The Best Solar Panels for Camper Van Systems (2025 Buying Guide)
- Chris Wallace-Tarry
- 3 days ago
- 15 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
With the explosion of off-grid clean energy, the market is inundated with solar panels of every possible size and quality. Choosing the best solar panels for camper van systems can be a real headache. Beyond this, there's the choice between monocrystalline and polycrystalline panels, single big panels vs. multiple smaller ones, and whether to buy your solar panels as part of a campervan solar kit.
Having a good-quality solar array of sufficient size makes or breaks your time in a van. I've spent winters in remote parts of Georgia and Turkey where solar power was the only way of keeping my batteries charged. Even though they were often snowed over, and despite short days with little sun, my solar panels never failed to keep my electrical system going. I attribute this to the fact that they're monocrystalline panels with good shaded performance, and that they're paired with a quality MPPT charge controller. This article breaks down the solar panel buying process, question by question. We'll help you size your panels, choose your solar panel type, and recommend the best panels and kits for your chosen size.
If you're just getting started, make sure you read our full guide on campervan solar panels. In that article, we go in-depth on how solar panels work, electrical regulations, how to install and wire your panels, and solar charge controllers.
Index
Shane, the founder of The Van Conversion, is a campervan professional dedicated to helping people transform ordinary vans into homes on wheels. He has authored Roaming Home, and teaches The Van Conversion Course, guiding many people through their van builds. Shane also writes The Van Conversion Newsletter, where he shares practical tips and insights. After completing two van builds and living on the road full-time since 2020, he is passionate about sharing his expertise with others.
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Our Top Picks
If you're anxious to get your solar panels ordered and don't need any further analysis, these are our top picks for solar panels for camper van installation. These are all high quality monocrystalline panels made by respected manufacturers, which boast excellent performance even when partially shaded.
Best Mid-sized Solar Panels for Camper Van Systems
Panels between 100W and 200W are the most commonly installed in campervans. A 120W solar panel will keep a small leisure battery (less than 100Ah) charged for a couple of off-grid days at a time. A 200W panel alone will support a battery up to about 175Ah in capacity, and can easily be doubled up to make a 400W array if you don't have room on your roof for one big panel.
I have two 160W panels on my van, as I needed a 320W array to support my 250Ah leisure battery through winter. Because of the location of my roof vent, it made most sense to split my array across two 160W panels.
Sunstore 160W Solar Panel
Sunstore panels are made with high-quality components ensuring durability and good performance even when partially shaded.
Alternatively, Sunstore Solar also make excellent panels of this size, with similar performance figures. We can confidently recommend both of these panels for small-to-medium capacity solar systems.
Best Large Solar Panels for Camper Van Systems
If you're building a solar array that's bigger than about 300W, we usually recommend that you buy a single large panel rather than multiple smaller ones. 300W is usually the point where single panels start to become cheaper than multiple smaller ones, especially when taking into account the extra cost of wiring and fitting components for multiple panels.
Eurener 450W Solar Panel
This is a large panel from a well-known European manufacturer that boasts excellent efficiency and high performance.
Victron 360W Solar Panel
Victron's largest offering shares its excellent shaded performance and high durability with of all Victron's panels.
Best Flexible Solar Panels for a Camper
Flexible solar panels are popular for their ability to mould to curved surfaces, their low-profile, stealthy footprint, their toughness, and their ease of installation. This 150W model from Solmax is perfect for a mid-sized system or for doubling up to make a 300W array.
Best Mid-sized Solar Panel Kit for Campervan Systems
Campervan solar panel kits are increasingly popular among van converters, as they bring together everything you need for a solar system in a single package. For example, this campervan solar kit from Sunstore Solar contains everything you need to fit and wire a 200W solar array to your van, plus a Victron MPPT charge controller. We recommend buying a campervan solar kit that comes with a charge controller from a reputable manufacturer like Victron, as many no-name charge controllers come with significant compromises on performance.
Best Large Solar Panel Kit for Campervan Systems
This larger 450W solar kit would allow large vans with big batteries to stay off-grid for days at a time with no other charging inputs, and has the advantage of a simple installation with only one panel. It includes a smart charge controller, which can be controlled and monitored on your phone via Bluetooth.
Sizing Your Solar Array
As we discuss in detail in our campervan solar systems guide, sizing your solar array involves figuring out your daily electricity usage, the number of hours of sunshine you'll get each day, and the efficiency of your panels. Our energy consumption calculator is a simple way of calculating your daily electricity usage, which is also used to work out the size of your leisure batteries. Once you have this number, use our solar panel calculator to size your solar panels.
