Our Vintage Rig Gets a Modern Solar Upgrade

When we renovated our 1957 Sportcraft into our full-time home in 2011-12, we installed a tiny solar powered system so that we could stay anywhere we wanted and still have electricity.  Big RV Parks are just not where we wanted to spend our time, as we prefer much more remote wilderness settings where the campgrounds rarely provide hook-ups.  It was the best decision we made, except for the big one of actually buying Hamlet and hitting the road!  Our first system completely met our needs when we kicked off this lifeventure back in 2012.  Since then, we have not only traveled the continent in our tiny can, but now run a small mobile business which helps others discover what we call #canlife!  However, as our business grew, we realized that it was time for an upgrade.

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​Now, what we think of as a “major solar power upgrade” is probably closer to what most folks might call a “starter system.”  We like it small; we keep it small, and sustainable.  Our previous system consisted of a 100W Portable Solar Suitcase which went through a PWM charge controller to a 50Ah LiFePo battery that powered a 700W inverter.  We ran LED lights, a 12V vent fan, and charged up our portable electronics; it was all we really needed.  But, with the new, more remote, demands of a mobile business, we needed to be able to collect and store more solar energy for those days when we dived into the digital nomad work from the road -- video production, online seminars, blogging, and more.

This past spring, while boondocking in a gorgeous part of the Arizona Sonoran desert, we upgraded our solar equipment.  We swapped out every component with the exception of the inverter - which still meets our needs.  Simply put..it has changed our life, making remote work much more feasible, and fun!

Our solar installation video goes over every aspect and step of this project on our vintage camper (including a specific list of parts, tools, and diagrams), but we’ll walk you through the components we have installed with a bit of commentary on how well they are working.

​Can flexible solar panels pass the full-timers test?
Flexible solar panels have gotten a bit of a bad rap over the years that isn’t exactly fair.  While some early designs had problems with overheating, those issues have been corrected in the design and manufacture.  Any system installed on our vintage aluminum roof would need to live up to our full-timer lifestyle of driving around 16K miles per year, extreme weather & wind conditions, and constant use.  After crossing the country from Arizona to Maine, and then boondocking for a seasonal gig on the coast, we’ve put this new system to the test!  After 6 months, 4000 miles, and some extreme weather/wind conditions, not to mention some seriously bumpy roads, all the components still look like they were installed yesterday. (Click on the Read More link below to continue reading.)

We chose two 100W Flexible Solar Panels mounted on the top of our vintage camper for several reasons.  Our 1957 Sportcraft travel trailer has stood the test of time, crossing the continent 12 times, over 150K miles (just with us mind you); but weighing down the roof with the weight of rigid panels was very much a concern.  At about 4 pounds each, flexible panels were a no brainer.  Installation is very straight-forward and we chose a hybrid method of “stick down” (with 3M VHB tape, aka Eterna-Bond) and “screw down” (stainless steel screws into the metal skin and interior wood).  Since we personally replaced each and every one of the 973 screws on our trailer during its renovation, we felt confident in our sealing method (Lexel clear sealant).  We simply weren’t worried about putting a few more screws into the metal/wood structure.  There are some other great ways to install flexible panels, and we reference a few of them in our The Ultimate DIY Guide to Off-Grid Solar

​We connected the 2 flexible panels in parallel (instead of in series), using Y-branch connectors, because we often camp in shaded campsites.  Parallel offers an advantage in this situation because if one panel is shaded, the other will still operate effectively.  While a series connection performs better at overcoming the 15 to 20-foot run of DC wire between the panels and charge controller, minimizing the loss of power to resistance, it does not perform well in partial shade.  If one panel is shaded the other simply won’t function -- they each need the other to complete an electrical circuit.  We also wanted the flexibility of throwing our 100W Folding Solar Suitcase into the mix, specifically for those shady campsite situations or when we wanted to park Hamlet in the shade.  In order to plug this panel into the charger occasionally we had to keep the roof panels in parallel, as this arrangement kept the voltages on the 3 panels compatible.  

Overall, the flexible panels still look like they just came out of the box, and are performing well.  At max full sun, we get about 75W per panel versus the 85W we see from our Solar Suitcase.  This is likely because they are in a horizontal orientation on the roof, rather than propped up at the optimal angle to the sun.  Efficiency is a balancing act, and the small loss we see in power generation is more than made up for in the sleek lines we maintain on our vintage canned ham rig.  In truth, we have rarely seen our battery dip below 70%!

