Spending time off-grid is glorious. Whether you’re a campervan holidaymaker or a new van-lifer, you’ll find the same joys of life on the road – but the pursuit of electricity when you need it is a tedious one at best.
Thankfully, solar panel technology has come a long way; not only is it efficient and practical, but it’s also affordable, meaning it’s an easy way to render your campervan a solar powerhouse of the future. While putting your solar system together from scratch is possible, thanks to the modular nature and standardised conventions of such systems, it’s understandable if you feel daunted by such a task.
If it’s your first ever time with a solar conversion, then investing in a pre-designed solar panel kit might be the best option. Luckily, there’s a bunch of businesses that have created kits for exactly this reason.
Anatomy of a solar panel kit
At its simplest, a solar panel kit for campervans comprises an array of solar panels, a charge controller that interfaces your solar panels with your van’s 12V leisure battery, and the cables and mounts that make installing everything possible.
However, if you have intentions of using mains-powered household appliances, your kit might also include an inverter – which takes the DC output of your batteries and creates 230V AC. In terms of compatibility, make sure the charge controller in the kit will work properly with your type and size of leisure battery, or simply go for a kit which bundles in a leisure battery of its own.
Power by the hour
There are a few different aspects to bear in mind when picking out your ideal solar panel kit – chiefly how much electricity you need. You’ll need to do a little maths to figure out how much electricity you use each day on average, and hence how much you’ll need at minimum to cover day-to-day activities plus any battery-charging undertakings thereafter.
Individual solar panels will have their own rated capacity, given in watts, that tells you how much electricity they can generate per hour; getting the capacity of your system is as simple as adding up the capacity of each panel.
Most solar panel kits share this figure in their product or bundle name, making things a bit easier. You’d multiply this number by the number of good sunlight hours in a day to get an idea of how much electricity your kit could generate – and if it’s enough to cut the mustard for your own needs.
Best solar panel kit for campervans to buy at a glance
There’s much more to say about solar panel kits for campervans – from the different types of solar panels to the difference your choice of charge controller can make. Thankfully, the wide variety of solar panel kits on the market means you’re covered one way or another; within our selection of the best, you’ll no doubt find the ideal kit for your own purposes.
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Eco-Worthy 240W 12V (2x120W) Complete Off Grid Solar Kit
Best: overall
This is a 240W solar panel kit for campervans from Eco-Worthy, an industry-leading brand for solar solutions from panels to batteries. This kit is a comprehensive off-grid power system that’ll cover every need, with decent capacity for both charging leisure batteries and providing direct charging power via the Eco-Worthy charge controller’s USB ports.
The thing that makes this off-grid solar panel kit for campervans truly ‘complete’, though, is the inclusion of Eco-Worthy’s 600W Pure Sine Wave Inverter, a device which takes the 12V DC output from your controller and generates 230V AC from it – enabling you to power conventional, full-whack mains-powered devices.
As a sweetener, Eco-Worthy has also included a LiFePO4 12V battery; you need nothing more than a few tools and some spare time to turn your van into a powerhouse.
Buy now £509.99, Eco-Worthy
Victron 370W Monocrystalline Solar Kit with SmartSolar 100/30 MPPT, Cables & MC4
Best for: power and efficiency below £500
Victron’s 370W solar kit for campervans is a suitably juicy bundle, including two capacious 185W panels and a Bluetooth-enabled charge controller to handle them. While the high capacity is a selling point, it’s this charge controller – the SmartSolar 100/30 MPPT – that makes it a real winner.
MPPT stands for Maximum Power Point Tracking, and – in so many words – maximises the battery-charging efficiency of your solar kit by checking in on the state of your battery. It’s a great efficiency improvement on the cheaper PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) charge controllers more commonly seen in basic campervan setups.
Further, the SmartSolar 100/30 is Bluetooth-enabled for easy remote configuration and monitoring. This is a high-cap, high-safety system for the modern camper.
Buy now £467.99, Van Junkies
Voltanic 400W 12V MPPT All-Black Solar Panel Kit
Best for: swanky van-power
The Voltanic 400W 12V MPPT All-Black solar panel kit for campervans will win you over instantly – if not by being the cheapest, highest-capacity kit on this list by a mile, then by being amongst the prettiest.
Two 200W panels, rendered in sleek and swanky monochrome, provide a beefy output that’ll more than cover the vast majority of van-living use cases, and look good doing it too.
The panels – and your leisure battery – are served by a Voltanic MPPT charge controller that ensures maximum efficiency as well as safe system monitoring. All the cables that come with the kit are pre-terminated for ease of install as well; how kind!
Buy now £349.00, Voltanic
Sunstore 30w 12v Solar Battery Charger for Caravans and Motorhomes
Best for: brief sojourns away from electrical hook-up
Not all solar panel kits for campervans need to be high-capacity appliance-powering megaliths. This austere 30W system is a great example of something small, simple and low-profile that’ll get an easy job done well. Either mount the small solar panel to your vehicle or prop it up on a frame for free-standing charging.