Average sunshine hours vary depending on location and can be found online. Wikipedia has a useful list of cities around the world and their sunshine hours - to find the daily average across the year, take the annual total sunshine hours and divide by 365. If you'll only be using your van for part of the year, add up the number of sunshine hours for your chosen months and divide the total by the total number of days across that period. For example:
Daily sunshine hours for London, England for all-year use =
Annual sunshine hours (1,633) / 365 = 4.47
Daily sunshine hours for London, England for 3-season use =
Sum of monthly sunshine hours for months March - October =
155 + 169 + 199 + 204 + 212 + 205 + 149 + 117 = 1,410
Sum of days per month for months March - October =
31 + 30 + 31 + 30 + 31 + 31 + 30 + 31 = 245
Average daily sunshine hours = 1,410 / 245 = 5.76
Solar panel efficiency is the amount of solar power that your panels are able to convert into electricity. Highly efficient panels, like this 450W one from Eurener, work at more than 23% efficiency, above the standard average of 18-20%.
Monocrystalline vs. Polycrystalline Solar Panels
Every solar panel we recommend in this article is a monocrystalline solar panel. Monocrystalline panels, unlike polycrystalline panels, are made from a single sheet of silicon, giving them the highest efficiency ratings out of all solar panels for camper van use. Polycrystalline panels are generally cheaper than monocrystalline, but the price gap has closed substantially as manufacturing techniques have improved. Reputable manufacturers, like Victron and Sunstore, only stock monocrystalline panels, which, in our view, is a good thing.
Check out Sunstore's range of high-quality monocrystalline solar panels here, and browse Victron's monocrystalline panels here.
Flexible Solar Panels for Camper Van Roofs
Flexible solar panels might be considered the third category of solar panel alongside monocrystalline and polycrystalline, due to their substantially different construction. Flexible panels, also called thin film solar panels, are bendy and very thin; they're never more than 1cm in thickness, compared to the 3-8cm thicknesses of rigid solar panels.
The main advantage of flexible solar panels is that they mount almost flush to your roof, making them excellent for stealth campervans. The biggest giveaway that your panel van is a camper is a set of big solar panels sticking up from the roof. If you're concerned about keeping a low profile, flexible panels allow you to do just that.
Flexible panels are also significantly lighter than rigid panels. For example, this 150W flexible solar panel from Solmax only weighs 3.1kg, compared to this rigid model of the same capacity which weighs 11kg. Finally, flexible panels are stuck to your roof using sealant, rather than being drilled into the metal. This makes installation substantially simpler, and it may be the only appropriate way of fitting your panels if you have a pop-top roof.
The downside is efficiency, with flexible panels being about 5% less efficient than rigid panels. The most efficient rigid panels achieve close to 25% efficiency; flexible panels don't usually reach more than 18%.
Is it Better to Have One Big Solar Panel or Many Smaller Ones?
Solar panels for camper van use come in many sizes. Now that you know the total size of your solar array, you may have realised that you can make up this total with either one or two big panels, or with multiple smaller panels.
A couple of factors go into this choice. From a performance standpoint, partial shading of a solar panel can reduce the efficiency of the whole panel. In this sense, making your array out of multiple smaller panels might mean that only one or two small panels are affected by partial shade, as opposed to a large panel in its entirety.
In reality, modern high-quality monocrystalline panels can handle partial shading very well. Models incorporating bypass diodes, like this Victron model, or a 'shingled' construction, like this Sunstore model, are designed specifically to minimise the effect of partial shade. Larger panels are also slightly more efficient, making the shading effect even less significant.
The decision usually comes down to cost and flexibility. If you're building a solar array with 400W total capacity, you might find that it's cheaper to buy two 200W panels or even three 150W panels than trying to find a single 400W panel. Additionally, it's easier to fit multiple smaller panels around other fixtures on your roof, like vents and air-con. This was the case for my system; my roof vent sits almost in the centre of my roof, so I split my 320W array across two 160W panels. Our view is that you should buy the panels that best fit your roof layout and budget whilst making up your desired total wattage.
The Best Solar Panels for Campervan Installation by Size and Type
As we've discussed, the best solar solar panels for a caravan system are monocrystalline, made by a reputable manufacturer, and feature construction that mitigates the effect of partial shading. To that end, we've compiled a list of recommended panels that will stand you in good stead, whatever your desired capacity, budget, and type.
