This DIY camper solar wiring diagram and parts list is perfect for ground-up electrical installs into campervans, skoolies, or expedition vehicles. This system is most suitable for systems that do not have a pre-existing house electrical system installed.
This diagram features:
- 2000W Inverter Charger
- 200+ Amp Hours of Battery Storage Capacity
- 200W-700W Solar Array Capacity
- Alternator Charging
- Shore Power Charging/Passthrough
Not quite what you are looking for? Check out other system setups here: https://www.explorist.life/solarwiringdiagrams
History of Changes to this Page (Click to Expand)
Post Published August 10, 2020
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
HOW TO USE THIS PAGE – VIDEO
This orientation video will show you how to best use this page to build your DIY Camper Solar Setup. It’s a quick watch but I think it’s pretty important.
DIY Camper Van Wiring Diagram
DIY Camper Solar Parts – Shopping List
The list below is a consolidated parts list for this entire system (Minus the solar charging leg, which is listed at the bottom of this blog post).
For the ‘Quantities’ in the below shopping list, each singular component is listed a quanty per each, wire is listed a quantity of feet, and heat shrink is listed as qty 1 = 2.25″.
For Example:
Qty 1 – Inverter Charger means you need to purchase 1 Inverter Charger
Qty 3 – 4/0 Wire means you need 3 feet of 4/0 wire. This may mean you need to buy 5ft from the product page
Qty 5 heat shrink means you need 5 pieces of 2.25″ heat shrink. This means you’ll need 5 x 2.25″ pieces of heat shrink for a total of 11.25″ of heat shrink.
Camper Solar Parts Detail
The section below will tell you where each of the parts from above fits into the wiring diagram. This is quite lengthy, but if you are having trouble seeing the diagram or just want more clarification that the diagram above doesn’t deliver, hopefully this will help:
Solar Charging Parts List & Wiring Diagrams
The following section provides you with several different options for solar charging. The above parts list can remain completely unchanged and the diagram above can remain mostly unchanged except for the alterations noted by the diagrams below, but whatever solar array setup you choose below for your needs, these parts will need to be added to your shopping list. These are broken up by total solar wattage. As a general rule, you want to have twice as many watts of solar as you do amp hours of batteries. So, 300Ah Batteries = 600W solar. 400Ah Batteries = 800W solar. 600Ah Batteries = 1200W of solar. This is just a rule of thumb. Not a law.
400 Watts – 4x100W Solar Panels (Click to Expand)
600 Watts – 6x100W Solar Panels (Click to Expand)
600 Watts – 3x200W Solar Panels (Click to Expand)
Order of Operations for DIY Camper Solar Install
This list is a rough guideline of what order things need to be connected for systems using this wiring diagram. THERE IS MORE TO KNOW about this process, though, in the user manual for each component. READ THE USER MANUAL FOR EACH COMPONENT as this ‘order of operations’ does NOT supersede anything in the user manual.
- Arrange all parts & components where they will be mounted
- Mount & secure all components to the wall/enclosure as necessary (EXCEPT Lynx Distributor)
- Wire battery bank together
- Assemble Lynx Distributor, master disconnect switch & shunt assembly
- Mount Lynx Distributor to wall/enclosure
- Verify Main switch is in the “OFF” position
- Wire Positive wire from Lynx Distributor to Main fuse
- Wire Positive Wire from Main fuse to Battery Bank
- Wire Negative Wire from Shunt to Battery Bank
- Connect negative wires from Lynx Distributor to Inverter/Charger, Charge Controller & 12V Fuse Block
- Install fuses inside of Lynx Distributor
- Connect Positive Wires from Lynx Distributor to Inverter/Charger, Charge Controller & 12V Fuse Block
- Connect Positive Wire from Lynx Distributor to B1 Terminal on Shunt
- Verify dual-pole disconnect switch for solar array is ‘off’
- Connect Charge Controller to Dual Pole Solar Disconnect
- Connect wires going to solar array to dual pole disconnect
- Cover Solar Panels with Cardboard
- Connect solar array together (Order does not particularly matter)
- Remove Cardboard from Solar Panels
- Verify proper solar array voltage at dual pole solar disconnect
- Remove ‘wire bridge’ on Victron Orion DC DC Charger
- Connect positive & negative wire from Orion to Starting Battery pos & neg (as per user manual)
- Adjust Orion Output Voltage Setting as appropriate in Victron Connect app
- Connect 10/3 wire from shore power inlet to Inverter/Charger
- Connect 6/3 wire from Inverter/Charger to AC Breaker Box
- Verify all 120V breakers in breaker box are ‘off’.
