Frequently Asked Questions

Late summer/early fall 2024. In January 2024, Vroom Solar announced a significant new, market-driven set of enhancements that will now be included in its initial production run of the revolutionary Vroom Solar 3000 Control Center. These new capabilities expand the potential use cases of our patent-pending technology far beyond mobile trailer applications, spawning a new logo to reinforce Vroom Solar as the company that lets you “Plug Into the Sun… Anywhere”.

“These enhancements will add time to our product release, but we know these changes will be well worth the wait. The new features, driven by significant consumer and dealer feedback, will make our product more consumer friendly, more robust, and easier to adapt to additional markets and applications.”

- Luke Phelps, Vroom Solar Founder and CEO

it’s easy! The Vroom Solar 3000 is your personal solar power management station with a fully integrated Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) which allows a battery, generator, or even the grid to power the Vroom Solar AC outlets if solar energy is not enough to sustain loads connected (or at night). And a simple color-coded light system tells you when you are running on solar and when you’ve switched to an AC input backup source.

Vroom Solar's integrated, Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) makes it easy to use multiple power sources, but always keeping solar as primary. Originally designed as a separate, add-on product, Vroom Solar now plans to fully integrate the Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) into our Vroom Solar 3000 Control Center in the initial Control Center launch.

“Vroom Solar, the “tankless water heater” of the solar industry”??? Yep, you heard right. Our patent pending solar-direct Smart Solar Management system delivers power on demand, just as a tankless water heater delivers hot water on demand. Neither requires a storage component. With Vroom Solar, you use solar power on-site, on your trailer, anywhere… without the requirement of a battery.

Our Control Center has four AC outlets and an industry-first “solar fuel gage”, a simple power output light bar coordinated with available DC input wattage. One key difference between a tankless water heater and the Vroom Solar VS3000 Control Center: you have to request hot water (by turning a faucet), but our Smart Solar Management system, coupled with our new integrated ATS, delivers power instantly and automatically, where it is needed, in the most efficient and accurate way possible.

A standard (4)-panel configuration will generate 1680-1740 watts of solar depending on the solar module rating. 8-panel kits will generate up to 3,000 watts AC power output. The VS3000 Control Center can generate up to 3,000 watts AC output but can handle up to 5000-6000 watts DC input. If someone wants to double their power input with another 1680-1740 watts after setting up a (4)-panel system, additional solar panels can be added to a 4-panel Vroom Solar system.

1. (4) 395-watt (rated 385-420 watts), bifacial Solar Panels

2. A roof racking system for attachment to remote farm buildings and shelters, sheds, carports, etc. or a Powerfield PowerRack PV Solar Ground-Mount System | (5) tubs (model dependent) or the Vroom Rack™, an adjustable trailer racking system for mobile applications

3. Patent-Pending Vroom Solar 3000 Control Center™ (inverter), with (4) standard 110-volt AC outlets and ancillary wiring

4. 51" (or 1.3 meters) Plug & Play cables for attaching solar panel output to the Inverter (These must be 1500 volt-rated wire and UV protective coating for outdoor use.).

5. 2 friends, 2 tools, 2 hours (not responsible for lollygagging!)

The short answer is “yes” to producing energy when it clouds over. How does this happen? Efficiency. Using the power produced on-site (solar-direct) first is the most efficient because there is less energy lost through conversion and transmission across multiple lines or inverters and batteries. Our patent-pending technology converts solar directly to usable power. Other solar power systems need a battery to even produce power. The VS3000 is up to 98% efficient in converting sunlight to usable AC power – no battery or grid needed (but optional as backup power) to produce power instantly, making it the most efficient technology available on the market today.

Bottom line: During a period of heavy cloud cover, the Vroom Solar system will produce approx. 20% of maximum rated output. This increases to around 40-50% in light cloud cover.

We feel like it’s a better solution to give the end-user the option to have a battery if wanted, and if so, whatever kind fits their needs best.

The difference with Vroom Solar is that a battery is not required to have solar powered energy in the first place. But the VS3000 also gives you options for backup power when sunlight wanes... The VS3000 features a fully integrated Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) which allows a battery, generator, or even the grid to power the Vroom Solar AC outlets if solar energy is not enough to sustain loads connected (or at night).

There are many great battery options for optional AC input power and Vroom Solar systems will work with any portable battery with a standard 110v charging cord. A battery with “pass-through” capability would be a great option, since that feature allows a device (Pass-Through Battery) that is connected to a power supply (Vroom Solar Control Unit) to send power to other devices for charging.

If you add a battery for backup power through the integrated ATS, the VS3000 Control Center can recharge that battery for the upcoming night or another day without the grid. After all, a battery still needs a power source to recharge. We have team members with tons of experience installing off-grid and battery-backup solar systems. Over the years, our team has learned that the system’s battery is the component most likely to fail and cause the whole system to fail and need repair. See the FAQ re: Battery vs. UPS for additional information.

Vroom Solar gives you freedom to harvest sunlight; then use it instantly or charge batteries for when you need them!

Our products are built to simplify solar, so that professional installation is an option, not a requirement. There is no hardwiring, and no programming during set-up or operation. Simply plug and play with (4) or (8) solar panels and your choice of mounting system. And no moving parts means zero maintenance!

We’ve found that two people with two tools (tape measure and a cordless drill) and two ladders can install the entire system in two hours. (3) hours for the 8-panel kits.

Simply set-up your racking system, attach your Control Unit to a wall or your own stand mount, plug in the supplied cables from the solar panels to the Control Unit, and plug in your devices in the Control Unit’s (4) AC outlets. It’s really Plug & Play simplicity!

We are familiar with pass through inverters. Our control center is unique because of how it manages that pass-through power. It does power management for you with several loads. On standard pass-through the entire inverter would just shut down if overloaded or underpowered. Ours will be more durable and plug and play as well for some additional small benefits. We do see these as indirect competitors.