S I M P L E // S O L A R // F O R // A L L

Hey ya'll,

I wrote this DIY piece on how I generally set up my solar panel for my mobile camper last year, especially geared towards femmes or non-cis men who don't have as ready access to the knowledge. This is just one way to do it, and there are many ways. I tried to set it up with safety in mind too. Its for 12v only, but an inverter for higher draw would increase the amount of appliances you can use.

The diagram is of my set up. If you have any questions about the set up or what parts to choose in the flow, I could give you my (non-expert) opinion!

I have to say too, it was pretty fun figuring this out. Lots of reading, you-tube videos, asking random friends about electricity, etc.

I was pretty scared to drill into the top of my camper that had no leaks thus far (its from 1974, that's a miracle!) too, but with the right roof sealant for the screws and the entry housing (a waterproof space where the cords from the panel go into the body of the camper). I'll so a post at some point showing some of the details of that, as soon as I can climb up my truck and get on my roof to access things. I actually really need to do some maintenance up there, anyway.

for some reason, two photos below got turned sideways (maybe I need to adjust them to be square?) of my 12v-lighter plug in, and my charge controller-loads station.

I attached the solar panel above where my fridge is in the back, and wired it through the roof down behind the fridge and into the area under my sink, where the charge controller and loads panel is. My roof isn't the best for climbing on and definitely not for walking on, so I need to install a ladder at some point. My truck is pretty tall, and getting jacks on the camper is in order too.