why we transitioned from van life to Airstream life here!) However, even with my limited understanding of solar systems at the time, I knew it wouldn’t amount to much. After inspecting it further, the reality was that it wasn’t really a system at all. Most travel trailers just aren’t designed for dispersed camping off the lot, and Airstreams are no exception. The best you can hope for from most stock systems is that they will get you through a night or two as you travel between destinations.
Faced with the limitations of these stock solar systems, most RVers simply use gas or diesel-powered generators to keep their batteries topped off while camping off-grid. However, we decided early on that we did not want to travel with a generator. Our primary objection was the incessant noise, but generators have other drawbacks as well. They are heavy, take up a lot of space, and require you to carry fuel — which can be problematic if you don’t have a good place to store the fuel separate from your other necessities.
Generators are also prone to theft, which is a worthwhile consideration. Based on our experience we knew that we wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving a generator unattended when we left camp, or even out overnight, in some areas. This meant that we would have to constantly load and unload a heavy generator, or hope that no one came along with cable cutters and made off with our only source of power. Unwilling to run a generator, our only other viable option was to install a robust solar system.
I’m On Board with Adding Solar to My RV — Now What?
To help us design a system that would meet all of our needs, we reached out to AM Solar, an Oregon-based company that specializes in designing and installing RV solar systems. They came highly recommended by van lifers and RVers alike, and have been designing custom solar systems for decades. We were immediately impressed by their customer service and decided to have them price out a few options for us:
- A bare bones setup that would let us camp off-grid for a few days at a time;
- The ultimate off-grid setup that would let us run anything and everything we wanted;
- We also asked them to price out the cost for them to do the install vs. their DIY installation option.
As you might expect, the first option was about a third of the cost of option two, and the DIY option was about half the price for both options. At the time, the thought of installing our own solar system was a bit overwhelming. Despite being a pretty handy guy, electrical was always something that was outside of my competency. To top it off, the second option would have involved drilling a hole through the roof of our brand new Airstream, something I just wasn’t mentally prepared to do. 😂
Keep in mind that pricing can vary dramatically depending on the size of your desired system, and what you intend to power. Our 28′ Airstream has limited “real estate” on the roof for solar panels, but you can go pretty crazy with a 45′ Fifth Wheel.
How Hard is it to “DIY” My RV’s Solar System?
After some back and forth, we decided to go with option one and the DIY install option. This choice met most of our needs and fit within our budget. The primary components included three 90-watt Zamp solar panels, two 100Ah lithium batteries, and a 30amp Victron solar charge controller. By limiting our system to three panels, it allowed us to take advantage of the pre-wired junction box that came installed from the factory on the roof of our Airstream. This simplified the panel installation significantly, and only required me to mount the panels and plug them into the existing ports in the junction box.
(Not sure what any of this means?! I wasn’t sure at first either, but I can assure you that AM Solar does. They break this info down way better than I ever could, so check out their “Design Guides” section on their website for more info!)
Switching to lithium batteries complicated the install, but because lithium batteries can be drawn down significantly farther than lead acid batteries, it was definitely worth the effort. Fortunately, AM Solar provided us with all of the wiring, connectors, breakers, etc., as well as a detailed diagram on how to make it all work together. I gotta be honest, when I first opened the box of components from AM Solar I was overwhelmed with the thought of, “What the heck have I gotten myself into?” It took some time, but once I laid out all of the components and referenced the diagram, I was able to wrap my head around how it all worked. For me, the hardest part was trying to make sense of our RV’s existing electrical system and ensuring that I was tying in the new system correctly. It took time and some patience, but once I got going it started to feel a lot like putting together a LEGO set — a very complicated adult LEGO set electrified by 12v batteries. 😆
I hit a few snags during the install, but each time I reached out to AM Solar for help over the phone or by email, their customer service team were excellent! I was able to send photos or videos of what I was confused about (mostly our Airstream’s existing system), and they helped walk me through each problem I encountered. Their solar technicians were incredibly patient, and always went above and beyond. They even have a dedicated helpline for full-time RVers who needed immediate assistance. Talk about customer service!
The Case For Adding a More Robust Solar System
It didn’t take us very long to realize that we probably should have gone with the more robust system recommended by AM Solar. Under ideal sun conditions, our panels could keep our batteries topped off, but a few days of cloud cover or rain and we would find ourselves needing to plug in. Fortunately, we had portable solar panels and a power station as a backup to power our batteries back up anytime they got too low. This usually worked in a pinch, but after spending a particularly rainy and overcast summer in Alaska, we decided it was time to reach out to AM Solar again to upgrade our system.
As we made our way south from Alaska after cutting our trip short, we routed though Springfield, OR to visit our friends at AM Solar. Their technicians inspected our system, helped us troubleshoot a defective battery monitor, and took some measurements on the roof to help us determine how we could improve our system most cost effectively. I will admit, I was a little nervous having their techs inspect my work, but they gave me two thumbs up and told me it was one of the better DIY installs they had seen. (SCORE!) It was a nice pat on the back, and a good confidence boost leading into what would be another big RV project.
After some discussion we settled on a pretty simple upgrade. We would add three additional solar panels to the roof of the Airstream and tie the existing panels together with the new ones using AM Solar’s custom combiner box. All six panels would then be routed to a new 50amp solar charge controller, and the existing 30amp charge controller would remain in place to manage any portable panels plugged into the existing port located on the tongue of the trailer.
The installation of the additional panels and the new charge controller was fairly straightforward compared to the initial install. I had a lot more confidence going into this install and I found myself really enjoying the process. I didn’t even mind drilling that dreaded hole through the roof of our Airstream! 😉
Watch our second solar installation on Instagram here!
Would We Do Anything Differently with Our Solar Power?
Editor’s Note: As of March 2023, we’ve had this upgraded system for more than nine months and are impressed by how it has kept up with our needs. For the first time in our 4.5 years of traveling full-time on the road, we haven’t stressed or worried about whether we’re getting enough sun!
As part of this upgrade, we had also planned to add an additional 100Ah lithium battery to our battery bank, but decided that we should hold off until we had some time to test out the new panels. It has been a few months since the install, and I am very confident that we could add 100-200Ah to our battery bank and keep them topped off.
We have also discovered that our stock 1,000-watt inverter isn’t capable of running our air fryer, which isn’t that big of a deal, but we will likely look to upgrade the inverter at a later date. A 3,000-watt inverter would allow us to run the air fryer and tie the Airstream’s entire electrical system to the inverter so we can power all of our outlets, the fridge, and the electric water heater when camping off-grid. This would allow us to conserve propane (which is how we currently heat water and power the fridge) and make full use of all the power being captured by our new panels.
If we move forward with these two upgrades we will essentially have the system that AM Solar first recommended to us. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way to trust the professionals!
In Summary
If you’re looking to make a solar power upgrade to your van or RV, we cannot recommend AM Solar enough. Their team is always patient, super knowledgeable and incredibly helpful through every step of the process — from design ideas and component selection, to support during the installation. Be sure to use our discount code NEVERSAYSOMEDAY for 5% off your entire purchase!
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