Mounting a Solar Panel to your hood?

[adventureduo]

Thinking outloud here... doubt im going to do it.... but has anyone tried this? Rovers have spares.... i've seen others mount hi-lifts, shovels, heck even sand ladders... so why not a solar panel? Seems like a worthy spot if your roof is covered already..

Do they get too hot? Will they reflect overhead lights too much? Can they take vibration of the hood?

Would be kind of backwards for a trailer base camp.. since you'll be taking your power with you away from your camp when you head out.... but for those that run fridges and other stuff with a roof top tent... and a rack with no room up top... it would be ideal.

If the sun moves just pop the hood!

Silly Miata example. Not really what we'd do, but just for a visual i guess.

 

[1leglance]

I have been thinking abou this for about 6months...
I have ask some of the great minds here in face to face chats and no one has shot the idea down yet..
But some of the concerns...
Reflection into the drivers eyes...low angle morning or afternoon sun off the crystals could be a problem.
How to attach them, I know I could figure something out but would it last.
What cells to use, the really thin stuff has high loss and the semi-flex is thicker...so pot rivet, cut the sheet metal...what?

Other than those 3 I am all ready to do it since I am a big power consumer with the fridge, laptop, ham, cb, phone, charger, and more....plus here in the southwest it is a shame to let all that sun go to waste.

 

[UK4X4]

What about having it mounted to the front of your rack.........

slanted down like a wind deflector, then at camp you could tilt it up.

The reflection would bug the hell out of me too.

Most panels are glass coated, so impacts with large bugs would not help longetivity either....

I like the vandle proof laminated ones, not as efficient as the glass version but robust enough for use anywhere

 

[BIGdaddy]

in my application i have a hi-lift mounted very close to the windshield on an aftermarket bracket.

i think this placement would allow for solar panels on the hood towards the front of the vehicle, without any kind of glare cuz the hi-lift basically blocks my view of the hood, (but not the trail) and consequently the panel glare.

nice.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Have you considered how much power you'd actually get out of them? I think with such a small area, it might seem like it's hardly worth the area. I don't know if you could power a fridge with that much area.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Why would you need/want solar panels when driving, though? I would think your alternator makes plenty of juice when the engine's running.

Now, when you are at camp, solar panels make sense, but I would imagine that a portable set of folding panels would be much more useful than a hood-mounted setup, which would cause me to worry about things already mentioned: i.e. damage due to vibration, reflection into the driver's eyes, excessive heat on the underside, etc.

 

[BIGdaddy]

Why would you need/want solar panels when driving, though? I would think your alternator makes plenty of juice when the engine's running.

Now, when you are at camp, solar panels make sense, but I would imagine that a portable set of folding panels would be much more useful than a hood-mounted setup, which would cause me to worry about things already mentioned: i.e. damage due to vibration, reflection into the driver's eyes, excessive heat on the underside, etc.

why do you gotta go and get all logical on us, martin? :littlefriend:

lol..

seriously though, i think if one mounted the panels on rubber grommets an inch or so off the hood, i think that it would solve the vibration and heat issues. as far as reflection goes, its not an issue for me and maybe others.

also, i would think that a hard mount would reduce the risk of damage due to deploying and breaking down a portable setup.

just some thoughts.

 

[adventureduo]

Why would you need/want solar panels when driving, though? I would think your alternator makes plenty of juice when the engine's running.

They're not for when your driving. Base camp, longer periods of camping. Parked in one spot for several days.

 

[Martinjmpr]

why do you gotta go and get all logical on us, martin? :littlefriend:

lol..

seriously though, i think if one mounted the panels on rubber grommets an inch or so off the hood, i think that it would solve the vibration and heat issues. as far as reflection goes, its not an issue for me and maybe others.

also, i would think that a hard mount would reduce the risk of damage due to deploying and breaking down a portable setup.

just some thoughts.

I would think it would be subject to considerably more damage as you bounced around on rough trails, opened and closed the hood to check the oil, etc. Whereas with a folding setup you could put it inside a padded case and secure it in the center of the truck where vibration would be less.

I guess what I'm saying is that I can see no particular advantage to hard-mounting the panels on the hood. Even hard mounting them on the roof would make more sense although they would still be more subject to damage then they would be if they were safely stowed in the cargo compartment.

 

[1leglance]

for me there is all the time my rig sits in driveways, parking lots and other places I can't put out portable panels but would like power to cover the fridge, charge batteries and such.
When I am camping I agree that the rig is running so little need to have the panels or I could use foldout panels for base camping...it is the populated areas I am looking to cover

 

[Martinjmpr]

for me there is all the time my rig sits in driveways, parking lots and other places I can't put out portable panels but would like power to cover the fridge, charge batteries and such.
When I am camping I agree that the rig is running so little need to have the panels or I could use foldout panels for base camping...it is the populated areas I am looking to cover

In that case wouldn't the roof be a better location? Higher off the ground, less likely to have people accidentally lean on it, won't get rattled around every time you slam the hood, etc.

I guess I can understand you looking at that huge expanse of hood and thinking "I wonder if I can make productive use of that piece of real estate" but I see no practical advantages to it.

 

[BIGdaddy]

In that case wouldn't the roof be a better location? Higher off the ground, less likely to have people accidentally lean on it, won't get rattled around every time you slam the hood, etc.

I guess I can understand you looking at that huge expanse of hood and thinking "I wonder if I can make productive use of that piece of real estate" but I see no practical advantages to it.

for me its a wash, cuz wranglers have latches, so no hood slamming involved.

i'd be worried that i (or my wife) would forget theres a panel up there on my rack and inadvertently throw a bag or chair right on it up there. lol.

in any case, is there a link to a good product for either hood or roof rack mounting? wiring? output display, etc?

is it as simple as hard mounting it to your battery and running a few wires to an in cab readout?

 

[Colorado Ron]

Id say keep the solar panels on the trailer and save the hood for cool stickers!!

Just kidding, but I do think that the hood isnt ideal. Too convienant for people to mess with. I can see being in a grocery store and worrying about whos messing with my hood?? Just a thought.

 

[Sloan]

When I saw that pic of Ron's hood the first thing that crossed my mind was if it was covered in panels you would spend a lot time keeping them clean. I know my solar landscape lights here at the house I have to clean their panels once a month or so or their run time starts to drop off by quite a bit. Just a thought.

 

[Bad Voodoo]

Thinking outloud here... doubt im going to do it.... but has anyone tried this? Rovers have spares.... i've seen others mount hi-lifts, shovels, heck even sand ladders... so why not a solar panel? Seems like a worthy spot if your roof is covered already...

Power of suggestion, maybe?

http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=200686&postcount=11

At least I can sponge off the answers you seem to be getting that I somehow couldn't.

Check out the Brunton foldable panels for potential trickle-charge solutions to the camp question. You can daisy-chain a few Solaris 26s together to provide more than adequate power for base-camp, I believe. Going to put this to the test myself at some point.