The Best Small Solar Panels for Camper Van Systems
We consider any panel under 100W to be a small panel. Panels of this size are useful for filling up space in a roof crowded by other fixtures, and their low price is a major advantage. Alone, they're great for trickle charging your leisure batteries without needing to keep your van plugged into the mains whilst you're not using it.
Overall, we recommend Victron's 55W monocrystalline solar panel in the sub-100W category. It features Victron's high performance bypass diodes for partially-shaded performance, alongside a durable EVA outer layer for weather resistance.
The Best Mid-sized Solar Panels for Camper Van Systems
In the mid-sized category, we recommend a 160W panel. This monocrystalline panel boasts the same high-quality manufacturing and components as all of Sunstore's panels. A 160W panel can power a small system with a sub-120Ah battery alone, or it can easily be doubled or tripled up for a larger array.
The Best Large Solar Panels for Camper Van Systems
Buying a single large panel to make a big array is great if you've got the space. By installing one big panel, you minimise wiring and streamline the management of cables as they pass through your van's roof.
This Eurener panel is large enough to power most big campervan electrical systems (batteries bigger than 300Ah). It features a half-cut monocrystalline construction, maximising its performance when partially shaded and boosting its efficiency up to 23%.
The Best Flexible Solar Panels for Camper Van Systems
If you want a panel that's low-profile with an easy, no-drill installation, flexible solar panels are your best bet. This 150W panel from Solmax is monocrystalline, giving you about the best efficiency you can expect from flexible panels. 150W is a great mid-range size, suitable to be used alone for small systems (batteries smaller than 120Ah) and perfect for doubling or tripling up if you need more juice.
The Best Solar Panel Kit for Camper Van Systems
Solar panels for a camper are only one part of the whole solar system. Besides the panels, you need a solar charge controller, fuses, busbars, cables, and mounting equipment for the panel. Overwhelmed? This is where campervan solar panel kits come in.
Kits are an increasingly popular way of building your electrical system. By buying a kit which fits your desired solar capacity, you'll be sure that all the secondary components and accessories are the right size and that everything works together. When I built my van, solar kits weren't nearly as easy to find, so I specced out my system myself. I got the fusing and cabling wrong a couple of times, and found myself wishing I could buy everything I needed in a kit.
The Best Mid-sized Campervan Solar Panel Kit
Sunstore's campervan solar panel kits come with solar panels, an appropriately-sized MPPT charge controller, all necessary wires and fuses, and solar panel fitting hardware. We always recommend MPPT charge controllers for your solar systems due to the massive boost in efficiency they provide (around 30%) and the fact that they're much better for your leisure batteries' longevity.
This 160W kit is perfect for mid-sized systems. It'll keep batteries up to 150Ah in capacity comfortably charged as long as you're not using high-wattage appliances. It comes with everything you need for the installation, including a Bluetooth-enabled Victron MPPT charge controller.
The Best Large Campervan Solar Panel Kit
This 450W campervan solar kit will provide more than enough power for all but the beefiest electrical systems. It includes Eurener's excellent half-cut 450W panel, a Victron MPPT charge controller, and everything you need to mount and wire it all up.
Renogy Solar Panel Kits
Renogy are a trusted manufacturer of campervan electrical components, and they've recently started selling kits. They sell kits based on both rigid and flexible solar panels, and every one of their kits contains their own high-quality monocrystalline solar panels, MPPT charge controller, and Bluetooth smart monitoring system. Renogy make great gear, and we confidently recommend their excellent, comprehensive solar kits.
Essential Solar System Accessories
If you've decided to build your solar system yourself, now's the time to get together all the smaller components and accessories that complete it. To put together your system, you'll need:
Cables and wires of the appropriate gauge and with the appropriate connectors
Mounting brackets
Cable entry glands
Sealant
Fuses and breakers
A solar charge controller
Let's take a look at these essential components for installing solar power for campers.
Cables and Wires for Connecting Solar Panels for a Camper
You'll need two kinds of cable for wiring up your solar panels:
Outdoor 2-core solar cable
Good-quality indoor copper wiring
The outdoor solar cable is the wiring that will be directly attached to your solar panels, coming through your roof and connecting to your solar charge controller. Cable designed for outdoor use like this is usually tinned and double-insulated to protect it against the elements.
Make sure you buy cable of the right thickness: 2.5mm cable is for panels up to 100W with less than 5m of cable between the panels and your charge controller. For longer cable runs and/or bigger solar panels for camper van systems, go for 4mm cable.
