Heater and Solar
Van conversion, version 2 – the review
April 27, 2021
Paul has a new build – Toyota Land Cruiser
April 29, 2021Heating and solar
Two things were blocking the rest of the project. One was the solar panels and the other one for the heater.
The solar panels were blocking anti-drumming and isolation on the roof and the heater was blocking the isolation of the floor.
Since both were new to us and would take us a lot of time we decided to ask an expert to help us out but he was fully booked, so we were only able to do that at the end of October.
With the tank being too full everything was prepped for the heater except for connecting it to the tank. Solar went up fast and worked like a charm from the beginning.
Solar system, diesel heater + installation
For solar, we choose a SmartSolar MPPT with 3x a 140Wp glass panel (thx Faraday). The reason we choose glass panel is that:
- The top of the van is far from flat, so flexible panels are more difficult to install.
- Solar panels need to release their heat. Flexible panels are mounted onto the roof so heats is released into the van. Glass panels are installed a few centimeters above the roof, so warmth does not dissipated into the van. This also makes glass panels more efficient, since heat has a negative effect on solar panel efficiency.
The solar system set us back € 912,-.
For the heater, we first wanted a cooker and heater combination but that was nearly € 6000,- including installation. Since we already experienced that the freedom to choose where to cook is just awesome we decided to go for a simple separate heater.
Camper Profi -who was doing the installation of the solar system- also had a nice diesel heater. In total, we paid a mere € 1021,-.
Lockdown came over us again and the van did more trips as a transport van because of it and then winter came. With that, the conversion drew to a halt.
