Roof mounted solar panel vs Jackery combo

[Van Diesel]

Hi nvo, thanks for the prompt reply!

Do you mean that the van is still below 2m, rather than above? (just checking )

the roof looks lower in the rear...look at the top of the page. D

 

[Van Diesel]

I would definitely recommend a solar panel on the roof. I installed a 160W one from https://www.4sun.eu and there has been no need to charge the battery for a long time. I use it to charge laptops when my wife and I work, I use it for the fridge and heating, so ... I use to the max and have never had a situation where I ran out of power. Another argument for ... is to prolong the efficiency of the AGM battery, which like to be charged to the max.

sounds interesting... can you add some photos please?
i would like to see a custom version of the solar roof.

 

[Halsall-]

Hi all, next question…

I need to uplift the amount of power available to me when camping. As a family we go ‘off grid’ no longer than 7 days (imagine North Coast 500) but would like to be able to keep the fridge running constantly throughout.
I believe my 2 options are either to get a solar panel fitted to the roof to constantly feed supply or for about the same price, buy a Jackery 500 and solar panel.
Can anyone offer any advice on both options? Would either options fulfil my requirements? I don’t want to power the grid, I just want to keep things fresh for a week.
Thanks in advance. R

We bit thr bullet and bought the Jackery 1000 and two 100w Jackery solar panels. We put the panels on top of the awning roof. The battery we plug into the outside socket of the van and feed the cable through the rear tailgate. The cable does not get crushed when the tailgate closes. The battery they acts like you are running with mains connected. We also run an infrared radiator to heat the inside of the van. It only consumes 100w/hr, The rad sites between the two front seats. The rad has a thermostat, so overnight the battery drops to about 50%. The two solar panels then top the battery up very quickly during the day. But you can also charge the Jackery battery through the cigarette lighter cable that comes with the battery. We tend to only stop at one site for 2 days max, so the setup works really well.

 

[TOPadVANture]

Someone asked for pictures of our solar - we are now on a trip around Sardinia and we have enough power all the time to run 2 computers and charge cameras, smartphones and appliances in the kitchen, e.g. the malaxer