Solar panels full time external mount?

[fifty]

Im in the design phase of a camping trailer, and Id like to have my solar panels mounted on the exterior of the trailer. So, if needed, they are always charging when driving. Initially I was going to mount them on a panel that flipped up, mounted to the drivers or passenger side of the trailer. The opposite side that the RTT flipped and annex dropped.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that my luck would put the sun on the opposite side for every drive and every camping spot where the rig and trailer would fit. So that leaves a flip up panel that is removable with an extension chord. So that I can set it up facing the sun upon camp, and just cross my fingers when driving.

Building the mount that the solar panel(s) sit on is easy enough. But im more concerned about the durability of the panels. I know next to nothing about the tech, so its again, in the learning phase for the design phase.

Is there a panel company that I should be looking at that is known for being durable? That way I can size their panels and design a mount around the power I need? (large fridge freezer, couple camp lights on the trailer, ports for charging phones, kids ipads, laptop, handheld radio charger, a milwuakee m18 battery charger since so many tools, radios etc etc run off of them.)

Not a massive amount of stuff. But I want to get enough panels to be ahead of the game and have them durable so that they can be mounted external on the side of the trailer full time. Dealing with the bouncing and vibrations of offroad travel.

Thanks for any direction

 

[llamalander]

Have a look at residential/commercial rooftop panels, which will require an MPPT controller to bring down the voltage (35-45 volts) to the 12 volts your batteries can use.
These are generally built to withstand serious hail, wind and other stresses-- they can generally survive well even on the roof of an off-road rig. I've had a Canadian Solar brand panel on my roof for a few years now, tens of thousands of miles on-road, hundreds and hundreds of miles off road--just clean off the dust.

 

[fifty]

I was of the mindset that my rtt had to be at the rear of the trailer.

I just saw a couple where the rtt was mounted at the front and there were two panels mounted at angles at the rear. That is a huge idea.
Onenthing I should mention: I don’t do much skinny trail in the tree trails anymore. Mostly high desert ghost town stuff.

not saying we won’t start exploring the trees again. We probably will.

 

[dsmithers]

Maybe look into the SunFlare Flexible panels on the OK4WD site? I know they glue those things down to anything and hold up really well from what I hear.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Herbie]

Any rigid panel will be more than durable enough. If you need a name brand, any of the Renogy rigid panels is a good choice. I've had removable rigid panels mounted in racks on my van's roof for almost 10 years. The only reason I swapped out my original 60w panel for a 100w panel in 2017 was because the prices had fallen so much.

There's no reason you need to get exotic higher-voltage panels just to have them be robust - basic "12V" panels (which can run up to 19-20v) are great. As Verkstad says - just make sure they're mechanically supported to avoid flex and vibration. This is my roof - the outer rack is bolted to the roof cross-bars. It has three fixed sides and one that hinges open with a hasp. Once that side is open, the panel lifts out and I can place it wherever there is good sun. (I ran a second electrical connection point to the side of the van, but that was only for convenience.)

 

[broncobowsher]

They do fine. The panel on my Xterra is nearly 10 years old. Been up there for 120,000ish miles. Still keeps the fridge powered up.
There are a few blemishes in the cells now. But as old as they are, to be expected. and some derating due to age as well.
Add in the improvments in solar panels, I may upgrade. At the time the biggest panel that would fit in the space was a 70W panel. Packaging constraints. Looking the other day for a different project and I see they have plenty of 100W options that fit the existing footprint. So upgrade potential has come before failure has occured.

 

[OllieChristopher]

Any rigid panel will be more than durable enough. If you need a name brand, any of the Renogy rigid panels is a good choice. I've had removable rigid panels mounted in racks on my van's roof for almost 10 years.

I thought about doing something similar and mounting a panel on top of my truck cab. I decided to use my alternator as primary source of charging and when parked just set out the foldable. For me milage is a consideration. Roof racks and stuff mounted on top kill the fuel economy on most any rig.

 

[Herbie]

I thought about doing something similar and mounting a panel on top of my truck cab. I decided to use my alternator as primary source of charging and when parked just set out the foldable. For me milage is a consideration. Roof racks and stuff mounted on top kill the fuel economy on most any rig.

Yeah, it's always a tradeoff. My van has the aerodynamics of a shipping container, and the panel is in the same plane as the roof basket I use to carry firewood, etc. anyhow. For me, the primary consideration is reducing hassle and time to setup/teardown. On the days when I can park with the rig facing North, when I pop the top, the panel is at a perfect angle and facing south - so I don't even remove it from the roof. On the rarer days when I can park in the shade, or the campsite dictates a different parking orientation, it's easy to pop it out.