What’s all the fuss about MPPT charge controllers?  
Everyone talks about MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) over PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) for efficiency, and for years we didn’t believe that it would make that much of a difference in small systems like ours.  With this project, we figured that we’d see what all the fuss is about, especially since Renogy makes a small profile version which is perfect for our small solar cabinet – the Rover Elite MPPT, 40A Charge Controller.  It has made a difference;  and let’s talk about why. 

​The voltage range of our panels is between 15V and 21V depending on the availability of sunshine, time of day, angle to the sun, and atmospheric conditions.   Our LiFePo battery needs a charging voltage between 13.5 and 14.4V, so the charge controller drops the voltage coming from the panels to match the battery.  On a PWM charge controller, the extra voltage from the panels just gets dissipated as heat – slowly and safely.  However, the MPPT charge controller turns that extra voltage from the panels into charging current (amps) for the battery.  

On our system we monitor the panels via the BT-2 Module using the DC Home app.  We can see the voltage and amps coming from the panels.  Additionally, it shows the charging voltage reduced to match the battery, as well as the charging amperage increased to boost the battery.  While this bump is going to be more significant with a bigger system, even with our tiny system we enjoy the increase in efficiency.  Simply put, this means faster charging times and less concern about a low battery charge.

What’s so “smart” about this LiFePo Battery?
It’s rare that you can double your capacity simply by swapping out your one and only battery.  We chose a 100Ah LiFePo Smart Battery for this upgrade.  It was easy to install, and so far, it’s been awesome.  It charges up quickly, and with nearly 1152 available watt hours (to the 80% depth of discharge), we can charge and run our power hogging video production laptop and still have plenty of energy left over to run our lights, vent fan, and a few household appliances.  It’s wonderful when you can meet the energy demands of both your work and your life with just one battery.  The “smart” part of this battery (the Battery Monitoring System, or BMS) helps balance the voltage across multiple batteries within the system (if you have multiple batteries).

We don’t need a battery monitor...or do we?
We have no idea why we didn’t get a 500A Battery Monitor sooner.  Honestly, it might be one of the best things we’ve purchased for under $100.  We’ve spent the last few years monitoring the battery with just the BT-1 Module via the old Renogy app.  It was fine, but it never really gave us a completely accurate reading of the battery’s percentage of charge.  With this battery monitor, once you’ve set its upper limit, it measures amp hours (Ah) both in and out.  It’s small, simple to read, and super easy to install, which we detail in the solar installation video.

If you like to nerd out a bit more, you can use it in tandem with the BT-2 Module and DC Home app.  Together these two tools help you calculate the load on your system.  We can see the wattage that is coming in from the panels with the app, as well as see the watts going out of the battery when it has a load on it.  By subtracting the battery monitor wattage reading from the DC Home app panel output reading, we can estimate the load on our system. 

Should we upgrade our inverter too?
We contemplated upgrading our inverter to a 1000W, but we realized that we never even came close to maximizing the load on our 700W Pure Sine Wave Inverter.  If we run all of our AC appliances at once, we may reach 400-500W.  Larger inverters draw more power just when turned on, and we weren’t sure that a 1000W inverter would even fit into our small solar cabinet, so we left well-enough alone and integrated our 700W into the new system.  It plays well with the new components, the fan is so quiet it’s barely noticeable, and after 3 years with this inverter, it is still working seamlessly without a single problem.

After almost 9 years of living on the road with solar, we finally have a system that exceeds our needs, solving some of those nagging limitations that we used to just accept as part of living the solar-powered roadlife.  If you are solar curious, check out our Solar 101 Video to learn everything you need to know to get started -- from learning the ABC’s of solar, to sizing a system that meets your needs, to choosing solar components.  And give us a shout if you need help...it’s what we love to do (especially for fellow vintage camper lovers)!

In 2012, Shari Galiardi & David Hutchison left behind careers and a comfortable home in North Carolina to travel with the vintage camper trailer they lovingly restored, outfitted with solar, and named "Hamlet."   What began as a short break from careers and responsibility quickly turned into a love affair with roadlife.  They have parlayed their higher education backgrounds, desire for life-long learning, and thirst for adventure travel into writing, photography, video production, and public speaking gigs from coast to coast.  Known to their friends as simply Shari & Hutch, you can learn more about their full-time, solar-powered adventures on their website at freedominacan.com. Or, follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube as “Freedom in a Can, LLC.”