Is 200 Watts Of Solar Enough For An RV? – Boondocking With 200 Watts of Solar on Our Camper

Renogy 200 Watt Solar Kit: *HQST is no longer available, this kit is similar
200 AH Redodo LiFePO4 Battery: *Gel batteries are a thing of the past, get this instead
30Amp In-Line fuse:
250 Watt Power Inverter:
Solar Power Banks:

0:30 – Our 200 Watt HQST Solar System
1:22 – Is 200 Watts Of Solar Enough?
1:33 – Why Is 200 Watts Enough?
3:21 – Factors To Consider For Solar
4:16 – Our Experience/What We Run On 200 Watts of Solar
5:30 – How To Figure Out If 200 Watt Of Solar Is Enough For You
5:59 – Summary & Closing Thoughts

In this video, I talk about our HQST 200 Watt Monocrystalline solar setup. Since I installed this kit, a lot of people have asked me, is 200 watts of solar really enough for your RV? Well, in this video, I answer that question! We primarily boondock and camp without hook-ups. So I answer this question from a boondocking perspective.

Around 9 months ago, I installed the HQST 200 Watt Monocrystalline solar kit with a 20A PVM charge controller. Here is a link to that video:

So far we have really enjoyed this solar setup. Our solar system’s backbone is our Renogy Deep Cycle Gel battery which has 200 Amp hours. That thing is a beast! Without that battery, our system would probably not be as great as it is. I also did a video about that battery:

Please let me know if you have any questions about our setup. Thanks for watching!

DISCLAIMER: This video and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. This helps support the channel and allows me to continue to make videos like this. Thank you for the support!

5 Comments

  1. This video helped me determine that 200w of solar is enough for my converted camper bus. I put on two 100w panels with a 100/15 victron mppt charger and it’s keeping things topped off with 2 max air fans and a chest refrigerator running on sunny days. Thank you

  2. I used to have around a 200w solar setup on my first cargo van conversion. Later on I got into a class C motorhome. I updated to 500 watts and a 40 amp MPPT charge controller. I Later got into a slightly bigger class A motorhome and upgraded to 5 solar panels combining to 960 watts of solar power with the input voltage around 130 volts. The way I have to maintain full solar power is based on winter solstice when I normally get less than 8 hours of daylight. Right now in November, the local weather is showing just over 8 hours of daylight. My solar power can fully charge within 4 hours. Cloudy, overcast conditions can decrease my input voltage 30%-60% or snowfall can cut most of my solar power for 2 to 3 days. I sometimes have to keep the snow off the solar panels a few times a day just to get 25% of the input voltage to the batteries. I don’t rely on much paid energy to live off grid. I don’t have to rely on cash or credit to live off grid. I refuse to duplicate or do anything the rest of you call “living off grid”.

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