Solarrolla Napkin Series 5 - Solar-Powered Fully Electric Campers!

The Solarrolla eStar is the most powerful solar electric vehicle you can buy. With up to 200 miles of range and the ability to harvest 100 miles of range per day from the sun, our eStar conversions make the ultimate zero-emissions work vehicle or RV.
The Solarrolla Napkin Series will discuss the engineering behind projects in various levels of completion, from concept sketches to current builds, projects already delivered to clients, and off-grid projects on the Solarrolla property.
Video by Tony Kahnke
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[@jezthomas4402]

Love your principles, ingenuity, and drive - all power to you!

[@charlesplewes48]

Replace the side mirrors with cameras will add 10% to the range.

[@willm5814]

I’m soooo jealous! You guys are pioneers- working on something that matters!!

[@myself248]

This is wild, I'm in line for an Aptera 3-wheeler, and now suddenly I imagine it as the runabout vehicle accompanying a camper like this!

[@teagueman100]

I really like the graphics. Good quality and my kind of style.

[@SolarHarvestSolutions]

Been barking up this tree for 20 years, I have my own prototype solar Polaris ATV … very nice work guys

[@brettbelan4937]

Great job!

[@PeaceChanel]

Thank You for All that you are doing for our Planet Earth.... Peace.. Shalom.. Salam.. Namaste .. 🙏🏻 😊 ✌ ☮ ❤ 🕊

[@iandale]

Love what you’re doing here, at work in a big company I attempt to remove “cottage industries” but in this space I think your cottage industry is a thing of beauty.

[@brettbelan4937]

Appreciated!

[@___Tom]

Great Projects, great vid! Thanks for pioneering!

[@scopwicknewyear5531]

That is very impressive. Byd is the way to go. Much better thermal regulation and safer. Not perfect but better. You are building my dream. Well done.

[@silviuflorescu6838]

Why not using EVE 304Ah LFP prismatic cells ? You get 970 Wh for 5,5 kg, while with these lamelar BYD you get 650 Wh for 3,9 kg. 176 vs 166 Wh/kg. For a total of 200 kWh of battery, it can safely be charged and discharged with 100 kWh, even double.

[@mmuller2402]

Why do you recommend a firm instead of a specific cell? China bot you are? 🎉🎉😂😂

[@clasico2.044]

Perovskite solar film awnings retract (roll up) automatically when wind speeds exceed safe levels. Your design ideas are very creative given the juggling act of function, weight, size. Pop ups & slide outs made from super strong, lightweight carbon fabrics optimal. Some are towing customized utility trailers that use unit powered regenerative edrive wheels for enhanced towing, downhill charging and off-roading. All the best to you guys 🫡🇺🇲

[@phillipramplin1203]

Now this is some exciting shit😮❤❤❤love it ,G'day from Australia

[@jonathansheward7965]

LOVE what you are doing!

[@jedics1]

This is the kind of project Ive been waiting for, subscribed. That platform does look like the best starting point Ive seen, atleast until the amazon vans start to hit the second hand market. Been living in my diesel truck build 5 years now and I love it but full electric is obviously the next logical step although it will be hard to give up all the extra space I have with mine.

[@nickbull6603]

Love it. Just completed a Nissan eNV200 camper and taking off to Europe in it tomorrow. Solar and a larger pack are the next step. I've seen these vans in the UK at GoinGreen near London years back and always thought they'd make great recreational vehicles once the internals were swapped out, I seem to remember they were UPS trucks perhaps? I'd imagine you could pick one up for next to nothing now...

[@iancox506]

Outstanding! We love to see this happening.

[@paulogden7417]

I think this is a bold experiment. There is no reason every RV can’t have solar roof and awnings. However we also need EV charging infrastructure in our national and state park campgrounds to get this idea over the hump and jumpstart the EV RV revolution. Our parks should be the epicenter of climate change awareness and response, not showrooms for PM 2.5 spewing diesel rigs!

[@paulogden7417]

Our National park campgrounds should be shaded with solar panels tied to megapack batteries and charging outlets. Charging does not need to be free either. Priced right it would pay for itself while still being cheaper than fueling an RV!