- Connect AC Branch Circuits to AC Breaker Box if not already connected
- Connect DC Branch Circuits to 12V Fuse Block if not already connected
- Connect RJ-11 cable & BMV-712 Monitor Gauge to Shunt
- Verify proper voltage between main fuse & shunt (Approximately 12V-14V)
- TRIPLE CHECK THAT ALL WIRES ARE CONNECTED, POS (+) TO POS (+) & NEG (-) TO NEG (-) (except series wired solar panels) AND CONNECTED TO THEIR PROPER PLACES IN THE COMPONENTS AS PER THEIR USER MANUAL
- Turn on Master Disconnect Switch
- Turn on Dual Pole Solar Disconnect
- Replace wire bridge in Orion
- Turn Inverter/Charger ‘On’.
- Turn on Main AC Breaker in Breaker box & Branch Circuit breakers
- Configure system charging through the parameters as per user manual of each component
Shanta
Wednesday 25th of May 2022
Hey Nate, First, do you have Patreon or something like it? I am wiring my Renogy 2000W inverter with 115 output volts to my AC/DC breaker box. I have (2) 100Ah Battle born batteries. The A/C components I will have are: 2.5G Bosch hot water heater and (2) 120V outlets. In one of your diagrams you call for 6/3 wire from the inverter to the breaker box and in another 10/3. How do I calculate which size I need? Thanks!
Trevor
Tuesday 17th of May 2022
This is really awesome! Thank you for organizing and presenting this for us trying to achieve off grid solar power. I was wondering if you would suggest the 2000w with 4 100ah battery set up for someone trying to power a 9000 but mini split ?
Julie Lee
Saturday 14th of May 2022
Thank you Nate! I so appreciate that you are sharing your knowledge and possibly saving lives. You are a huge help and influence in my solar design and I feel a lot more confident in my choices of Battle Born batteries and Victron control system.
If I may ask a question - I have limited space for solar, so I have 400w to put on the roof (2 x 200w 12v in series) for 300ah battery, and have been toying with the idea to have an intermittent use portable panel with a port in the side wall. I just bought a MPPT 100/50 for room to grow - do I need another charge controller for this intermittent panel or can I wire it in parallel and use one?
Nate Yarbrough
Sunday 15th of May 2022
You'd want a 2nd charge controller. One for the roof and one for the ground deploy array. How to wire multiple charge controllers in the same system: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0UB7LZVduk
Doug
Thursday 12th of May 2022
Hi Nate. At 44:57, you show the installation of the solar isolator disconnect (which looks to be 63A from the description on your store), but I don't see this in the wiring diagram. I do see what looks like a 50A breaker on the wiring diagram between the charge controller and the solar array. Is this the same thing?
Nate Yarbrough
Sunday 15th of May 2022
This is the most up to date product we are recommending for what you're talking about: https://shop.explorist.life/shop/all-products/switches-disconnects/solar-isolator-disconnect/
Jeff Searcy
Saturday 7th of May 2022
Hello Nate, I would like to add a second dc fuse block up closer to the front of my van so I don’t have to run as many wires all the to the back. I’m using a Lynx Line In modified for fuses (Thanks for the tip) but do not have another space to add another line for the second fuse block. It would be cost prohibitive to add a second Lynx for one line. Can I continue the line going from the Lynx to the fuse block to the 2nd fuse block? If so I know I would have to use the proper gauge wire for the distance of the run, would I also have to increase the fuse size. I’m still connectivity the same number of 12V devices just spread between 2 fuse blocks. TIA
Nate Yarbrough
Sunday 15th of May 2022
That's a good idea and is what we will be doing in our ford Transit build series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iga8VotrDqg&list=PLmvhcyi4n0TVfA4XCYJBkzfUXunSON1zX&index=1 We will be running 6 AWG wire from the Lynx Distributor to fuse block #1, and then continuing on over w/ 6 AWG wire to fuse block #2.