Solar Panel

Depends on available height etc and space.

A flexible panel is the most convenient as you simply bond it straight the panel with Sikaflex and can of course go over curves so good for fitting on area's above windscreens for instance or if your roof has a curved section. Also they only raise the roof height by a few millimetres so are perfect if you don't want it to be stuck in the wind etc.

The downside is if you ever need to take it off for any reason, you essentially damage the panel trying to get it off so it is pretty much a 'permanent' solution unless you're incredibly careful getting it off the sikaflex.

The hard panels come on an aluminium frame and you can bolt it straight onto something or get plastic corner/side mounts that you bond to the roof with sikaflex and then the panel screws to them. These raise your roof height by about 2-3 inches, so something to consider if you have a van that just fits under barriers etc and don't want to be restricted.

These are usually slightly more efficient than the flexi-panels (or used to be) and have the bonus of being easily removed/replaced if needed.

Either will be fine though. I fitted a hard panel to mine and a flexi-panel to my friends pop top camper and haven't really noticed a problem with either, it's more which you prefer.

Once fitted, the rest of the wiring etc is identical whichever panel you choose.

I went straight to the battery as I have an older van and it's an easier route, but yeah the newer models allow for solar fitting into the controller box. Not sure on the problems though.