Anyone who has ever spent any time with an RV knows space is always at a premium. And anyone who has spent any time with cabovers knows there is even less space for anything than even a normal RV. So installing solar on a cabover camper is a task that requires creativity, skill, and patience.
This is a small but pretty unique system. There are two panels on a rail mount system on the roof making about 500 watts of solar power.
The solar wires are carefully snaked down to the basement cargo compartment, where they tie into a Victron charge controller.
Arranged carefully in a way to take up as little space as possible are an automatic transfer switch to handle shore/generator power, a solar disconnect, and a Victron Phoenix 1200 watt inverter.
Crammed into the campers slide out battery tray are two sealed batteries, along with a custom built panel that holds the power distribution breakers and the Victron shunt. A Victron Smart Battery Sense wirelessly feeds the charge controller accurate battery voltage and temperature information.
Inside the camper, a Victron BMV-712 smart battery monitor keeps track of battery charge status and makes that information easy to see at a glance. Additionally, it also controls a dedicated Westinghouse dual fuel generator that we heavily modified to operate automatically, keep its starting battery charged, and keep its oil warm for instant starts and reliability in cold weather.
Helping save space is Victrons excellent Bluetooth capabilities of their components that allow the owner to monitor and program all of the components right from their phone.
