We live full-time in a Brinkley Model Z 3515 fifth wheel, and we do not carry a generator. Everything in the rig, from the air conditioner to the air fryer, runs on a solar and battery system that was installed before we ever spent a single night camping. Our very first trip was a 15-day boondocking challenge in Central Florida, which in hindsight was a bold way to find out whether the system actually worked.
It did, mostly. We filmed the whole thing for our YouTube channel, Nomads Amor, including the week shade nearly killed our batteries. Since then we have boondocked in Florida heat and Wisconsin heat advisories, and the setup has become the one piece of our rig we get asked about more than anything else.
So here is the full parts list: who designed it, what batteries and panels we run, the Victron gear that ties it all together, and the two small devices that protect the whole investment.
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Who designed and installed it
Mobile Solar Consulting
We did not design this system ourselves. Mobile Solar Consulting did, and they also handled the installation. We dropped the Brinkley off with them, and when we picked it up we drove straight to our first boondocking spot at Dupuis in Central Florida. You can read about that trip, including a walkthrough of the fresh install, in our first boondocking video post.
If you are thinking about solar for your own rig, whether a full professional install or a DIY project where you just want someone experienced to sanity-check your plan, they are who we point people to. Their shop is here, and the promo code NOMADSAMOR gets you half off their design consultation package, or a free soft starter for your AC with a qualifying installation.
The batteries
SOK lithium batteries
The battery bank is the heart of the system, and ours is built on SOK lithium batteries. They are what let us run the fridge, the coffee maker, and yes, the air conditioner, without shore power or a generator humming outside.
Lithium was the obvious choice for full-timing. The batteries charge fast from the panels, hold their voltage under heavy loads, and we can pull them down much further than lead acid without hurting them. We check on them constantly (more on how below), and through all our boondocking so far they have not given us a reason to worry. You can order them directly from SOK Battery.
The one time they got into real trouble was our fault, not theirs. Near the end of our 15-day challenge we were parked in shade with no generator on board, and we watched the bank drain lower every day until we had to borrow a generator. That whole scramble is in our stuck-without-power post, and it taught us the most important solar lesson there is: the best battery bank in the world cannot help you if your panels never see the sun.
The panels
RICH SOLAR 200 watt panels
Up on the roof we run RICH SOLAR 200 watt monocrystalline panels. There is nothing exotic about them, which is kind of the point. They are flat, they are efficient, and on a clear Florida or Wisconsin day they pour enough power into the bank that we stop thinking about electricity at all.
That shade incident changed how we camp with them. Now, picking a boondocking site starts with the sun: which way the panels will face, what trees will do at 4 pm, whether we can angle the rig for the longest exposure. We talked through that site-picking habit during our week boondocking in Wisconsin. If you are shopping panels, the ones we use are on Amazon.
The Victron gear that runs it all
Everything between the panels and the outlets is Victron. Mobile Solar Consulting spec'd the whole stack, and having one brand across the system means every component talks to every other component.
Victron MultiPlus 3000VA inverter/charger
The MultiPlus is what turns battery power into normal household power. It is a pure sine wave inverter, so laptops, the TV, and kitchen appliances all run exactly like they would at home, and when we do plug into shore power it flips around and becomes the battery charger. The first meal we cooked on our Blackstone came with a side of fries from the air fryer, running entirely off this inverter in the middle of nowhere. It is on Amazon here.
Victron SmartSolar MPPT charge controllers
The charge controllers take whatever the panels produce and feed it to the batteries at the right voltage. We run two: a big SmartSolar MPPT 250V/85A that handles the main roof array, and a smaller SmartSolar MPPT 100V/20A alongside it. Both have Bluetooth, so we can open the Victron app from bed and see exactly how many watts are coming in. On sunny travel-prep mornings that number is very satisfying. On shady afternoons it is a warning.
Victron GX Touch 70 display
The GX Touch 70 is a seven inch touchscreen mounted inside the rig that shows the whole system on one screen: solar coming in, loads going out, battery state of charge. Our regular battery check-ins in the videos are usually us standing in front of this screen, like the ones during our first 15-day challenge. No crawling into the basement, no guessing. It is on Amazon.
Victron Smart Battery Shunt
The shunt is the least glamorous part and maybe the most important. It sits on the negative side of the battery bank and counts every amp in and out, which is how the system knows the real state of charge instead of a voltage-based guess. Without it, the pretty numbers on the GX Touch would be fiction. You can find it here on Amazon.
Protecting the system
Micro-Air EasyStart Breeze soft starter
Air conditioners take a huge surge of power at the moment the compressor kicks on, and that startup spike is what usually makes AC-on-batteries impossible. The EasyStart Breeze smooths that spike out, so our inverter can start the AC without breaking a sweat. If running your air conditioner off-grid is part of your solar dream, budget for one of these. It is on Amazon here.
Power Watchdog 50A surge protector
When we do stay at a campground, the Power Watchdog is the first thing out of the basement. It sits between the pedestal and our cord and checks the power before any of it reaches our electronics. After spending this much on batteries and inverters, plugging straight into an unknown pedestal feels like skipping the seatbelt. Ours is the Bluetooth 50 amp model, available on Amazon.
The whole system in one list
Every component on this page is saved in our Solar & Batteries idea list on Amazon, and the rest of our gear lives in our Amazon storefront.
If you are building out a rig, the solar system is only one piece. Our full-time RV gear list covers everything else we carry, and our boondocking setup shows how the power system fits together with water and waste when there are no hookups at all. We also cover the monitoring side of the rig in our safety and monitoring gear post.
And if you want to hear how the next boondocking spot treats this system, the newsletter is where we share what broke, what worked, and where we are headed next.