The kit comes with a PWM charge controller with its own 5V USB port for charging mobile devices straight from the panel; you also get a length of cable, two alligator clips and two MC4 connectors to make your own cables. If you’re using gas for most everything else, this is a great little lifesaver for those little things – and for the odd day away from electrical hook-ups.
Buy now £68.55, Sunstore
Renogy 400W 12V Flexible Solar Marine Kit w/ Rover Li 40 Amp MPPT Solar Charge Controller
Best for: flexible installation
This Renogy 400W solar panel kit is a marine kit by name, being more specifically aimed at water-borne tiny-homers than van-lifers – but the things that suit this kit to waterway homesteads also make it a strong choice for the more intrepid and involved campervan folk amongst us.
The flexible panels, for instance, are useful insofar as they can be seated snugly on the curved roofs of narrowboats – but they can also conform to the shape of bespoke van panels, or even sun-catching arrays of your own invention.
With an MPPT charge controller that can be rendered Bluetooth-compatible via its RS232 port (and investment in a compatible Bluetooth module), this kit is supremely handy all-round.
Buy now £469.99, Renogy
DOKIO 110W 18V Foldable Solar Panel Kit Monocrystalline with Solar Controller
Best for: Caravanners that like to camp out
Most solar panel kits for campervans are permanent, requiring you to mount your panels to the roof of your vehicle and route cables in via holes you make in its body. This elegant briefcase-style solar panel kit from DOKIO is a powerful, portable affair, the solar panel of which folds up into a handy fabric carry case.
The panel connects to a 10A charge controller, which features two 5V USB ports for charging devices straight from the panel as well as the requisite terminals for connection to your leisure battery.
The kit also includes a DC barrel jack converter kit, so you can plug the panel straight into a variety of large-capacity power banks and stations – enhancing its portability, and making it much more versatile than most van solar solutions.
Buy now £109.99, Amazon
Eco-Worthy 120W Solar Panel Kit Off-Grid System
Best for: cheap, effective solar power
This small Eco-Worthy solar panel kit for campervans is a highly accessible starter kit that’ll meet most van-er’s basic needs. The 120W panel feeds a 30A charge controller with two 5V USB outputs for phones and power-banks.
None of this is setting any worlds on fire, but that’s because it’s quietly – and affordably – giving you exactly what it says on the tin: 500Wh of power per day (given 4 hours of full sunlight), enough to charge the average leisure battery.
With the option to directly charge devices from panel power, too, it’s about as much as anyone would need for their campervan jaunts; good, then, that it’s a shade over £100!
Buy now £119.99, Amazon
Ecosonique 20W/24W Portable Solar Panel Charger
Best for: phone-charging on the move
There is a broad spectrum of consumer need when it comes to solar panel kits for campervans, and not all needs can be answered by the integrated installations that typify the space (and which dominate this very round-up). This nifty little portable number from Ecosonique certainly isn’t a holistic off-grid solution – but it’s a fantastic way to keep your devices charged on the move.
This Ecosonique 20/24W Portable Solar Panel Charger comes with a power hub, which enables you to directly connect devices to charge via 18W USB-C or USB-A ports; there’s also a barrel jack 12V DC output, upping the versatility. The fold-out panel is easy to stash and carry, too.
An ideal low-profile option if your needs are few!
Buy now £41.99, Ecosonique
Renogy 200 Watt 12 Volt Solar RV Kit
Best for: bang-for-buck solar power
Renogy’s 200W 12V solar panel kit for campervans is a great, basic, bang-for-buck option that combines capacity and affordability in what will be quite an appealing package for the average van-er. Two 100W monocrystalline panels feed into an Adventurer 30A PWM charge controller – which, incidentally, allows for expansion up to 400W if you ever need the extra juice.
This kit also ships with the BT-1 Bluetooth module, so you can benefit from Renogy’s proprietary DC Home app and monitor or control your system remotely. Of course, the rest of the kit is described by all the cables and gubbins necessary to mount and connect your system.
Bluetooth connectivity aside, this is a great no-nonsense kit with a lot of headroom for the average user – and at an attractive price.
Buy now £289.99, Renogy
Photonic Universe 3kW Complete Van Conversion Kit
Best for: complete coverage
This bespoke solar panel kit for campervans from Photonic Universe is, so to speak, the Full Monty.
It is a comprehensive grab-bag of high-spec, high-qual bits for building out a complete, covers-everything leccy solution. You get two semi-flexible panels for a total of 320W output, a 200Ah leisure battery and a 3kW pure sine wave inverter for comprehensive mains-power connectivity.
Of course, the comprehensiveness of this kit is reflected in its not-insignificant four-figure price point – but what you spend here, you’ll save in a great deal of time, energy and research towards creating a full solar panel kit of your own.
Buy now £1149.99, Photonic
Verdict
The Victron 370W Monocrystalline Solar Kit is a tasty prospect with a forward-thinking charge controller and high-capacity panels.
The best-in-class, however, has to go to the Eco-Worthy Complete Off Grid Solar Kit – which couples decent-capacity panels with everything you need for a comprehensive campervan setup.
