Van Solar in Australia
Australia has excellent sun nationwide, so arrays can be modest, but remote travel and extreme heat drive the design. Long stretches between towns reward a bigger battery for genuine autonomy, and high temperatures cut panel output and demand strong battery ventilation. Cold-weather derating only matters in alpine and southern winter travel.
Take a steady 1,500 Wh/day build. At Australia's annual 5.5 peak sun hours that needs about 364 W of solar. In winter, with only 4 hours, the same load needs about 500 W — that is the ×1.4 winter penalty in one number. Size your array for the season you actually travel, and let the battery cover the cloudy days.
The calculator below is prefilled with Australia sun. Add your loads and toggle winter to see your own numbers.
Quick start with a profile:
Your daily loads
Add each device with its watts and hours per day.
No loads yet. Add your fridge to start, or pick a profile above.
Solar array
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Add loads to size your array.
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Battery bank
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Charge controller (MPPT)
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Inverter
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Battery-to-inverter wire & fuse
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Estimated cost
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Budget street price → premium brands.