Best Solar Panels for Camper Van Conversion and RV

Many manufacturers sell Solar Panel Kits that include panel(s), a charge controller, and a couple cables.

Kits are only a better value if you actually want the components they are supplied with!

Select the right Solar Charge Controller for your panels. Check our Guide to Solar Charge Controllers →

Here’s why we don’t recommend solar panel kits:

• Solar kits rarely a meaningful discount compared to buying the components individually.
• Kits are often sold with inferior PWM Charge Controllers, compared to MPPT Charge Controllers which deliver about 10-20% more power (source). For us, that additional solar output with an MPPT Controller is worth the extra cost, since it doesn’t require any extra panels or wiring.
• The cabling included with kits is not necessary what you’ll need. The wire lengths might be wrong. The gauge and lug size of the tray cable, which connects to the battery, might not be right for your system. The cables with the kit wouldn’t have worked for us (gauge was too small)!

Let’s educate ourselves before jumping into lists of panels to choose from!

If we could do our van conversion over again (and maybe we will.. someday), we would choose flexible solar panels. Rigid solar panels, being cheaper, are an easy choice for large fixed solar installations like a house rooftop. For a vehicle with unique installation difficulties and where every pound matters, the extra cost is worth it with cheaper/easier installation, and improved gas mileage. Comparing Renogy’s 175w rigid vs. 175w flexible panel, the flexible is about 15% more expensive.

Advantages of Flexible Solar Panels

Easier to Install – VHB tape or adhere to the roof and forget it

Lighter Weight – 6 pounds vs 26 pounds

Stealthier – can’t hurt, right?

Advantages of Rigid Solar Panels

Cheaper – compared to flexible panels, rigid are about 25% cheaper from Renogy, 40% cheaper from Hightec Solar

More efficient – rigid panels are ~9% smaller for the same wattage output

Longer life span – rigid panels get airflow underneath them, preventing overheating. Flexible panels can have very short (less than 3 years lifespans) in very hot areas. In milder areas lifespan is 5-10 years. BUT, flexible panels still have 25 year warranties

By the way, if you buy rigid panels, you’ll encounter a lot of potential ways to mount them. Check out our Guide to Mounting Solar Panels on the Camper Van where we run down the options and document our step-by-step mounting process.

Here’s the take home on this question: most high-grade panels you’ll encounter are monocyrstalline panels, and that’s probably what you’ll end up choosing.

The difference between the two is in the manufacturing process – mono panels are made from a (you guessed it!) single crystal structure of silicon, while poly panels have multiple. There is less waste in the poly manufacturing process so they are cheaper, but they perform about 15-20% less efficiently. This means a poly panel will be 15-20% larger for the same wattage output as a mono panel.

Stick with us here.. some of these product nuances can be a bit bland, but solar panels are a big purchase!

Solar panel efficiency defines a panel’s ability to convert sunlight into usable electricity. Solar panels range in efficiency from about 15-23%, and in a panel with 20 percent efficiency, 20 percent of all the light that hits it will be translated into electricity. Solar panel efficiency is determined by the production of electricity by solar cells, which is in turn influenced by the cells’ composition, electrical configuration, surrounding components, and more.

A less efficient panel can produce the same wattage as a more efficient panel, it would just need to be bigger with more solar cells.

(On a side note, you’ll need a battery monitor to get a reasonably accurate reading on how many watts your panels are we generating. We’ve got the rundown on battery monitors.)

Solar panel voltage will be fed by the panels to your charge controller, which then charges the batteries. As long as you get an adequate charge controller (MPPT, not PWM), then the controller regulates the incoming voltage from the panels to charge the batteries based on their voltage.

No need to worry about the panel voltage (most common are 12v, you will see some 24v), because the voltage has no impact on the performance.

Solar panel warranty is based on power output. Solar panels are expected to degrade over the years. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory found in a 2012 study that solar panel output falls by an average of about 0.8 percent annually. In other words, after 10 years it will produce 92 percent of the energy it did when it was new; and so on.

Manufacturers guarantee that their panels will still offer a certain percentage of their original output. Warranty periods generally range in length from 10-25 years. Renogy warrants panel output at 80% efficiency rate at year 25. Hightec and SunPower offer similar warranties.

For life span of flexible panels, be sure to purchase flexible panels coated with ETFE, as opposed to PTE. PTE will yellow and degrade much quicker. All Renogy panels are coated with ETFE (we checked with Renogy).