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)
Changes Made Oct 15th, 2022: Added links and advertisement to purchase parts through the wiring kits at https://shop.explorist.life Keeping the parts list to amazon up to date has been a pain point, and by offering the parts (from the screws to the components) directly from us, we can keep up with our parts in stock and quality control. Also added separate AC and DC distribution panels to more accurately reflect currently available parts. Updated graphics to be easier to read. Wire/Fuse sizes did not change. Updated dual pole solar breaker to an actual solar isolator switch.
Post Published August 10, 2020
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 easiest way to purchase all of the parts needed for this wiring diagram is to purchase the:
And then purchase whatever solar array charging kit(s) you like for your system from these options:
The ‘full kit minus solar‘ kit from above is made of appropriately sized ‘component kits‘, which means that if you buy the ‘Inverter/Charger Wiring Kit’, you’ll have all of the wire, lugs, heat shrink, fuses, and screws you need to wire your Inverter/Charger to a Lynx Distributor and mount it to the wall.
Additionally… There are two additional parts required that we don’t stock at EXPLORIST.life and we recommend getting from Battle Born directly:
- Minimum of 200Ah of Battle Born LiFePO4 Batteries
- Victron Multiplus 2k 12V Inverter/Charger Programmed for Battle Born Batteries
Note: Many different brands/sizes of batteries will work with our kits. However, we recommend Battle Born Batteries due to their high quality, 10-year warranty, and unrivaled customer support.
DIY Camper Solar Parts – 3rd Party Shopping List
The list below is a consolidated parts list for this entire system from various 3rd party sources (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
Jason
Wednesday 25th of January 2023
I'm looking at the older 2000w diagram vs this one. The old diagram from last year called for a 80A fuse on one diagram and a 70A fuse in another diagram on the lynx coming from the MPPT. Im running the 100|50 from Victron with 600w of solar. What size fuse do I need?
Thanks
Nate Yarbrough
Thursday 26th of January 2023
This should help: https://shop.explorist.life/product-category/all-products/camper-wiring-kits/solar-charge-controller-wiring-kits/
Marissa
Monday 16th of January 2023
Nate,
Your site has been a lifesaver! Thank you so much for everything that you do and provide.
I have a question regarding the Victron Orion Tr-Smart 12V-12V | 30A Isolated DC-DC Charger. I pull an airstream with a truck, and the stock cables for the 7-way plug are 10 ga. The wiring kit recommends a 6 AWG cable. Do I need to replace the 10ga with 6 AWG to the 7-way plug? If I'm okay with the 10 ga as is, would I also use 10ga from the Orion to my bus bar or does that need to be 6 AWG?
Thanks! Marissa
Joshua Cash
Wednesday 21st of December 2022
Hi Nate, I have a question about why you went with an Isolated DC charger instead of a non isolated model for this buildout. It was my understanding that you only needed an isolated model if you were not planning on grounding your batteries to the chassis (aka floating battery system). However I see the ground going to chassis in the wiring diagram. Am i completely off base here?
Perry
Monday 21st of November 2022
Nate, Ive sifted through the site and am quite impressed. I am at a loss on my end as we want to install 4 lithium batteries (100 ah each) and the means to charge them via solar. Our van is actually a 2015 Winnebago Era so there is a shore power transfer switch or something. We also have an onboard Onan Generator that currently powers the 120v when not on shore power (no inverter). In other words, the 12v is currently separate from the 120v since there is no inverter.
I am seeking a wiring diagram for the following: Charging via Solar, Alternator, Shore and Generator as well as shore pass through to power the 120 and 12v items. I hope this makes sense. All the diagrams and items Ive seen do Solar, Alt., and Shore. Seems the onboard generator is the oddity. I know enough to get into trouble but not out of trouble. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks! Perry
Mitch Blake
Saturday 12th of November 2022
Nate, thank you so much for all of this information. I am starting on a cargo trailer conversion and this is the first time I have tackled something like this. I have downloaded one of the hi res wiring diagrams which will be almost exactly like I envision my final product. I have what I think are a couple of no brainer questions though. I am not going to mount my solar panels on the roof. I am just going to place them on the ground (I am just having a couple of them). So, I'm just going to install an SAE port on the outside of the trailer. I'm assuming that doesn't affect any of the wiring since it's just a connector on the panel side of the solar isolator switch, correct? Second, since power from the tow vehicle is coming from a 7 pin connector, how does that change the wiring to the dc/dc charger (wire gauge, is fuse needed, etc.)?
Thanks - Mitch