Robin from Creativity RV – you may have heard of her. If not, she has a large following on YouTube that chronicles her life living on the road. Following in the footsteps of many others before her, Robin grew weary of living the corporate life to pay for a huge mortgage while life passes by. She was in the corporate world for over 20 years before deciding to take the dive into nomad living. Robin writes books and shares her life with the world through her YouTube Channel to help others decide if the lifestyle is the right choice for their lives. Despite not knowing much about RV life in the beginning, Robin had to learn what worked for her and adapted quickly to being on the road. Living on the road is an ever-changing and evolving process as you learn to find the setup that makes you happy.
One of the many questions people ask about living life on the road is about electricity. “How can I live comfortably anywhere without needing to be in an RV park to plug in?” It’s a valid question. RV parks or campsites, especially during the summer months get overcrowded, noisy and to be honest sometimes it’s difficult to even find a spot at the last minute after a long day of driving. If you’re near public lands with beautiful views, the goal is to be able to enjoy solitude and not worry about powering your rig. Having the flexibility to park on public lands for several days is important to many nomads. Solar power enables excursions off the beaten path to find the perfect camping spot that everyone dreams about. This was no different for Robin as it was the obvious choice for giving her the freedom to write her books and shoot her videos from anywhere.
In two of Robin’s previous rigs, she had a smaller 400-watt system that took care of her basic necessities, but for things like hair dryers, air fryers and instapots she had to rely on her gas generator which was an inconvenience. She wanted to abandon the gas generator route and commit her investment into solar power. Our staff asked about everything she wanted to power in her rig and how many days that she usually boondocks. This gave us the ability the size the system appropriately so she could live comfortably and not worry about power. After doing some calculations our engineers decided to outfit her rig with 1280 watts of solar panels, a 3000-watt inverter and 6 lithium batteries. This would be plenty of juice to power everything in her rig and even her AC part-time. You can watch more about this part of the story in the video below.
Before Robin arrived, our engineers wired and configured all the components on a power panel which allowed for a faster install. When she arrived, our engineers ran the wires from the RV storage compartment to the roof where the solar panels were installed and also connected the pre-made power panel to the lithium batteries that were installed in the front storage bay of the rig. You can see our installation video below.
After getting everything installed, James showed her how to read Color Control module inside the RV to gauge her battery levels as well as the input from the solar panels. After about 6 hours of work, Robin was on her way with a fully functional solar power system that will power all her needs.
Not long after the install, Robin encountered 7 full days of rain and made a video on how the system performed. This was a huge test for her because she made the decision not to invest in a gas generator backup for her rig. Watch her results in the video below. Be sure to subscribe to the NAZ Solar Electric YouTube Channel to be notified of more videos when we post them.
Our Take
Robin and I worked on the system design for her RV until we had it right-sized for her energy and power needs. The install went off without a hitch and James gave Robin a quick tutorial on her new solar system. It was a pleasure working with Robin to get her new RV set up with a robust mobile solar power system
Solar Power System Components
Below is a list of components that were used in this system.
- REC Solar 315 Watt N-Peak Monocrystalline Solar Panel (X4)
- Battle Born BB10012 Lithium Ion LiFePO4 Battery 12V 100Ah (X6)
- Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT 100/50 Solar Charge Controller 12/24VDC (X2)
- Victron Energy MultiPlus 3000 Watt 12 Volt Inverter
