HOW TO: DIY Fit a Solar Panel to A Caravan | Large Solar Panel Install for Off Grid Caravan Living

Описание: HOW TO: DIY Fit a Solar Panel to A Caravan | Large Solar Panel Install for Off Grid Caravan Living

Hello & Welcome To The Channel,

In this video, I show you how I installed a 330 watt solar panel kit that I purchased from Sunshine Solar, a UK retailer selling kits, panels and everything else to do with solar. A solar panel enables you to live more off grid, as you will not need to pay for electric at campsites or run your engine to recharge your batteries whilst stationary. The solar panel converts sunlight into electricity, which is put into your leisure battery or batteries via a solar charge controller or MPPT. You can then use an inverter to change 12v into 240v power, so that you can run your everyday appliances as normal (within reason!). If you are living in your caravan, camper van or motorhome, or touring long term, then you will find that the installation of a solar panel give you a real boost. It’s also easy and simple to do and a really cost effective way of saving money whilst out in your leisure vehicle!

I am not a professional installer, but as someone who is competent at DIY, I found the install and process of connecting the solar panel to the battery to be straightforward and easy – if you also have some good DIY skills, then installing your own solar panel should not be a problem for you. If you are looking for a beginner’s guide to installing solar panels, you will find them enormously helpful. This installation took place on a caravan, but the process will be similar for installing solar panels on an RV, motorhome, camper van or other leisure vehicle. Not only will solar panels give you free electricity whilst out in your leisure vehicle, they will also help to maintain your leisure battery by keeping it at regularly charged, whilst the solar charge controller will prevent the battery from becoming over-charged, thereby extending the life of your battery.

Please note that NO PART of this is sponsored content – we purchased the panel ourselves and the companies we have mentioned are unaware of this video.

Why did we decide to install such a large solar panel?
We are currently running our business from the road, ‘Caravan Gifts UK’ & ‘Fox Under The Moon’, and are touring the country shows and fairs of our beautiful country, the United Kingdom. ‘Caravan Gifts UK’ sells a range of caravan themed cards and gifts that can be seen at our Etsy shop - http://www.caravangiftsuk.com/, whereas ‘Fox Under The Moon’ sells books and artwork that promotes positive mental health and well-being.

As we will be taking numerous, multi-week trips away in our caravan and making use of ‘budget’ sites often without electricity, we decided that we needed a large solar panel that enabled us to run our computers, printers and other gadgets whilst on the road. Our caravan is our office, home and holiday space all in one vehicle!

If you are looking to install a solar panel for your caravan, you may not require one as large as we have bought. Take a look at what’s available, as well as talking to others who have installed a solar panel, to determine what size panel you require.

Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction
00:55 – Solar Panel Overview 330w PERC P.V.
01:20 – The Timber Frame Template
03:23 – Cleaning the roof surface
05:05 – Attaching the feet to the solar panel
06:05 – Lifting the solar panel into position
06:22 – Gluing the solar panel feet to the caravan roof and attaching the panel
08:52 – Installing the conduit to take the cables
09:55 – Drilling through the roof
11:43 – Running cabling from the charge controller to the battery
12:51 – Connecting the panel to the charge controller
13:35 – Installing a 2000w inverter
15:10 – Installing inline fuses
16:31 - Outro

Links:
https://www.sunshinesolar.co.uk/
https://www.12voltplanet.co.uk/
http://www.caravangiftsuk.com/

Music Used:
Track title - Rotten Gardenias
Genre - Country & Folk
Mood - Calm
Artist - Huma-Huma
Duration - 2:17

Who are we?
We’re Jamie & Stacey McNeill, two, 30-something professionals, who’d had enough of the rat race in summer 2018, when we quit our jobs and sold our house, in order to live full time in a touring caravan in Wales.

Our channel shows our journey living this way, the highs, the lows and everything else in between. We also use our platform to advocate to others, the benefits of living a lower stress, more balanced lifestyle.

We have built our YouTube reputation to date on honesty and integrity – you won’t find us using ‘click bait’ titles or nudity to draw in ‘cheap views’. We’re here for the long-term to show that this way of living can be a lifelong change for you as well as us.

If you’d like to make contact with us, we’d be delighted to chat with you. We read and respond to every video comment, so feel free to raise a question or anything else that’s on your mind.

Best wishes,
Jamie & Stacey