You'll also need some connectors: most modern solar panels use MC4 connectors, which are durable, locking, and protected against the elements. These connectors are crimped to the ends of your solar cables using a crimping tool. Read more about crimping in our guide on electrical wiring.
If you don't want the hassle of cutting and crimping your own solar cables, pre-made cables of fixed lengths come with MC4 connectors attached. If you go this route, make sure that your solar charge controller has MC4 input sockets.
Finally, your indoor wiring, which connects your charge controller to the rest of your system, is standard copper electrical wire. This wire needs to be sized correctly depending on the length of the cable run and the current that will be passing through it. Read all about wire thickness and sizing in our detailed guide on wiring here.
Mounting Hardware
When fitting solar panels for camper van roofs, we need to make sure they're solidly mounted to the roof. In our view, the best mounting hardware is a set of flexible plastic corner mounts. These bind to your roof without needing to drill holes in the metal, and leave a slight air gap under your panels for good ventilation. Brackets must be fitted using marine-grade screws and a flexible, weather-resistant sealant. Buy your mounting hardware in a kit to make sure everything is compatible.
Your solar panel cables need a place to come through your van's roof. An entry gland is a waterproof entry point for your cables that's installed to your roof. Go for a single cable entry gland if you want to bring individual cables in at different points, or put in a double entry gland to double up your cables.
Installing one is simple, but requires sawing a hole in your roof and sealing the gland around it. Check out our article on cable entry gland installation for a step-by-step guide.
Fuses and Breakers
Fuses are an essential safety component of any electrical system, and your solar power subsystem needs its own protection. At a basic level, you should have an in-line fuse or breaker on the cable that connects your solar panels to your charge controller. An in-line fuse holder works with automotive blade fuses. If there's a fault between your panels and your charge controller, the fuse blows and you need to replace it after fixing the problem.
An in-line breaker acts as a switch which trips automatically if there's a fault. You can also trip the switch manually to kill the system if you're doing maintenance or removing your battery for winter.
Fuses and breakers need to be sized according to the current that passes through them. Our detailed article on fusing explains how this works and how to size your fuses.
Solar Charge Controllers
Solar panels for camper van systems can't be connected straight to your leisure batteries. A solar charge controller needs to sit in between, managing the electricity that comes in from the panels and apportioning it in a way that safely charges the battery. Charge controllers come in two types: PWM and MPPT.
PWM Charge Controllers
PWM is an older technology which is overall less efficient. It works by forcing the solar panels to output the same voltage as your leisure batteries to avoid overloading them. This voltage forcing, however, means that the solar panels often operate at siginificantly suboptimal efficiency, meaning you don't get as much power out of them. The upside is that PWM charge controllers are a lot cheaper.
MPPT Charge Controllers
MPPT charge controllers intelligently modulate the electricity coming in to ensure your panels are operating at their maximum efficiency depending on their temperature and the amount of sunlight they're receiving. An integrated DC-DC converter then converts excess voltage to current, ensuring your battery always receives the right voltage without any power losses. MPPT charge controllers get the most out of your solar panels, but are more expensive than PWM models.
We always recommend MPPT charge controllers. In our view, the gains you get from your solar panels are more than worth the extra cost. Look for 'smart', Bluetooth-enabled MPPT charge controllers which allow you to monitor your solar panels' activity from your phone.
Charge controllers come in different capacities, and must be sized depending on the size of your solar array. Use our handy MPPT sizing calculator to figure out the size you need.
Final Thoughts
You should now be fully equipped to spec out and choose your solar panels for camper van adventuring and all the accessory components. When you're ready to take the plunge, take a look at our recommended range of standalone solar panels, or go for an easy-to-install campervan solar kit. If you need more information on solar systems before buying your components, our comprehensive guide should answer all your questions.
Don't forget to subscribe to The Van Conversion Newsletter for everything you need to get started with your own van conversion (we'll send you a free wiring diagram when you join).
If you're looking for some guidance with your van conversion, you might be interested in our book Roaming Home, or in our online course The Van Conversion Mastery Course. You'll learn directly from our founder Shane how to convert a van into your dream home - no prior experience needed. Shane also offers one-to-one consultations, where he'll help you with any aspect of your build in a face-to-face video call. All consultations come with a free copy of Roaming Home and our Diagram Pack.
Finally, our Van Conversion Ultimate Guide lays out the whole van conversion process in easy-to-follow sections with tools, materials, and step-by-step instructions. It's the perfect companion for your van build.
Until next time.