MT Van Conversion: Roof Rack and Solar

After our trip we decided we needed cabinets since the plastic bins, bags and boxes were chaotic after a few days. A kitchen was first but before that solar to power the fridge. To be fair, solar is not necessary since the Yeti 12v car charging cable was enough, provided you run the engine at least 30 minutes a day. We decided to add solar for boondocking and just parking the van in the driveway for longer periods.

Rack

The promaster has T mounts on the roof to mount a rack so no holes were needed. We got 6 of the roof adapters and used 14 gauge Superstrut lengthwise and 2 5ft pieces across. The superstrut is anodized, very rust proof. We decided to get it powdercoated black anyway so it would look better.

Time: 4 hours

Parts

6 Roof adapters promaster

https://vantech.us/product/promaster-stainless-steel-adaptor

3 10 ft 14 gauge superstrut channel strut (home depot)
4 3/8 nylon cone nuts for the cross pieces

Solar

Goal Zero customer support was super helpful with details. They suggested 2 boulder 100 watt panels, rather than the 200 watt suitcase panels, and the combiner cable with the APP (anderson) extension cable. The anderson cable is coax so splicing it would be complicated.

FarOutRide has a great solar calculator. With a fridge we estimated we needed at least 45 amp hours and 240 watts of solar. The solar calculation has a lot of factors, like mounting angle, time of year, latitude and how clean they are (or covered with snow!!) So, living in the north we decided to go with 2 160 watt renogy panels for easier mounting and a little more power just in case it snowed.

https://faroutride.com/van-electrical-calculator/