[@brettbelan4937]

Couldn't agree more!

[@KyleRuggles]

I was just thinking about this! Saw this on your channel a few months ago when this wild crazy and cool KZbinr was raving bout it heh. I gotta see how he upgraded it. Edit: Appreciate everything you do! I wish I was a millionaire, you'd be a company I would love to invest in, like just 2 million, do your thing, grow.. I'll help when I can but you keep the profits, just wanna see you grow and help the world. Hi from the 3rd floor, eh!

[@Mr.RGBiggsGuyRGBG]

I work at a big American(Tesla?nope) electric vehicle company building the battery mods and packs, I started building my own packs several years ago then started working there. I wish It was like this tho…This is my dream vehicle realized…Ive built Amazon trucks and they are very similar shape to this minus the panels….awesome stuff…I should be there instead…sigh lol

[@gordienj]

That square, flat back has to suck. Maybe have a tapered garage and/or bath module. I have been imagining a lowerable top to decrease wind resistance. What an exciting project - wish I lived near you.

[@solarrolla]

Yes, that has been a big topic of design for future builds with full interiors.

[@gmankono]

Looks pretty rad! I REALY look forward to seeing what you guys do once some of the Rivian delivery vehicles start becoming available for this kind of build & conversion. That and what kinds of kits you might be putting together to go on a VW ID Buzz. 🙂

[@IncrediblyDaniel]

I’d love the 4x4! How much would one of these builds run?

[@SmallVansBigWorld]

Really love the aspirations because what you gius are doing! Let us convert the interior of one of these for you guys!

[@Brisingirraudhr]

Awesome build! You should include a better charging port though, in case you want to drive further in one day!

[@heymike7037]

My partner and I have been thinking about exactly this. Our wishlist would be BYD blade LFP batteries for their robustness, 500 km range, all wheel drive for light off-road/winter traction, smallish form-factor to blend in on city streets (she has a ProMaster now so in that size range), all electric with enough solar generation to make a difference and possibly charge the actually traction battery. You next build looks awesome but I'm concerned about being able to source eStar bodies and parts given they had such a limited production run. Also wouldn't be interested in the side bump-outs but the second story might be interesting. The solar tracking is super cool.

[@sennlich]

YES ! You are Great!

[@roypateman470]

Nice guys looks great 👍 good

[@Greenereener]

Really cool stuff guys! I agree that additional space is a bigger gain to make than even more charging or electricity storage capacity. Happy to follow these developments! Keep it up!!

[@danmaupin-ahern2373]

You guys are doing some amazing things, say hi to Brett and Kira for me

[@brettbelan4937]

DAN!!

[@davidcoffey6413]

Way cool...

[@moparmarley]

I think you should steal my idea of mounting the solar panels on a rotating mount so you won't have to worry about parking the right way. Make a quick release to spin as needed. Keep the tilting also and try and make it track the sun, so you font have to worry about it as much. I would love to build my own bicycle sized camper to live in.

[@BarryMambo]

I just calculated and planned a lot with a little AI support (using tech data of available small lightweighted EV Micro vans in Europe) and my results are: Power on the roof (at charging pause) should be about the same as power consumed when riding, or better even a little bit more. Something around 10.000-12.000w should fit. Charging power while driving - fron fixed panels on top into a second smaller battery - should of course be as big as possible, 2000-3000w would be nice. That could ad up to 10kwh of additional energy while driving. That means: Main battery is as small as possible (usefull for a 3-4h drive, about 250-320km distance ) and vehicle, solar panels, battery etc. are as lightweighted as possible. On a long summer day I want to travel 450-600km per day, with travelling speed of 75-80km/h. Therefore each travelling day is divided into 4 or 6 parts - 2 or 3 times driving and 2 or 3 times charging (and in the meantime recreation, eating, drinking, planning, hiking, sightseeing or even doing work). As sun is less powerfull in the morning and also in the evening it might be useful not to charge but to drive then - using part of the battery in the evening and the second part in the following morning. With daylight from 7 am to 9 pm a typical day on the road could be like this 7-10 driving 10-14 charging 14-16 driving 16-20 charging 20-21 driving I want to be able to get to almost every region of the continent in one week or less.

