My friend, Jacob, in Sedona, Arizona.
Solar
This week on the van build I finally tackled a task that I’ve been avoiding for over a month: solar. When I bought the van, it already had a solar system mounted on the roof, but upon inspection, I found that the previous owner did a… careless… job on the install and layout. And while I could have left it as it was, something in me needed to correct the issues.
Besides, I was going to have to make changes anyway, because while the 200w of solar that came with the van was probably sufficient for my needs, I didn’t want to even think about running out of power in the middle of an adventure. After mulling it over for a while I decided to purchase two additional panels—bringing the total to 600w—which is probably overkill for the current electrical system I have planned, but will be particularly nice if my power needs change. Plus, I’ve never once heard a van lifer complain that they had too much solar.
In order to make room for the new solar panels, I began the tedious process of removing the old solar panels (and the roof rack they were mounted to), lowering them down to the ground level where they would be easier to work on. From there I started modifying both the rack and the new panels so that they would secure together properly when mounted on the roof. It hurt my soul to drill new holes into both the rack and the metal frame of my brand new solar panels, but it was necessary and ended up working out great. Once the modifications were complete, I dragged everything back up onto the roof and secured them in place (hopefully for the last time).
I kept putting this project off because I knew it was going to be tedious and time consuming, but I eventually got sick of letting it loom over me and knew I had to finally attack it. I wish I could tell you I finished all of this in a handful of hours, but that would be a lie. Between removal, modifications, re-install and water proofing, this project took me over 2 days to complete.
It was quite a chore, but I’m proud of how it turned out and relieved that it’s behind me.
“All problems become smaller when you confront them instead of dodging them.” –William F. Halsey
