How I Installed SOLAR POWER Onto My Off Grid Van Build...

[00:00:00]Today I'm going to be fitting a 200 watt solar panel on top of my Volkswagen T6.1. So, as you can see, I've already got it kitted out in the back. So, I've got to get the ceiling panels off, the walls panels off. I've got to wire it down into me little fuse cupboard down there to get the solar panel on. I've picked the solar panel up. I got it off solar to go when I went to Camper Jam Festival. I've got it in black. I've got all the bits I need now. And uh yeah, I've got to somehow mount it onto the roof. Anyway, we're going to be giving it a go in this video and uh yeah, if you're following along at home, you probably end up learning as much as me because I've never done one before. So, let's get into it. The solar panel I'm going to be fitting today that I've gone with is from solar to go. So, I've had it in complete black. It's a rigid solar panel, 200 W. And to pair up with that, the converter I've gone for is I'm all Victron in my van at the minute because that's what I've got, the 30 amp Victron DC toDC charger. So, I've gone for the 15 amp Bluetooth Victron solar charger.

[00:00:57]So, I need to get this fitted. I need to get wired in. I've got some nice little brackets. Haven't gone with any of the fancy ones. To be fair, I really like these Z brackets because they're a little bit more low profile when they're on the van. So, I need to get this up there on the van and mounted in the summer on a really good day. It'll output about four to five amps. And on just an okay day, I get like an amp, amp and a half, which is enough to offset me fridge, which is all I'm going for. As the charge it, this will charge in about an hour and a half of driving and as it sounds. So, I'm gonna get this on. So, yeah, let's get into it. I'm working out the back of a very cramped van at the minute because it's loaded because in two days, well, three days, I'm about to be heading up to Scotland to do the NC500. And it's not I haven't got the time to unload it, it's I haven't got the time to load it back up again. So, I'm working in a full van. So, first off, I'm going to start off by getting these brackets mounted onto the side of the solar panels. And I've got four of these brackets. And there's some holes already drilled into the solar panels.

[00:01:52]So, I have to line the brackets up with the solar panel. And then the kit came with four of these little bolts and nuts to fix it into place. So, I'm going to get them put on first. We'll get the solar panel up and then I'm going to be able to mark out where these go.

[00:02:10]First problem of the day. The holes in the solar panel bigger than the head of these bolts and also bigger than these washers. So, I'm going to go ahead and drill some new holes into the back of the solar panel, which are just the diameter of the bolt, so the heads aren't going to drop through. So, let's do that first.

[00:02:38]I've got the solar panel roughly where I want it. Now, I've also got the little inlet roughly where I want that, and that's coming straight from the charger on there. So, that's going to be running straight through here into the ceiling, down the side of the van, and down to the fuses. So, the next step, what I'm going to do is I'm going to get some sealant um underneath here, underneath where the brackets go in, and then I'm going to get them selftappers in. So, we're going to screw them into place.

[00:03:02]Then, that'll be the solar panel fixed.

[00:03:04]We've got to drill a hole through the roof of the van, and we've got to pass the cable through and then we can seal that onto the van. So, let's get to it.

[00:03:10]To fix these brackets into place, I used the black silicon that was provided with the kit. So, I went and I squeezed silicon in the gap between the roof and the bracket. And then I went through with the selftappers that were provided.

[00:03:22]Yes, the solar panel isn't sitting on the ridges. It's sitting half on the ridge and half on the ceiling. And that's because there was no way of getting it to either sit both on the flat or both on the ridges. So, this was the best compromise I could come up with. As you can see, the solar panel is now fixed on nice where I want it. So, the next step is to feed this cable through. So, to feed that cable through, I actually need to drop the inside of the ceiling. So, I've got to take that middle strip off and then remove these little push fixings. And then we can get that down, drill the hole through the top for the cable, and we can drop that right through. And then once that's on, we can seal it. And then we're weather protected because we're in Britain.

[00:04:00]Might be sunny now, but 5 minutes might be chucking it down.

[00:04:06]Tell you what, sweltering hot today. But now got the ceiling panel down. So, as you see, there's a lot of insulation and wires running everywhere. So, what I'm going to do is I'm going to go ahead back on top of the van. I'm going to mark out where I need to drill my hole.

[00:04:20]I'm going to drill a hole through which is going to come through on this back edge. I can pass me cable pass me cable down and start running it down the side where it needs to be. Soon as I've done that, I can get the little top bit sealed and glued on top. And then that's it all weather sealed and the cables inside. So, so luckily where I'm marking up is pretty simple on this um on top of these VW vans cuz we've got the ridges.

[00:04:42]You can pretty much gauge where the center is going to be. So, I'm going to be fixing this in between two of the ridges. Smap bang in the middle. So, I can pretty much eyeball it touch wood.

[00:04:51]So, I'm going to mark out where it needs to go. I'm going to mark the center up and I'm going to drill through with a 19 mil bit. I'm going to have to sand off the edges. I'm going to put a bit of primer on them just so they don't rust.

