Campergy luggage rack solar kit

[ledogboy]

Hey all-

Shortly before Thanksgiving, I stumbled upon a luggage rack solar option being sold by Campergy ( https://www.campergy.com/ ). I have had a 100 watt Renogy panel mounted to my roof racks for the last few years, and while I loved having solar, I have always hated my half assed install, which had the wires routed down through the rear vent on the passenger side. Between the lure of a well thought out solar solution, and a couple of martini’s, I smashed the buy button in no time!

As it turned out, Campergy is based in Oakland, and Andrew (who runs the show) was open to helping me with the install. This is not a super challenging install, and the instructions he had sent me looked solid. But I did so much work on my van this year that the idea of having someone hold my hand and make it easy was appealing. Sure enough, we had a pleasant morning working on the van, and I rolled out with a new Renogy panel mounted and connected to my 50 amp DC/DC controller and 150ah battery bank in short order. Besides the new solar setup, this install also taught me how painless dropping the spice rack and headliner is, which has resulted in my van now having some seriously kick ass new led lighting and Uniwerks power pods installed.

To sum it up- this kit is freaking awesome. I smile every time I catch a glimpse of the panel. The aluminum frame is super high quality, as are the Amphenol connectors he is using. And on top of it all, Andrew was a great dude to spend a few hours with on a pleasant weekend morning. If you are looking for an easy-peasy solar solution, you should check it out! Here are some pics, note that the pics on his website are better than mine... :roll

_________________
1986 Westy Weekender
Now a full camper
1.8t Syncro conversion
Some people call him Maurice...

[dobryan]

Nice!
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2010 Subaru EJ25 (Vanaru) and Peloquin TBD

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson

MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646

Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371

The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794

[Andrew@Campergy]

Ryan - Thanks for the review and providing the opportunity to install the kit on your rig with you! I'm stoked you are enjoying the panel and I didn't know that the kit had a side effect to make people smile as well!

During installs like this, hearing the stories of what owners like you have done to and do with their vans and life stories is always a great perk. That experience and feedback like this make the effort to get these kits out there so much more rewarding and fun.

Like you said, the install does go quickly with two sets of hands on it and certainly isn't black magic as one might think. It just takes a bit of courage to get into it and now I can even recommend to put a big nut on a string to drop down the B-Pillar to route the wire easier like we ended up doing. I thought of it but hadn't done that before!

Thanks again and enjoy catching those rays!

[Corwyn]

But . . . where to do you put your firewood?
_________________
'90 White Westy ("White Lightning")
FAS Gen V 2.0
The Annual Baja Rally
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=604813&highlight=baja

"If anything's" gonna happen, it's gonna happen out there"
~ Captain Ron ~

[vanagonjr]

[Schuylersister]

This is so cool! Would you share a bit more info about the process of running the cable from the panel, through the roof, down b pillar? I have the same panel mounted in my luggage rack but need some guidance (and courage) to run the wiring. Thank you!

[shizzon]

very cool! i've been thinking about doing something like this for years!

have you noticed a reduction in wind noise? supposedly the aerodynamics of the luggage rack are terrible, and covering the luggage rack improves noise.

my only hesitation with this general setup is that in the summer if i'm camping in an unshaded area i generally like to park with the van facing north (i have my solar panel on the poptop now, so that puts the panel at a good angle facing S). That way, in the afternoon I have better shade on my awning, which is on the E side of the van.

Seems like with this setup you'd want to park facing south, no? I know there is probably a whole thread on which direction to park somewhere... ha!

Two other thoughts on parking angle: 1) if it's windy (wind usually comes from the west), I like to park facing East, which would be suitable for this setup, and 2) facing west could be good with this setup, because then you get good solar (at least from the afternoon on) and the awning is to the N of the van.

of course, all of these concerns are somewhat moot since it looks like you can just detach the panel and use the extension cord. or maybe the solution for people like me is to just run 2 panels
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1989 Bostig Syncro Westy

[Sodo]

[ledogboy]

[koubiak]

Super nice kit.

Do you have any pictures or how to dropping the cable in the b-pillar? I have a project that could benefit from that

[deadaheadub]

Are panels that lay flat on the roof subject to serious damage from hail?
_________________
Grateful daily,
Ryan
______________________________________
Past loves: '65 Bug, '70 Westy poptop, '64 Squareback project, '76 Westy tintop "Loose Lucy", '76 Westy tintop "Sharee"
Current:'84 Westy poptop "Ramblin' Rose- Rosie" w/ 2003 Subaru EJ25 conversion

[Andrew@Campergy]

shizzon - Shade parking and direction - I always worried about which way to park to charge up and how to keep the van level too... sometimes I found that was mutually exclusive. Plus, I didn't really want the van in the sun, so I solved that a different way and made up a 25 foot extension cable as well. This way, you just pop the panel off and place it in the sun, and keep your van nice, cool, n level wherever you feel like it.

Wind noise - It could reduce it a bit, but if you are looking for improved acoustics, I'd invest in something that makes louder preferred noise in these rigs.... a reasonable amp and new speakers

peffleyjeanne, koubiak - Cable routing - Sodo posted a link to a great way to get the wire down the B-Pillar. I personally recommend the same general path as well but I prefer drilling the hole further up and away from the edge of the luggage rack to keep the grommet away from where the water goes. Even though its a watertight cable/grommet/body seal, I still like to keep them as dry as can be. Here are some pics that I include in my installation instructions.

Then, to get over the B-Pillar, there is a pathway where stock wires are run as well. I follow those through and dive into the vent behind the spice rack.

And the same deal out the bottom of the B-Pillar to route to your controller

sodo - to your claims
It squanders a classical Westy aesthetic and you can't carry as much.
--> Relative to functionality of storing large items up there that don't fit under the panel, that could be a challenge for some people. I just tell them there is the option to reinstall the footmans loop over the bracket so that one can remove the panel and have virtually the same storage capability. Subsequently, if the ability to A) lash something down that doesn't fit under the panel immediately and B) they need to have solar every day of the year and C) they aren't willing to take the panel down for those select times or trips is more important than the rest of the features my product offers to them, thats great, I'll let that customer make that decision.

It messes with your camp wood scrounge program
--> Debatable as noted.

You have to place it carefully to prevent damage on the backside of the panel.
--> I think that applies to just about everything in life and especially pointy things plus a downward force applied to the back of any solar panel, thankfully care can be taken to address that.

[Andrew@Campergy]

[Andrew@Campergy]