Finally installed solar on the Sprinter

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Two years later...I finally got a solar panel permanently installed on the roof of the Sprinter.



Our house battery system is pretty small with a 92AH battery and only a few LED lights, phone chargers and a Dometic CFX 40W fridge. Until it died a few months ago, I had a bluetooth CTEK Battery Sensor for tracking battery health. Rarely did the battery go below 70% charge when we were on the road and using the fridge. When on a road trip, driving between trailheads was usually enough to keep it charged. For times when we would park it for several days, I picked a up a small 50W solar panel to prop on the dash and plug into the CTEK charge controller. It did the job of keeping the battery topped off on sunny days. But it's a bit of a hassle to set it up and take it down. A permanent solution would be much better.

A lot of the work was already done through getting that 50W portable system set up. I already added a SAE plug (Amazon link) with a fuse to the charge controller and bought 15' extension cables with the proper MC4 plugs (Amazon link) for connecting the panel.

For the roof install, I opted to get a 100W Renogy mono crystalline panel for $100 (Amazon link) instead of using the smaller 50W panel. A 100W panel should be plenty: figuring that the daily charge need will rarely be more than 30Ah, a 100W panel should be enough for our modest needs (30Ah x 12V = 360Wh which a 100W panel can generate in 3.6h with optimal sunlight). After a bit of research, I decided to use 3M VHB 4950 double sided tape (Amazon link) and Renogy mounting brackets (Amazon link) for securing the panel to the roof. That double-sided tape is designed for heavy duty construction work and is recommended by several RV solar installers. No one has ever complained of a panel flying off the roof and it can be removed with a sharp blade, a heat gun and some solvent (GooGone or MEK). For getting the wires into the van, a 3/4" hole and a plastic wire entry gland (Amazon link) should do the trick. A bit of Dicor roof sealant (Amazon link) around the edges of the entry gland and the brackets adds a bit of weather protection to the edge of the tape. 

All the gear:


Marking the layout with a Sharpie:


Removing the headliner was way easier this second time around since I used cargo anchor tie downs to hold it up instead of the factory clips. I also removed the B-pillar on the passenger side to snake the cables down to the seat pedestal and the charge controller.


Drilling the one required hole. Predrilled with a small bit before hitting it with a 3/4" hole saw bit:




Priming the raw metal edge of the hole:


No pics of affixing the double-sided tape to the brackets and entry gland housing... I used rubbing alcohol to make sure all surfaces were clean before applying the tape: 



Plugging it in!



And once everything is mounted and tested, a bit of Dicor sealant around the edges:


Hopefully that'll keep our battery topped off and in good shape for a few years!

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