[00:05:01]And then once I've done that, I'm going have to put a bit of conduit around my cable to stop that cutting open or whatnot as the van's jumping around. And then we can get this glued on. So the first thing I am actually going to do is feed this onto the cable. So to do this, I'm just going to take off the end and then feed the cable through. Simple as it sounds, I'm sure it sure something will happen as it normally does.

[00:05:25][music] So now that I've got the cable through here, I can sort of gauge where I want it. So, as you can see there, the two ridges going full center. And I want it just behind the solar panel. Do you know what I didn't feed on? I didn't put the bloody cap on. Take it back off. Put it back on. But I'm going to mark that up.

[00:05:40]And then we're going to drill through.

[00:05:41]So, uh, yeah, bear with me. Oh, that's what I've just done. Make sure you keep the ends of them cables taped up because I've just proper shocked myself off it.

[00:05:50]I mean, it's a good sign this solar panel's working. Yeah. So, that's going to be going on there. So, let's get the hole marked up.

[00:05:57][music] Now that's marked up, we can go ahead and we can drill it. Yes, you're going to cringe. I'm back with the wood bit again. It's the only bit I've got, unfortunately. So, just got to go for it. Make sure nothing underneath. Yeah.

[00:06:11]No t nothing to it but to do it.

[00:06:21]I never said the last time I drilled the hole with the wood bit, I wouldn't do it again, but here I am.

[00:06:25]>> Here I'm fitting a bit of shrink tube.

[00:06:26]So to hold the conduit in place, I put some shrink tube on either end first and then I went around it with some electrical tape.

[00:06:34]After that was fitted, I threaded the cable through the hole in the van and then I went round I gave the surface a wipe with an alcohol wipe and then then I sealed the mount on with some of that sealant that was provided in the kit and then just clean the area up.

[00:06:49]So now, as you can see, we've got the cable coming down through the ceiling, and we've got the corrugated plastic just protecting the cable where it actually comes through the metal. So the next job, I've got to run it across this ridge with the cable for the lights. And I'm going to be running it down this pillar here and then down the fuse box.

[00:07:04]So I need to get the cushions out my van. We need to get the top off this bed so I can gain better access. We can fix the solar charger in and then we can hook it all up. And we've also got to get this panel off. So we roll on the time lapse. [music] I've now got the cable fed across [snorts] there through a little hole there on the other one down this pillar and we're coming out here with all the other cables. So, that means I'm going to be able to fix a solar charger onto this little spot I've got here. Hook that up into the junction box and to the negative terminal and then that's going to be hooked up. So, yeah. Should we uh we get on it? I'm riding the heat of things here, aren't I? Jesus. So, now as you can see, I've got the cables on and we've got the yellow light. So, that means it's making absorption. There's power coming into it. So now I've got to set up the fuses and hook up the output to the battery now and then we can see if it'll trickle charge off that. So yeah, roll on the time lapse. So I had to make up two cables which were coming from the solar charger which would allow it to charge the battery. So I had to make a positive and a negative cable up and then hook it into the main leisure system.

[00:08:09]That is the solar charger and solar panel hooked up. So the next thing I'm going to do is I'm going to open up fogstar drift. I'm going to connect to the battery. Let me just close it and we'll go again. We'll connect to the battery and then we're going to flick the power onto the battery so the circuit go live and we're going to see if it starts trickle charging.

[00:08:31]All right. So, we're sitting at 44 amps.

[00:08:33]Going to flick that on.

[00:08:35]I'm going to see. That was a boost. I presume that's kicked in. So, let's let that settle and see what we come back to.

[00:08:46]But because it's charging at over that ampage, which that's only a 30 amp charger. So, the fact it's charging at 38 says to me that that's working. But I'm going to go ahead connect that with the Victron amp with the Victron app. And then we'll see what happens. So, which one are we zoom with this one?

[00:09:10]15 amp, right? Bloody hell.

[00:09:14]Solid. That's bringing in some power, ain't he? Jesus.

[00:09:19]That was charging at 9 amp. That's insane.

[00:09:22]I think we've done a good job there. Do you know what? I think that's the first time I've ever like hooked something up and just worked. Oh, I'm well impressed with that. I'm sure that's gone weirdly smooth. Well, I guess there's not much more to it but to get the rest of the van back together because that went surprisingly simple.

[00:09:41]I'm chuffed. [laughter] Let's get the van back together.

[00:09:48]So, that is now everything back in the van. And look at this van. Check it out.

[00:09:52]It is looking absolutely amazing. Little bit of laundry, oasis on the wall. Go through lights, fridge, bed. I've even got myself now a little welcome mat with some fish on it. Check that out. I'm absolutely I tell you what, to me, this van is the definition of living the dream. Anyway, if we take a look up the top, we've got the solar panel now fitted and that's all in place. And I tell you what, it's bringing some amps in. 9 and 1/2 amps is charging out at the minute, which is absolutely insane.

[00:10:18]But saying that, today is ridiculously hot and I'm right here in the open sun.

[00:10:23]So, yeah, that's all now mounted in there. Lovely. hear my little electrical cable madness that's going on under the bed. But anyway, I hope you've enjoyed the video and as always, I'll see you next week at 6:00 p.m. So yeah, peace. I hope you learned something. I know I have.