Campervan Solar Setup: The Complete UK Guide (2026)

I've built solar systems in five vans now. Three Transits, a Crafter, and one ancient T4 that leaked through the cable gland for six months before I noticed. Every single one taught me something I wish I'd known before drilling the first hole in the roof.

This guide is the one I send to friends who've just bought a van and are staring at a blank metal box wondering where to start. It covers every component you need, why I picked each one, and where to buy them with real UK prices. No sponsored reviews, no affiliate-driven picks. Just what actually works in British weather on British roads.

The four key components

Every campervan solar system has four main parts. Here's exactly what I recommend for each, with links to buy:

12V or 24V? The decision that drives everything else

Stick to 12V. I'll save you the hour of forum reading. For a campervan, 12V is the right answer 99% of the time. Every off-the-shelf campervan appliance runs on 12V: compressor fridges, diesel heaters, LED lights, USB sockets, water pumps, Maxx fans. If you go 24V, you need a 24V-to-12V DC converter for every single one of those. That's extra cost, extra wiring, and another component that can fail in the middle of nowhere.

The only legitimate reason to go 24V in a van is if you're running sustained high-power AC loads through a 3000W+ inverter; think air conditioning or induction cooking. At 24V, your cable sizes halve and your inverter runs cooler. But 99% of UK vans don't need that. A 2000W inverter at 12V pulls 167A at full tilt. That's manageable with properly sized 50mm² cable and a 200A BMS.

Verdict: 12V for vans. 24V for canal boats with big inverters or off-grid cabins. If you're not sure, it's 12V.

Solar panels: rigid vs flexible (the truth no one tells you)

Both have their place. Both have serious downsides that YouTube reviews conveniently skip. Here's what actually matters:

My recommendation: If your roof can take rigid panels, fit rigid panels. The efficiency, lifespan, and cost advantage aren't even close. I use Renogy 200W rigid panels (£90-110 each) on most builds. Two of them (400W total) is the practical maximum on a LWB van roof. If you have a pop-top or a heavily curved roof that can't take rigid panels, Renogy 175W flexible panels (£120) are the best of the flexible bunch, but accept you'll be replacing them in 5-7 years.

Avoid the no-name £60 flexible panels on Amazon. I've measured 40% degradation on one after 18 months. The Renogy flexible panels at least use ETFE coating rather than PET, which dramatically slows the yellowing. Buy from Sunstore if you want UK stock with a warranty that actually works.

MPPT charge controller: one model covers 90% of vans

For a campervan with 200-400W of solar on a 12V battery, the Victron SmartSolar 100/30 is the answer. It handles up to 440W at 12V (more than you can physically fit on a van roof), 100V max input (lets you wire two panels in series for thinner cables), and the built-in Bluetooth app is genuinely useful for checking charge history without crawling under the seat.

If you're running a single 100-200W panel, the Victron 75/15 (£65) saves you £45 and does the same job. For a big van with 400W+, step up to the Victron 100/50 (£155).

Why Victron and not a £30 EPEver? The Victron app alone is worth the premium. You can see exactly what your panels produced today, this week, historically. When something's wrong, you'll know. The EPEver technically works but the interface is a 1990s LCD screen and the tracking algorithm is less efficient in partial shade, which is every layby and campsite in the UK.

Read our full Victron MPPT comparison for every model's specs, or use the MPPT calculator to size yours exactly.

DC-DC charger: essential for UK winter

If you only take one thing from this guide, make it this: solar alone will not keep your battery charged through a British winter. November through February, a 200W panel on a UK van roof produces about 0.1-0.3kWh per day on average. A 50L compressor fridge uses 0.4-0.6kWh per day. You are losing energy every single day unless you drive.

The Victron Orion-Tr Smart 12/12-30 (£165) charges your leisure battery at 30A from your alternator whenever the engine is running. It's a proper multi-stage charger, not a dumb split-charge relay. It will bulk, absorb, and float your lithium battery correctly, something a £30 VSR relay cannot do. A standard split-charge relay dumps alternator voltage (14.4V) directly into your battery with no current limiting and no absorption phase. On a lithium battery that can pull 100A+, that's a fire risk and it's terrible for cell longevity.

The Orion-Tr also has a Bluetooth app that lets you set custom charge profiles. For LiFePO4, set 14.2V absorb, 13.5V float. For the engine running detection, use the built-in voltage sensing (it starts charging when it sees >13.5V on the input) or wire the remote on/off to your ignition if you want explicit control.

One thing to watch: The Orion-Tr 12/12-30 runs hot. Like, properly hot. Victron spec says it can run at 40°C ambient but at full 30A output the case temperature hits 65-70°C. Mount it on a metal surface with an air gap, not tucked behind insulation. If you're running it in a tight under-seat space, the Orion 12/12-18 (£130) runs cooler and 18A is still enough to put 50Ah into your battery in a 3-hour drive.

Battery: the 100Ah sweet spot

For a UK campervan, a 100Ah LiFePO4 battery is the sweet spot. It gives you roughly 1.2kWh of usable energy (you can discharge LiFePO4 to 90% depth of discharge vs 50% for lead-acid). That runs a compressor fridge (40Ah/day), lights (5Ah), phone/laptop charging (10Ah), and a diesel heater (10Ah on startup) for 2-3 days without charging. With 200W of solar and occasional driving, you'll never run out in spring through autumn.

Here are the three worth buying in the UK right now:

Why the Fogstar Drift wins: It's the only one with built-in heating. LiFePO4 batteries cannot be charged below 0°C. If you're skiing in the Alps or wild camping in Scotland in February, your battery will refuse to charge. The Fogstar Drift has a heating pad that warms the cells using power from the charge source (solar or alternator) until they're above 0°C, then charging begins normally. For a UK van used year-round, this feature alone justifies the £30 premium over the Renogy.