[@xiaoka]

i guess you could drive after dark and charge in the day time.... and maybe cheat w/ some plug in charging in the middle of the night.

[@seekerstan]

I currently live in my 19' Roadtrek, it still runs great, but my long-term retirement home, I hope, will be a similar sized Full Self Driving Tesla delivery van conversion with as much solar as possible. Of course Tesla will have to build such a van and my TSLA stock will need to make the long awaited moonshot. Fingers crossed.

[@christopherreeves6797]

Super cool! I have an old coach built tv van that 4wd chassis would be amazing under it. It was built on a gmc short bus chassis 163” wb

[@johnbullers8647]

I might have missed it, but does it have high speed DC charging. On longer trips that you want to save time, it would be nice to have. I could see parking this by your house, plugging it to your house, and use it as your solar and battery back up.

[@WANDERER0070]

Why not use FLEXIBLE panels to save weight ??😊

[@leafnutz2341]

A rear slide with a king size bed like a Jayco X213 would be awesome!!!!

[@RandyZimmerman-pp5wj]

Wow wish I had the money to buy it

[@Scubongo]

I've been dreaming about a vehicle like that for a very long time. Total freedom. I love it! I do not understand why they aren't everywhere yet. So good job! But does it come with a charger? If you want to drive a little further, you should be able to charge them from the grid as well. And how big is the battery? How many days of energy can they hold? Because I'm sure people won't be traveling every day. Longer charge time, more distance.

[@brettbelan4937]

Yes for sure chargers

[@captainnutzlos3816]

Nmc cells !!😲😲 Hope it didnt burn ...

[@RomanChaar]

How many watts can be captured in a day with the new setup?

[@brettbelan4937]

60 plus kwhr

[@PirateKayaker]

Are there that many of the original vans available that you used in the video?

[@xxwookey]

Really interesting. Is 1mile/kWh as good as it gets on this vehicle? The (much smaller) Buzz gets 2.7 miles/kWh 3 if you don't drive too fast. I don't know how much the modec with 200kWh battery weighs but it feels like one could do a bit better than that? Blade cells in these looks interesting.

[@666777kenny]

Why not to stick flexible solar panels to the sides(not just roof) so get extra juice on the move?

[@beginnereasy]

Yeah, I'm a serious buyer who's willing to do a deal on any live in Van that's electric and that can run purely off solar

[@eugeniobb]

Excellent work, I was surprised by the 1kWh/mile you experienced, that's 4 times my model 3 average (70% highway), even considering weight and drag, it seems too high...

[@brettbelan4937]

It is high, at 75mph, can drop to 600 when cruisin easy 50-55mph.

[@crypto-city859]

Woot woot! Subbed. 😁

[@omgThink4uRself]

Awesome, love the ideas! Can it plug into a Tesla charger for longer road trips? Waiting 16hr or 2 or 3 days for a charge for only 200 miles of range is a huge draw back in my book. Otherwise you'd sell them as fast as you make them!

[@cypvh74]

Yeah, using the NAC J3400 standard for a charging port would be cool.

[@scottstormcarter9603]

Great vehicle! How many of the estars are even available?

[@yurik1608]

200 miles it's good but not always enough. Did you though of the BYD idea by adding a small engine (diesel/gas ) as a generator and calling - "extended range ev" ?

[@Nosaesoh]

Are you still in touch with Josh? Followed him to Mexico (The wind damage), but fell off KZbin not long after that.

[@peteroffpist1621]

Impressive

[@stevebergman6747]

I'm so impressed with what you have accomplished! Having said that, and understanding that solar is your jam, have you considered equipping these vehicles with fast charge capability so that if someone wants to take a longer trip in the course of a day or several days, they can bypass the solar and fast charge in order to put more miles under their belt until they get to their destination?

[@brettbelan4937]

Fer shure!!