 

[Joe917]

I thought about doing something similar and mounting a panel on top of my truck cab. I decided to use my alternator as primary source of charging and when parked just set out the foldable. For me milage is a consideration. Roof racks and stuff mounted on top kill the fuel economy on most any rig.

Charging off your alternator is also hard on fuel mileage.

 

[Herbie]

Charging off your alternator is also hard on fuel mileage.

It also doesn't guarantee happy batteries unless you have a DC-DC converter and long drive times, but these are deeper issues.

 

[Joe917]

It affects fuel, but dunno about ’hard’ on fuel mileage.
In round numbers, one horsepower at typical alternator voltage is around 55A.
What my opinion, a hellofalotta charging current for most any camper.

Sure, hard is the wrong word, how about "affects".
Which affects mileage more? a flat panel mounted on a brick shaped vehicle or the alternator drag on the engine? 6 of one half a dozen of the other. I want my solar panels available to charge at all times.

 

[OllieChristopher]

Charging off your alternator is also hard on fuel mileage.

Sure, hard is the wrong word, how about "affects".
Which affects mileage more? a flat panel mounted on a brick shaped vehicle or the alternator drag on the engine? 6 of one half a dozen of the other. I want my solar panels available to charge at all times.

Alternator drag is very negligible and I have seen no loss in MPG since switching to dual batteries and charging my solar generator while driving . Putting permanent mounted stuff on my truck is a no joy. I'm underpowered as it is and I enjoy the great 17-19 mpg my full size truck gets. I am taking full advantage of my 250 amp alternator to keep battery banks charged when driving. Of course mine is a different application than yours.

In Herbie's case and yours it makes sense to have hard mounted solar panels. And a totally fair tradeoff in convenience over a few MPG.

 

[Roaddude]

Im in the design phase of a camping trailer, and Id like to have my solar panels mounted on the exterior of the trailer. So, if needed, they are always charging when driving. Initially I was going to mount them on a panel that flipped up, mounted to the drivers or passenger side of the trailer. The opposite side that the RTT flipped and annex dropped.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that my luck would put the sun on the opposite side for every drive and every camping spot where the rig and trailer would fit. So that leaves a flip up panel that is removable with an extension chord. So that I can set it up facing the sun upon camp, and just cross my fingers when driving.

Building the mount that the solar panel(s) sit on is easy enough. But im more concerned about the durability of the panels. I know next to nothing about the tech, so its again, in the learning phase for the design phase.

Is there a panel company that I should be looking at that is known for being durable? That way I can size their panels and design a mount around the power I need? (large fridge freezer, couple camp lights on the trailer, ports for charging phones, kids ipads, laptop, handheld radio charger, a milwuakee m18 battery charger since so many tools, radios etc etc run off of them.)

Not a massive amount of stuff. But I want to get enough panels to be ahead of the game and have them durable so that they can be mounted external on the side of the trailer full time. Dealing with the bouncing and vibrations of offroad travel.

Thanks for any direction

.
Even if one finds a good folding panel they like or can buy used, it can be installed on a roof with a quick mount setup so it's stable underway and can be easily removed for optimum placement around camp when parking under a canopy, like @Herbie suggests.

I have a 120w folding panel from Overland Solar I've had terrific success with for years, with extremely efficient SunPower Maxeon cells in very durable panels (that they no longer sell, unfortunately). I've had such good luck with it I went looking for another, so I can have independent but redundant systems on van and trailer, and can use identical mounts.

I found one, so am now setting up a simple aluminum angle quick-mount. It will have drilled holes the panel engages via studs on the far side as I angle it in, with tabs on the near side that engage slots in the angle with a single arm that swings down and locks over all tabs with a hasp at the end. With mount points near the hinges of the folding panel, it will keep the panel flat. I've been running my first folding panel on the RTT roof for too long with just super bungees and it's time for something more substantial.


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I used to pack my folding panel away when underway or parked and not camping. But during the Big Pause of 20-21, I found in having it on the RTT full time, that even on the gloomiest of days it does a great job at keeping my AGM batts in the trailer topped off. And, keeps my dual diesel starting batts in the van topped off via the 7way (plugged in for coldest nights or when not starting it for a few days).

That folding panel is working every day, rain or shine, snow covered or not, and has suffered no ill effects from doing so. Now one, the other, or both of my folding panels will be easy to remove from the quick-mounts and place around camp when needed. To facilitate that, I made several extensions of flexible 10AWG high strand tinned copper wire with Anderson plug ends. I can now reach out a hundred feet to an open spot or shoreline with a panel.


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Helpful perhaps for those looking for panels, this article lists the most efficient and explains some of the differences between panels: Solar Panel Efficiency. Something to be aware of is that even the most popular solar panel vendors often source the cells they use from various places, and what they offered last year may not be what they offer this year in the same size panel.

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