Solar panel installed on La Vanne’s roof (100W Solar Panel + 30A Charge Controller + MC4 Solar Adaptor Cable
I <3 my solar panel!
I can run all my gadgets (Chromebook, cell phone, iPod Touch, Kindle, and mifi hotspot) day and night, for free (after paying for the gear) and never worry about running out of power. I cannot emphasize enough what a difference this makes in my life.
My Facebook friend, Sue Long Smith, asked for details about my solar setup, so I took a bunch of photos to share:
The charge controller came with the solar panel. It prevents the battery from overcharging and the panel from draining power from the battery when there’s no sunlight. The down side of this one is that there is no digital read-out of how much power (i.e., 12.6 volts) is going into the battery. That would be nice to know but those controllers cost quite a bit more.
AGM sealed battery: $229. Some vandwellers have cheaper, lead acid batteries but it’s very dangerous to keep them in your living space because they off-gas toxic fumes and are highly explosive. After getting very ill from one of those batteries (and receiving a much needed donation from a generous reader), I bought this sealed AGM battery and haven’t had a problem since.
Battery box – $7 at Walmart. Just to keep things tidy. It sits behind the driver’s seat.
400-Watt 12-Volt DC to 120-Volt AC Power Inverter: $25
Total cost for the whole setup: $440
I can build on this later, adding more panels and batteries, as well as upgrading to a better inverter and charge controller, but what I have now is perfect for my current needs. If I want to add more gadgets (like a refrigerator or a TV — neither of which I have any interest in getting) upgrades would be needed. The only thing I wish I had more power for is a blender, but that will have to wait a few months.
There are a few other options, like tilting the panel toward the sun, which would certainly bring in more power if I needed it. I might do that eventually. I could also have opted for a panel that could be set up on the ground so it could be in the sun and I could park in the shade. I could even take this panel off the roof and set it up like that… and I may, when summer comes along. Shady parking spots are my favorite places. 🙂
Any questions? Ask away in the comments!
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Sounds like an excellent system for you for now. Eventually getting enough power to run a small electric heater would be awesome. Not sure your roof is that big, though. 🙂
Haha! I figured out what I will do when it’s too cold to get through with just my warm sleeping bag. I will rent a campground space with electric for the month (or winter), and of course, have an electric heater. Also, someone suggested a 12 volt electric blanket.
This is all great! Of course, I have questions…. How big is the solar panel, how much does it weigh (for you to take it down) and how is it attached to your roof?
Did you install it yourself, or have someone do it? Did you just drill holes in your roof for the charge controller? How did you repair/weather proof your roof after this? And where is it located?
What is the order of the equipment? Solar panel to controller to battery to Cobra converter? and you plug your equipment into that?
How much bigger will you have to go to be able to use your blender? Twice or three times? You will add another panel, another battery, and a bigger converter?
And a note on heat… having just lived through a night that got down to 19*… my bed was warm enough… two fleece throws, a doubled down comforter, a cotton bed spread and two cats… it was getting OUT of bed that was the awful thing. I personally would opt for a heater before the electric blanket.
I have a power converter that plugs into the cigarette lighter but I think it may have malfunctioned and blown my electric throw and messed up my phone. It’s been too cold to find out about the throw, and I am getting a new phone because mine won’t charge while it is on anymore, it has to be off. Don’t know if the converter did that, but I am now afraid to use the power converter or any of the cigarette lighters to charge my phone, if I were to get a specific lighter phone charger. The electrical in my van drives me nuts… and there is so much of it, it would cost millions to have someone figure it out.
Thank you so much for the info LaVonne… you have taken some of the mystery out of it for me and I appreciate that. Especially the cost. 🙂
Thanks for this post, LaVonne – it’s exactly what I’ve been looking at getting for my current rig set-up (Montero towing tiny trailer). Glad to know it works for you!
— Lois
Nice set up! Looks awesome to charge all your gadgets trough power you have collected yourself. Making it possible to take the solar panel of the roof easily allows you to use it, for example, in your garden.