Autark Projekt Wohnwagen

Anyone else gone completely overboard planning their caravan off-grid setup before the thing even arrived on the drive?

Picked up my little off-grid tin box last spring and had a full Victron ecosystem mentally specced out before I'd even checked whether the toilet worked — MultiPlus-II, SmartSolar MPPT, Cerbo GX, the lot. Probably overkill for a weekend in a field in Yorkshire, but here we are.

The rabbit hole is real:

• Started with "just a couple of panels and a leisure battery"
• Ended up pricing up a Fogstar Drift lithium bank that costs more than the caravan itself
• Now I'm watching YouTube videos about busbar sizing at midnight on a Tuesday

For anyone doing similar — the bit nobody warns you about is how quickly "self-sufficient for a weekend" turns into "never need a hook-up again, ever, under any circumstances, including January." My current setup runs the fridge, a small inverter load, and USB charging comfortably through a decent summer day off four Renogy 175W panels.

Winter is... a humbling experience. That's all I'll say.

Curious what others here have fitted to caravans specifically — fixed roof panels vs. portable? I went fixed and occasionally regret it when I'm parked at a funny angle to the sun. A tilting kit is on the list.

What's your setup, and more importantly — what would you do differently if you were starting from scratch? Feels like this forum has seen enough van builds, but caravans are their own beast with the weight limits and all.

Ha, @SolarKeith, guilty as charged! I'd spent three months on spreadsheets before my van even left the dealer's forecourt. Had my Victron kit list, battery capacity calculations, the lot. My husband thought I'd lost the plot entirely.

One thing I'd say from experience though — whatever solar wattage you've calculated you need, add at least 30% more. British skies are not your friend from October through February, and that "worst case scenario" you planned for is basically just... November.

Also don't underestimate how much a decent battery monitor changes things mentally. Watching those percentages in real time is oddly satisfying once you've got everything dialled in properly.

What size leisure battery bank are you looking at? And are you planning shore power as a backup or going full autark? 😄

@SolarKeith mate, I had a full Victron MultiPlus spec sheet laminated before I'd even test-driven the shepherd's hut chassis — the disease is real and there's no cure, only more amps.

Genuinely though, planning obsession pays off — the one thing I'd say is don't underestimate your actual consumption before sizing batteries; most people (past me included) forget the kettle exists until the Fogstar's reading 20% at 7am.

Few questions worth nailing down early:

• Peak inverter load — that kettle/microwave spike will bite you
• Shore power charging vs solar-only lifestyle
• Battery chemistry — LiFePO4 is the only sane answer in 2024, fight me

The Victron ecosystem is brilliant once it's all talking via Cerbo GX, but budget an extra weekend just for the VRM dashboard rabbit hole. 🐇

Great thread! @SolarKeith I went one further — had my battery bank calculated to the amp-hour before I'd even negotiated the purchase price 😄 Ended up in a right rabbit hole pricing up Victron kit at 2am when I should've been sleeping.

One thing I'd say though: measure everything twice before committing to inverter size. I nearly ordered a Multiplus-II 3000 for a tiny Transit conversion, which would've been ridiculous overkill. Scaled back to the 1600 and it handles everything comfortably with headroom to spare.

Anyone else find that the planning phase teaches you more than you'd expect? By the time mine arrived I actually understood what I was buying rather than just copying someone else's parts list blindly. Genuinely reckon that saved me a few hundred quid avoiding kit I didn't need.

@SolarKeith oh mate, I wish I'd been that organised. My sin was the opposite — bought the motorhome first, then discovered the leisure battery was a single 100Ah AGM living under the bed like a sad little raisin. Spent the next six months retrofitting everything around awkward angles and cable runs I'd never have chosen deliberately.

The spreadsheet-before-purchase crowd are genuinely doing it right, even if it feels excessive. Knowing your load profile before you're committed to a chassis means you can make sensible decisions — like whether a Fogstar 200Ah actually fits the battery box, or whether you need a full custom build.

One thing I'd flag though: real-world consumption always humbles the spreadsheet. Budget at least 20% headroom onto whatever your calculations say. The kettle alone will destroy your confidence in your own maths.