Almost every RV solar quote starts with a number of watts. That is the wrong end of the problem. The right question is what you run, and for how long, when there is no pedestal to plug into.
Start with the load, not the panels
Two rigs the same size can need wildly different systems. A weekend trailer running lights, a water pump, a 12V fridge and phone charging is a modest build. A full-timer who wants coffee, a residential fridge and an induction hob without starting the generator is a different proposition entirely, and it is mostly a battery problem rather than a panel problem.
Work it out in the other order — panels first — and you get one of two bad outcomes. Either an array that cannot keep up with the loads underneath it, or a system that cost considerably more than the way you actually camp required.
The honest answer about air conditioning
This is the question everybody asks, so here it is plainly. Yes, an RV air conditioner can be run from a battery bank and inverter. No, it is not a small addition. Air conditioning is by far the largest load in an RV, and running one for a meaningful stretch takes a battery bank and inverter sized for it, not a couple of panels and a spare battery.
It is entirely doable and we build systems that do it. It is just worth knowing before you start that the cost is driven by the batteries and the inverter, not the roof.
Lithium versus what you have
Lead-acid batteries make you leave roughly half of their capacity in the bank — run them much below half and you shorten their life sharply. Lithium gives you nearly all of it, charges faster, weighs less, and does not care about being left partially charged.
The catch is that a lithium swap is not just a swap. Your converter or charger needs a lithium charging profile, or it will never fill them properly and may damage them. The same goes for a solar controller and for alternator charging while you drive. Getting that wrong is the most common way a lithium upgrade disappoints.
*One hour minimum labor charge required with all service calls. Contact us for current labor rates.
What off-grid actually looks like
A system running with the pedestal disconnected.
The roof, which is half the job
A rooftop array on a different RV.
The part most quotes leave out
Every solar install puts new holes in your roof. That is unavoidable — the cables have to come down and the mounts have to go somewhere. What is avoidable is those holes becoming the reason you need a new roof in five years.
We do full roof replacements, so we have seen what badly sealed penetrations do to a deck from the inside. One of them is documented here, decking coming away in handfuls. That perspective is the reason our solar work is fussy about the sealing, and it is a fair question to ask any installer before they get on your roof.
What we install
- Rooftop solar arrays with properly sealed penetrations and a rooftop disconnect
- Lithium battery banks sized to measured power use
- Inverter/chargers, from modest to whole-coach
- MPPT solar charge controllers
- DC-DC alternator charging, so the drive between sites does real work
- System monitoring you can read from your phone
- Shore-side surge and voltage protection
We build these predominantly on Victron equipment because the components talk to each other and expand later without a rebuild — more on why, and what a Victron system involves.
Upgrading what you already have
Plenty of rigs arrive with a factory “solar prep” package, a single panel, or a previous owner’s partial attempt. Those are usually worth building on rather than tearing out. The first job is finding out what is actually there and what it is actually doing, which is a diagnostic rather than a quote.
Talk it through before you buy anything. Bring how you camp — where you park, how long between hookups, what you refuse to give up — and we will tell you what that actually needs. Including, sometimes, that it needs less than you were about to spend.
RV Solar & Lithium FAQ
By starting from your loads rather than from a panel count. What is running, how much of the time, and how long you typically go between hookups. That produces a daily amp-hour figure, which sets the battery bank; the array is then sized to refill it in the light you actually get. Quotes that lead with a wattage number have skipped the only step that determines whether the system works for you.
You can run it from a battery bank and inverter, with solar helping to refill the bank. But air conditioning is the largest load in an RV by a wide margin, so the cost is driven by the batteries and the inverter rather than by the panels. It is entirely doable — it is just not a small addition, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling you something.
No, and this is where most disappointing upgrades come from. Your converter or charger needs a lithium charging profile or the batteries will never fill properly. The same applies to a solar controller and to alternator charging while you drive. Done properly it is a genuine step change; done as a straight swap it often underperforms the lead-acid it replaced.
Not if the penetrations are sealed properly, and that is exactly the part worth asking any installer about. We do full roof replacements as well, so we have seen from the inside what poor sealing does to a roof deck over a few years. Ask to see how the cable entry will be sealed before work starts.
Usually, yes. Factory solar prep, a single panel, or a previous owner's partial system are generally worth building on rather than removing. The starting point is finding out what is installed and what it is actually delivering, which is a diagnostic rather than a quote.
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*One hour minimum labor charge required with all service calls. Contact us for current labor rates.