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How To Build A Campervan Part 3: POWER!
21.11.2023 - 16:09 / forbes.com
When I first started thinking about converting a van, one of the main things I wanted was power. Solar power to be precise, with batteries to store it during the day so I could have lights and more at night. From RVs to sailboats, this has become increasingly common. As such, there are a bunch of companies that offer everything from individual products to full kits with everything you need.
But what do you need? While there’s a massive amount of information out there, most of it is for larger Sprinter van and RV-sized installs. For something small, more minivan sized, there’s a lot less info. There are also certain expectations. Most notably that you won’t have a significant load since there isn’t the physical space to have a lot of energy-draining devices. That’s fair, to be honest, but I wanted a fridge, lights, enough energy to charge cameras and a laptop, and ideally all that for a few days off the grid (or at least, not connected to “shore power” at a campsite).
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I also wanted what in my head I called “significant redundancy.” I didn’t want to be constantly worrying about how much power I had in my batteries, or if I’d run out if it was cloudy for a few days. In the end, my final build ended up being more than I needed. However, the price difference between that and a build with less overall capacity wasn’t a huge difference (with one exception, which I’ll explain). So here’s what I learned, what I bought, and what you might want to do instead if you’re building out a small campervan.
Solar panels are surprisingly cheap. There are foldable/storable options, but I wanted to mount them on the van. One less thing to set up when arriving at a campsite. This would also have the advantage of charging while I was driving. The full-size panels like what you’d mount to a vehicle are generally in the 100-watt range, per panel. For your calculations, remember that’s best-case. If it’s cloudy, rainy, etc, you might not get any power at all, or way less.
Some options have rigid frames, but there are also flexible panels that you can glue to your roof. I couldn’t do the latter because of my panoramic moonroof, and because of some specific requirements that I’ll detail in the next article, so I went with rigid.
In the first example of going with more capacity than I would really need, I went with two 100-watt panels. I probably could have gotten away with just one, but given how inexpensive they are, I didn’t see any reason not to get two. The biggest “cost” would be the install in general, which I’ll get to in the next article, and having two panels instead of one wasn’t going
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