HOW TO: DIY Fit a Solar Panel to A Caravan | Large Solar Panel Install for Off Grid Caravan Living

[@WhereGoggsyGoes]

Really good vid..well demonstrated and it's good to see the process from start to finish with commentary.

[@TheMcNeillsonWheels]

Glad you found it helpful!

[@gerritwolters7696]

Really appreciated the details of the video, it was a lot of help to me, thanks

[@fishandreptileinfo]

Great video. well put together. THANK YOU

[@TheMcNeillsonWheels]

Thanks! Solar is a game changer!

[@stewartmackay]

Very interesting, thank you.

[@TheMcNeillsonWheels]

Glad it's been helpful!

[@livingtinyinsouthernafrica935]

Thanks, very helpful 😊

[@TheMcNeillsonWheels]

Glad it was helpful!

[@FaithandFun-w6q]

Very nice 🙂

[@TheMcNeillsonWheels]

Thanks 👍

[@barrysmith9020]

Just one thing, the inline fuse should be as close as pos to the battery, as you have it it is only protecting the wiring between the controller and the fuse,, the cable from the fuse to the battery is not protected

[@hughie7545]

Can you run completely on solar? If not what exactly would you need or what would it be capable of running in a caravan ? Thank you

[@douglassmith720]

I have a 100 watt monocrystaline solar panel on my Lunar Ariva, It is not fitted to the roof as in your video but is free standing approx 60 degrees from the horizontal. When in normal use this panel keeps my LiFePo4 battery fully charged through a PWM charge controller but when the battery gets a little discharged I find I can increase the charge rate by keeping the solar panel at 90 degrees to the sun. I have found in my past that a solar panel fitted to the caravan roof will only produce a decent charge rate at or around 12 noon. Also by having the solar panel free standing I can keep it away from the elements by placing it on one of the beds with the blinds left open. Also I have an adaptor which permits 2 or more solar panels to be linked together to produce 100, 200, 300 watts etc.

[@brianhoskins1979]

An interesting point. It would be a nice project to make a jig for the panel that can track the Sun so that you can set it and forget it.

[@richardsracingmad]

I am looking at getting Solar power on my old Elddis ( you know, the ones with a soft front window panel ). My questions are…..1. what is your computer watts and how long can you run it for with your set up? 2 are you running anything else off the inverter apart from a printer? 3. Do you have enough solar power in winter ( or on gloomy days like today) to keep the battery topped up to be able to run the computer ? Many thanks….

[@TheMcNeillsonWheels]

Good morning, Richard. With solar, there are many variables. For example, what size battery do you have? What are the weather conditions outside? How much are you drawing? Are you running your laptop through an inverter? For us, on greyer overcast days, we find that we must be a careful with it, as little is being put back into the battery, whereas on bright days we needn't worry. Also, for us, we ran our computers through an inverter, which is inefficient. For our summer tour next year, we'll change to using a 12v adapter, bypassing the inverter. This should vastly improve efficiency. Can't comment on winter usage, as this is the first winter it will be on the caravan and truth be told we won't be using it. If your caravan is permanently sited, in addition to the solar, I'd look to include a wind turbine. Wind turbines are great, as although they don't give as much output as solar, they'll generate whenever it's windy, including through the night. It would be worth joining a few Facebook groups to get ideas. With renewables, compromise is everything. Good luck!

[@richardsracingmad]

Yes permanent site….looking at running a desktop rather than a laptop, so I would need an inverter. However, newer iMac desktops are similar power draws to the Mac laptops, even though they have no inbuilt battery. From my calculations, allowing for winter days, I would need about 2,400W of solar panels, and 4 large AGM batts to run a desktop for about 8-10 hrs a day, and a fridge too. Good shout on the wind turbine, that they could be generating a small input 24 hrs a day, weather permitting.🙌

[@TheMcNeillsonWheels]

@@richardsracingmad Ah good stuff. You could also consider ground mounting your solar panel on a frame. This way, you could orientate and angle it to achieve optimum light dependent on season, but you could also nip out periodically throughout the day and physically move it to track the movement of the sun. This would give you the absolute best output from your panel. Ours has to fixed to the roof for travel and isn't even angled, so it'll never reach its full potential. Good luck with it all. Once you get up and running, I'd be fascinated to see some pictures. Drop me an email over to [e-mail].

[@brianhoskins1979]

I would actually recommend avoiding an inverter entirely if possible. Sometimes they can be useful for infrequent (and unplanned) power requirements, but if you are _planning_ an install you should plan for all your equipment to run off low voltage D.C. Why? Well, here is what happens when you use an inverter. The ~13V D.C. from the battery goes into the inverter and is converted to high voltage A.C. Then you plug your device into the A.C. and, except for proper A.C. mains equipment, they will typically take the A.C. and convert it back down to low voltage A.C., before rectifying and regulating it down to a low voltage D.C. again. And at each step in this chain, you have fairly significant losses. For an off-grid power setup, your plan should be to minimise as many losses as possible, and that means eliminating the inverter (except maybe to allow for infrequent, unplanned power requirements).

[@brianhoskins1979]

An interesting install. I was wondering if you could have run the cabling from the solar panel directly underneath the panel itself, thereby avoiding the need for conduit and a separate (exposed) cable entry point on the roof. I assume there is at least a small cavity between the roof and the inside ceiling of the caravan where these wires could then run. Just for my own understanding, do you see a problem with this approach? I would be inclined to go lithium on the battery front, although this can be a fairly expensive investment.

[@TheMcNeillsonWheels]

Hello! You could do this, but be aware that the connecting plugs are around 30mm diameter, so you'd have to either box them in under the panel to stop them flapping about or bring them down through the caravan roof via a waterproof cable entry grommet. Either solution would require a low profile box, as the gap between roof and panel is only about 50mm. Also, you need to be able to get your hands in to place the cable. So entirely possible, but you may find it trickier. It would definitely be a cleaner install.

[@Patrick-pl7qc]

I grinched when I see so many holes drilled in the top of the caravan the glue would have been enough there's no way I would drill anything in the top of the roof of the caravan

[@andrewberesford1430]

Bit of a bodge job all in all.