
Ely and Tom are the founders of MYT Solar, a mobile RV Solar installation company that specializes in large off-grid Victron Energy RV solar systems. They started their RV journey in 2020 with their two rescue dogs, Alaska and Smoky Joe. They now are living and working in their 32ft Outdoors RV with 2680W of solar and 1200ah of Lithium capacity. They would love to empower you on the RV journey with their extensive experience and offerings of RV solar. Follow them on YouTube or Instagram to see their RV solar installs and where they will be next.
RV Solar has become such a buzzword, and it seems like all the cool kids are getting a complete overhaul of their RV’s electrical system. But the real question is, do you even need it? And how much do you need?

As full-time RVers and RV Solar installers, we think every RVer should have some amount of solar on their RV. No question. First though, you have to understand what this buzzword really means before investing in it. While solar is the word that’s thrown around the most at the campfire, people miss the most crucial part of the RV electrical system…
It’s really ALL about the batteries, solar is just the best way (in our opinion) to keep them FULL.
RV Solar is All About Your Camping Style
Before you jump into the rabbit hole of RV Solar, ask yourself these questions:
- Do you want an RV that can harvest the sun so that your batteries remain charged when you’re camping? (PS: We’ve kind of already answered this one for you, YOU NEED some form of RV Solar if you’re going to camp without electrical hookups, even if it’s just 1 night)
- And if you REALLY want those rays of sunlight working for you, do you also want a device that will utilize that solar power for extra comforts and INVERT your 12V power to 120V? More on this below.
- What is your camping style? Are you a camper that just needs the necessities, or are you a glamper that needs the comforts (Think, hair dryer, A/C, TV, coffee pot)
Boondocker or Glamper? Or a Boondocking Glamper.
Are you a frequent boondocker? Or do you mostly plug in at RV parks? Do you boondock occasionally at Harvest Hosts, or do you like to be in the woods away from civilizations for weeks on end?
If you’re the kind of person who wants to seek refuge in the forest or desert for more than a week, it might be smart to invest in a more capable RV solar system.
If you rely on turning on your hair dryer or air conditioner daily, or use a CPAP machine all night, you will want to invest in a substantial RV solar system.
Even if you haven’t been a boondocker, you might want to try it if you are tired of paying an arm and a leg for a campsite during your travels or you’re tired of the crowded campgrounds. Even making reservations can be tough sometimes. This is when it is lovely to try boon docking. And if you’re planning to boondock, even for just one night, you’re going to want some form of RV Solar.
Let’s talk about this below.
12V RV Power is King
One of the most impressive capabilities of the RV is their built-in ability to provide all the necessary living requirements WITHOUT 120V power. Without electrical hookups.
With the help of 12V (or battery) power and propane we can camp in “comfort” with the following essentials:
- Heating – Our furnace uses 12V power from the batteries for the controls and fan, and propane as fuel
- Lighting – Our LED lighting runs on 12V power from the batteries
- Running water – Our water pump provides running water using 12V power
- Hot water – Our water heater is controlled by 12V power and fueled with propane
- Ventilation – Our vent fans use 12V power for their motor
- Refrigerated food – Our traditional RV refrigerators use 12V for controls and propane as the fuel, the newer DC refrigerators use (even more) 12V power for the compressor.
As you can see in the list above, it’s really impressive to see all the stuff we can run “off-grid” with just 12V power and propane. Until your batteries run out.
12V RV Power Only Goes So Far
And when 12 power starts to run out, our furnace ignition is the first to give out, then our lights might start to flicker, or our controls to our fridge stop working. That’s when you know you’ve used up all your 12V battery power. Unfortunately without electrical hookups, 12V power is not a never-ending fountain.
For many RVers, they experience this during their very first night boondocking. When the RV dealer tells you all the amazing comforts you’ll have when you’re off grid, they forget to tell you that the RV typically comes with a VERY undersized and incapable battery system.
Pretty quickly, after just a day or two boondocking on the factory system we’ve lost the reasons we brought the RV on the camping trip in the first place. We’ve lost the necessities.
Go Big or Go Small (Don’t go home!)
This is where a small-scale and simple solar system makes dreams come true. And it’s really not a huge investment.
It is essential that if we are going to stay out camping for as long as our water lasts and keep these critical items like the fridge and furnace running, we have a way to keep our battery bank charged.
For this kind of extended 12v camping solar charging system it might be as simple as a single 200w solar panel and charge controller connected to the battery bank to charge it during the sunlight hours. It may be roof mounted or the portable “briefcase” style. Additionally, if your RV came with just a single lead-acid battery, you will probably want to add another and have at least two batteries for the solar charge.
Generally these smaller solar systems are anywhere under 800W, as 800W of solar power is plenty of power to keep the battery bank charged up if all we are running are our 12V “necessities” we mentioned above.
AGAIN, we did say you definitely need RV Solar. But the other question is how much do you need.
So what if you want more than just necessities. You’re a boondocking glamper.
This is where RV solar systems can get a little more advanced and of course a little more expensive.
The Almighty Inverter!
A lot of the time when serious boondockers talk about RV Solar, they’re actually talking about something much more.
A full off-grid solar setup is going to definitely consist of roof-mounted solar panels. Pretty obvious right?
But as we mentioned above, all this solar does is keep our 12v battery bank topped up. An essential piece of the system.
But remember, we want COMFORTS now, not essentials. Enter the almighty INVERTER!
This is the workhorse of a big off-grid RV solar setup. The inverter will take the 12v power from your battery bank (which thanks to the sun is nice and charged) and miraculously turn it into 120V power.
Now we are talking about running the air conditioning, plugging in a hair dryer, running a CPAP machine, running a television, a coffee pot, plugging literally anything into our 120V outlets! WOOHOO!
Thanks to the inverter, we can now utilize our 12v batteries for something much more luxurious.
Lithium Batteries
With this 120v at our fingertips, it tends to lead to much more demand on our batteries, to provide 120v and run big items like the AC is a lot to ask from a lead-acid battery bank.
This is why another crucial part of any big off-grid solar setup is Lithium batteries. These batteries are much more robust and can handle the demand placed on them by the inverter – which is running all of your heavy duty 120v appliances.
There are many benefits to lithium batteries – which we could talk about all day – but the bottom-line is: if you’re going to have a substantial off-grid solar setup with an inverter, you’ll be needing to swap out those traditional lead-acid batteries for their lithium counterparts.
So there you have it, boondockers! We’ve broken down RV solar into two categories, one for the things you need and one for the things you want!
And if you’re a Glamping Boondocker and need help with your solar project, let us know! We’d love to empower you on the RV Journey.
Ely & Tom of MYT Solar
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