[@clarkleakins879]

Good stuff, your concept and vision. Getting help from Tesla with your Model Y......they know you are using the Model 3 batteries for a project. They are not interested for your success. They don't want you to know more than you already know. You will never be a priority in the service department for your personal vehicle. My opinion, you need a better shell, proven battery, higher efficiency motor/drivetrain. Aerodynamics is the key. Your front end is too large. The rear end too flat. There is a better shell out there, if you can change. Changing to BYD battery might provide less battery expense, add reliability, and purchase new. Good thinking! Have you considered less solar panels, use a sun tracking panel base? Can the next/previous vehicles, use standard commercial charging? Drivetrain efficiency, horsepower need not be huge with the torque of the motor. What is your 0-60 MPH, and top speed? Did you consider using a Model S/X front drive unit?

[@whitlockbr]

DCFC as well?

[@pjcdm]

Adding movable side solar panels that can be placed vertically on the side of the camper part would help, either hard or soft. No?

[@kaiwheeler64]

If both extending roof solar panels were to slide out from the same side you would have a much bigger awning. Unless the panels are directly facing the sun there's no advantage in them tilting. Imo.

[@michaellowe860]

I have been waiting for something like this for a very ling time. Soo... could one add a back up generator and use it to extend the range/charge the batteries? If so what size generator would be needed?

[@cch201992]

I want to hybrid my promaster van I wonder if there is a kit available

[@vidzilla1]

I remember seeing your shop I believe it was on North Main, where an old gas station used to be. Where are you located now? I’m in Medford.

[@teddystoner8288]

What about 4x4 front axel in sprinter driven by a electric motor? Then a kit could be sold. The E-star is something I've never seen.

[@MrThewhip333]

Where you get 4wd electric chassis?

[@s13kuminachu]

We have foldable phones now. I know there are flexible solar panels. How far are we from a roll up awning made from solar panels?

[@veritasvalere88]

How would you compare this to say the Aptera 1000 mile technology?😊

[@SolarizeYourLife]

ROUTINE CHECK LIST…👈

[@SeanLinsley]

While I absolutely support the DIY and easily repairable aspects of your builds, you should really look into improving the efficiency. Out of Spec Reviews for example has the Mercedes eSprinter getting 1.6 miles per kWh at highway speeds, compared to the 1.0 you're seeing with the eStar.

[@evstafievcoach]

Esprinter just became available, hopefully Solarolla guys will get one and convert to solar powered camper

[@cypvh74]

Was the E-sprinter a fully decked out RV with as much range as the solarrolla build?

[@pan6593]

@@evstafievcoachthe beauty of this is the eStar !

[@SamFigueroa]

It was mostly empty kzbin.info/www/bejne/r3W4lJp6nrVjmck

[@niffrig]

People write garbage withu any understanding. Solar adds weight and drag. Why compare a naked Estar to a fully kitted out solar build.

[@user-yu9kj5iz6v]

Gud am solarolla,I had an ebike powered 60v/45ah and 1500watts motor,I am asking how much solar panel do I need for this set up,I am using also a boost charge controller powering 600watts,tnx in advance for your response.more power to you Solarolla.

[@cypvh74]

What would you think of decking out a GM Brightdrop van?

[@melusine826]

Always wondered how this passes roadworthy? In Australia i dont think this would pass

[@AndreC240]

It’s a real shame that Australia has become the land of bureaucracy and authoritarians. They had so much potential.

[@katleman]

Thanks for the update, how long does it take to charge that 200 miles on solar?

[@solartime8983]

🌅Specs (from Solarolla website) E-star "2-3 sunny days = 200 miles". * of course, charge depends on latitude & range varies with terrain🤓

[@veritasvalere88]

Or compare to the Merrill English van carbon fiber frame electric van?😊

[@evstafievcoach]

Are you planning to work on esprinters?

[@njdevilku1340]

What ever happened to Joel? He seemed to dissappear after the panels ripped off.

[@ablmedia3721]

The bus folks would be a great source of information on the DIY roof raise!

[@mmuller2402]

4x4 adds wight and rubbing in efficiency so range is lower plus complexity kills some freedom and it costs more so no no noo 4x4 Maybe you want to eliminate the gearbox to gain range?

