tanuki.himself
Active member
yeah, i think i've reached that conclusion from the feedback here. And that is the whole point of asking the question
flexible PV mounting on corrugated aluminium roofing sheet
- Thread starter tanuki.himself
- Start date
yeah, i think i've reached that conclusion from the feedback here. And that is the whole point of asking the question
Yup!yeah, i think I've reached that conclusion from the feedback here. And that is the whole point of asking the question
mariemaccept
New member
The heat transfer won't affect the temperature inside the camper too much. I noticed it's enough to take a light-colored tile to protect the tempera from overheating. But if you think it will heat up in the sun, try installing something like cantilever carports instead of metal tiles. This is often made of a translucent material. Heat-resistant plastic is often used for carports, reflecting the sun and leaving everything under the roof in the shade. This is necessary so that the car doesn't suffer from overheating. I installed this in the camper and next to my garage. Sometimes I have friends or relatives staying overnight. Garage space is only for my car and motorcycles, so a carport is a good solution to the problem of lack of space in the garage.
A few things to consider as you work this problem:
Rigid panels are designed to sit on a roof in high winds, snow loads (to a point), hail impacts (to a point), and be suspended with an air gap below them. They should have enough structure to work for most mobile applications unless you're prerunning the Baja through whoops. Often adding a spoiler on the front end will help with flutter/noise, though I have not found that to be an issue if it is a minimal gap between the roof and panel.
Consider sourcing 1 large rigid panel (or 2 medium ones) with higher output instead of 4 smaller 175 watt rigid panels...to save weight. The one panel by itself will have fewer supports (perimeter structure) per square foot, but still be designed for the same wind/snow/hail situations.
To do this you will need to choose a MPPT charge controller that handles higher voltage output. I like Victron controllers for this, but that is my preference. They usually cost a bit more to get something rated for 100 to 150 volts, but the benefits are myriad for that minimal bump, and easily saved elsewhere.
-Panel size - By using these types of controllers you can use large, efficient, household type panels. This directly relates to my idea of you using one larger panel to save weight over multiple smaller panels.
-Additional efficiencies - Max wire on most charge controllers is 6 gage, so you are subject to less loss (as compared to lower voltage panels) since these panels operate at higher voltage from panel to charge controller.
-Cost - I've found household type solar panels on Craigslist. Often times someone will retrofit a house, and have a few NEW panels left over. You can get them for significantly less, which more than offsets the additional cost of the charge controller. The last brand new 320w household panel I sourced, I got for $200 as an example. The single panel does not have the issue with partial panel shading as each cell was wired independent. Ran only one 320w panel, 1/4 shaded upon initial hookup, and was receiving 200w as indicated by my viltron battery monitor. You have to research the craigslist find to see if they are wired as such to deal with partial shading. Note: you may have to shop around to find a single Craiglist panel that fits the area you want to place it, so this may not work if you are severely constrained. Even if you have to pay full price, cost in use on single larger panels tends to be more advantageous when comparing $/watt, though not always.
-Additional savings (weight/$) - Less wiring with one panel instead of multiple, lower weight per square foot when compared to multiple hard panels, fewer panel mounting brackets/paraphenalia (weight/complexity/cost) to mount a single panel.
-The panels can be used as a pre-shade for your vehicle or protect cargo in a bed from direct rain. Think about the old Land Rover series that had the white roof with an air gap over the vehicle primary roof so that they reduced heat gain in the cabin when crossing the Sahara. I've also played with ideas of using them to protect open roof covers from precipitation without having to have a Maxxfan or fan hood (though you do lose the low profile advantage to some degree). The point is if you get creative you may be able to have the panel replace/supplement another part of the vehicle, so that you can edit out weight elsewhere. No idea your configuration, but a nice trick to keep in your back pocket.
-Glass vs. plastic - flexible panels will degrade much faster than hard panels, scratch much easier, and lose efficiency as they get scratched up. Others have covered how they hold up compared, but threw it in there none the less.
Good luck with whatever you do.
Rigid panels are designed to sit on a roof in high winds, snow loads (to a point), hail impacts (to a point), and be suspended with an air gap below them. They should have enough structure to work for most mobile applications unless you're prerunning the Baja through whoops. Often adding a spoiler on the front end will help with flutter/noise, though I have not found that to be an issue if it is a minimal gap between the roof and panel.
Consider sourcing 1 large rigid panel (or 2 medium ones) with higher output instead of 4 smaller 175 watt rigid panels...to save weight. The one panel by itself will have fewer supports (perimeter structure) per square foot, but still be designed for the same wind/snow/hail situations.
To do this you will need to choose a MPPT charge controller that handles higher voltage output. I like Victron controllers for this, but that is my preference. They usually cost a bit more to get something rated for 100 to 150 volts, but the benefits are myriad for that minimal bump, and easily saved elsewhere.
-Panel size - By using these types of controllers you can use large, efficient, household type panels. This directly relates to my idea of you using one larger panel to save weight over multiple smaller panels.
-Additional efficiencies - Max wire on most charge controllers is 6 gage, so you are subject to less loss (as compared to lower voltage panels) since these panels operate at higher voltage from panel to charge controller.
-Cost - I've found household type solar panels on Craigslist. Often times someone will retrofit a house, and have a few NEW panels left over. You can get them for significantly less, which more than offsets the additional cost of the charge controller. The last brand new 320w household panel I sourced, I got for $200 as an example. The single panel does not have the issue with partial panel shading as each cell was wired independent. Ran only one 320w panel, 1/4 shaded upon initial hookup, and was receiving 200w as indicated by my viltron battery monitor. You have to research the craigslist find to see if they are wired as such to deal with partial shading. Note: you may have to shop around to find a single Craiglist panel that fits the area you want to place it, so this may not work if you are severely constrained. Even if you have to pay full price, cost in use on single larger panels tends to be more advantageous when comparing $/watt, though not always.
-Additional savings (weight/$) - Less wiring with one panel instead of multiple, lower weight per square foot when compared to multiple hard panels, fewer panel mounting brackets/paraphenalia (weight/complexity/cost) to mount a single panel.
-The panels can be used as a pre-shade for your vehicle or protect cargo in a bed from direct rain. Think about the old Land Rover series that had the white roof with an air gap over the vehicle primary roof so that they reduced heat gain in the cabin when crossing the Sahara. I've also played with ideas of using them to protect open roof covers from precipitation without having to have a Maxxfan or fan hood (though you do lose the low profile advantage to some degree). The point is if you get creative you may be able to have the panel replace/supplement another part of the vehicle, so that you can edit out weight elsewhere. No idea your configuration, but a nice trick to keep in your back pocket.
-Glass vs. plastic - flexible panels will degrade much faster than hard panels, scratch much easier, and lose efficiency as they get scratched up. Others have covered how they hold up compared, but threw it in there none the less.
Good luck with whatever you do.