The Eco-Worthy is the budget option and it's surprisingly not terrible. The cells are grade B (lower consistency than the grade A cells in the Fogstar and Renogy), but for a weekend van at £150 it's hard to argue. No Bluetooth means you need a separate battery monitor (Victron SmartShunt, £65) to know your state of charge.

Do you need 200Ah? For most vans, no. The extra 100Ah adds 11kg, costs £250-300 more, and takes up significant underseat space. Unless you're running an induction hob, an air fryer, or working full-time from the van with Starlink and a gaming laptop, 100Ah is enough. The DC-DC charger and solar together will keep it topped up. If you do need more, Fogstar do a 230Ah version (£540) that's still under 25kg.

Inverter: don't overbuy

The most common mistake I see in van builds is a 3000W inverter that never pulls more than 400W. A 3000W inverter at 12V draws 250A at full load. That requires 70mm²+ cable, a 300A fuse, and a battery bank that can actually deliver that current without sagging below the inverter's low-voltage cutoff. Your 100Ah battery with a 100A BMS cannot do it.

Be honest about what you actually plug in:

• Laptop charger: 60-90W
• Electric toothbrush charger: 2W
• Camera battery charger: 15W
• Small travel kettle: 800W (but for only 4 minutes)
• Hair dryer on low: 1000W

For 90% of vans, the Victron Phoenix 12/500 (£135) is the right choice. 500VA continuous (400W real), 900W peak. It'll run your laptop charger, camera charger, and a small travel kettle back-to-back. It's tiny (86 x 165 x 218mm), weighs 3.5kg, and the standby current is only 3W. Victron inverters have an ECO mode that pulses the output looking for a load; when nothing is plugged in, it draws nearly nothing. The Phoenix is also available in 12/800 (£185) and 12/1200 (£245) if you need a bit more.

If you genuinely need 2000W (hair dryer, microwave, induction hob), the Victron MultiPlus 12/2000 (£650) combines an inverter and charger in one unit. It's overkill for most vans but it's the standard for full-time liveaboards.

Wiring: the bit that makes or breaks your install

Here's the system layout, start to finish:

Key wiring rules:

• Fuse at the battery positive terminal. Not 30cm down the cable at the bus bar. At the terminal. If the cable chafes and shorts to the van body, the fuse is between the battery and the short. An MRBF terminal fuse block (£12) bolts directly to the battery terminal.
• Use the right cable. Solar cable (tinned copper, double-insulated, UV-resistant) for roof runs. Tri-rated or welding cable (fine-stranded for flexibility) for everything inside. Not household twin-and-earth. Not cheap CCA (copper-clad aluminium) from eBay. Pure copper only.
• Crimp properly. A hydraulic crimper (£35) with the right dies for your cable size. Hammer crimpers are fine for 6mm² but useless on 16mm²+. Adhesive-lined heat shrink on every lug. Pull-test every crimp before installing.
• Bus bars, not daisy chains. Every component connects to the bus bars, not to each other. This avoids voltage drop stacking and makes fault-finding possible. A 4-post 250A bus bar (£15) is all you need.

Complete shopping list: every component you need

• ☀️
  Solar Panels: 2 x Renogy 200W rigid

  400W total on roof. Series connection for higher voltage/lower current.

  Amazon ~£180
• 🔌
  MPPT: Victron SmartSolar 100/30

  Handles up to 440W at 12V. Bluetooth. The standard van MPPT.

  Amazon ~£110
• 🚐
  DC-DC Charger: Victron Orion-Tr Smart 12/12-30

  30A alternator charging. Essential for UK winter.

  Amazon ~£165
• 🔋
  Battery: Fogstar Drift 105Ah LiFePO4

  Heated, Bluetooth, 100A discharge. Best UK van battery.

  Fogstar ~£300
• 🔋
  Battery Monitor: Victron SmartShunt 500A

  Accurate state of charge via Bluetooth. Not needed if battery has built-in Bluetooth.

  Amazon ~£65
• ⚡
  Inverter: Victron Phoenix 12/500

  500VA pure sine wave. Laptops, chargers, small kettle. 3.5kg.

  Amazon ~£135
• 🛡️
  Fuses: MRBF terminal block (100A) + 60A MEGA fuses x2

  Battery terminal fuse + fuses for Orion and inverter feeds.

  Amazon ~£35
• 🔧
  Bus Bars: 4-post 250A positive and negative

  Every component connects here. No daisy chains.

  Amazon ~£30
• 🔌
  Cable: 6mm² solar cable (10m) + 16mm² tri-rated (5m red, 5m black)

  Solar cable for roof runs. Tri-rated for everything inside.

  Amazon ~£40
• 🔧
  Crimping kit: hydraulic crimper + copper lugs + heat shrink

  Don't skip the hydraulic crimper. Hammer crimps fail.

  Amazon ~£55
• 🏠
  Roof entry: double cable gland + Sikaflex 291

  Waterproof cable entry. Sikaflex marine adhesive-sealant.

  Amazon ~£25
• 📦
  12V fuse box: 6-way blade fuse holder

  For fridge, lights, USB, heater, pump. One fuse per circuit.

  Amazon ~£15
• 🔩
  Mounting: L-brackets + M6 bolts + nyloc nuts

  For bolting rigid panels to roof bars. Use stainless steel.

  Amazon ~£20

Total: approximately £1,150-£1,250 for a complete 400W solar + 105Ah lithium + DC-DC + inverter system. This is every single component including tools. A professional install of the same spec costs £3,000-£4,500. You're saving £2,000+ by doing it yourself, and you'll know how to fix every part of it when something stops working at 10pm in a French layby.

Common questions