[@YouTubeCensor]

Not a word about price?

[@12vLife]

subbed. In Florida I drive a very low budget self converted micro camper sleeper with a giant solar panel on my roof that covers custom ventilation. Able to run air con over night and refrigeration 24x7. For me it's a great stealthy solo road warrior machine. videos on channel.

[@csonttot7819]

looks like an amazon rivian

[@mariospenard5125]

👍

[@bigdantn]

Can you achieve same or better volumetric density on pack level with BYD blade cells than you could with 21700 NMC cells? We use blade cells for stationary storage. You can get them for approx. 40USD/kWh (152Ah C104F variant).

[@silviuflorescu6838]

Maybe that density doesn't matter if you want a safer chemistry (LiFePo4), don't you think?

[@cypvh74]

I’ve read it’s about a wash. The LFP cells don’t need as much cooling, and don’t need as much buffer, so you can get about the same range in the same size pack. But LFP is not known to handle cold weather charging as well. But not sure how much winter RVing happens.

[@garfieldisgod]

Unless I am missing something; I don't seem to see any "pricing of one of these rigs"...... Could you present a ballpark figure? for viewers to chew on?

[@brettbelan4937]

Coming

[@seekerstan]

My roadtrek solar panel which I built a custom fiberglass aerodynamic fairing for also tilts for tracking. The unhinged side is secured by a bolt thruogh a waterproof roof penetration made of a boat through hull plumbing conection. After droping the pannels I simply twist a knob inside the van to bolt the solar panel down.

[@jeffreychow8853]

Can you share more details of this waterproof bolt through connection? Sounds really neat! Perhaps a part number.

[@melusine826]

I so want to convert my f250 ex ambulance to EV! Got any connections in Australia please?

[@farvision]

Tesla has always been very responsive to my service needs ....

[@raymondpeters9186]

I have a 1977 20' airstream motorhome that I want to convert to electtic

[@utube091116]

XXLnt !

[@virtualmonk2072]

❤

[@stickynorth]

What a shame these were only and poorly produced for 3 years, 10-14 years ago because they look brand new today... Had Tesla bought them or copied them we'd have WAY more e-trucks of all sizes on the road today...

[@YouTubeCensor]

How much slave labor and strip-mining goes into your batteries?

[@quakslikeaduck]

I smell cap

[@jeffreyclement3564]

Dear lord. This thing is a neat idea but man is it ugly. Love the idea though.

[@davidrte.664]

Today’s batteries aren’t good enough yet.

[@abelincoln3261]

Either you guys know nothing about solar power generation vs running a heavy van or you are just full of it.. or both. You could never generate enough power to run this van from solar ... never... you'd be charging for three weeks to run it for 4 hours... The kwh needed to run this ... would need a 20kw system and several days to charge to run for a few hours it that... what are you trying to pull here.. ?????

[@guringai]

1 kW of panels would generate 4 kWh of energy each day around each equinox. Less in winter & more in summer. Each kWh runs a standard ev. About 5km. 20 km/day A big box van like this maybe 3 km/kWh 15 km/day. That PV system looks like about 3kW, so maybe 45 km/ day.

[@GarthMitchell]

All the numbers are right there in the video. They said they averaged 1KWh per mile and that they had a usable 150KWh of storage out of the 200KWh battery they made. They said after all the slides and extensions are setup they had a 8KW array. Lets say that's only making 6KW in real world conditions and say an average of 5hr of sunlight, that's 30KWh each day (in the video they even say they pulled 60KWh on one perfect AK day). So that means it would take about 4-5 days to charge and get around 150 miles or less on that charge. There is no mystery, it's not what many people imagine when they think 'solar powered.' Obviously it's not real time or anything.

[@paulogden7417]

@@GarthMitchell Your comment is good and deserves to be at the root level not as a response

[@brettbelan4937]

6700 watts solar 11 hr solar charging day 73.7kwhr 7300 watt-hours/mile 100 miles. Simple math my friend. But we've actually done this...that's the difference. Did you not watch the video?

[@brettbelan4937]

​@@guringai6700 watts solar