I just wanted to mention that I picked up one of these solar charge controllers off of eBay http://specialtyconcepts.com/SPECIALTY_CONCEPTS_PDF_FILES/MARK_15_SPEC_SHEET.PDF last week and I love it.  I’ve gone through a few of those cheap ones and decided on a little better one. The one I got was refurbished and was about $60.  The thing I like about this is 1) you can turn off the LED so the van is not illumined at night and 2) it has a switch to watch the current, which is much more useful than just the voltage.  It’s amazing how much more current the panels produce when you tilt them different ways in the suns path.  Even the slightest angle movement and you can watch the current go up or down. I have 1 55 watt panel semi-permanently mounted on the poptop of my ‘83 and a 30 watt that sits in the luggage rack and can be picked up and moved about. It’s enough wattage to keep the Vitrifrigo happy forever if I camp in the sun but just keeps a small charge when in the woods.

I have my eye on some windmills....

Thanks,
Bryan