? - Finding a Solar Panel by Dimensions

[shade]

As part of my Alternator/Solar Charging system design, I'm looking for high efficiency solar panels that will fill the space on top of my GFC camper. The available roof size is 52" x 92".

I'll probably use a single panel, like the Panasonic N325K HIT (VBHN325KA03), which is 62.6" x 41.5" x 1.6" (1590x1053x40mm). The downside to that is the panel doesn't use the space efficiently.

Ideally, I'd have a pair of panels that were roughly 40" x 50", which would leave some shade space on the ends for cross bars. I've been searching, but it's a tedious process. If someone knows of a site that have the ability to search or sort a large number of panels by physical size, that would be helpful.

 

[Bayou Boy]

How about 4 of these in a series/parallel configuration. I'd rather have 4 panels wired that way than one big panel anyway.

Amazon.com : HQST 100 Watt 12 Volt Polycrystalline Solar Panel : Garden & Outdoor

Amazon.com : HQST 100 Watt 12 Volt Polycrystalline Solar Panel : Garden & Outdoor

www.amazon.com

 

[dreadlocks]

dont use the space efficiently? You'd need a panel that has greater than 20% efficiency to output the same wattage in a smaller space.. and there really isint much on the market much more efficient than a Panasonic HIT.

3 HQST's would take up far more roof space than one HIT.

 

[shade]

How about 4 of these in a series/parallel configuration. I'd rather have 4 panels wired that way than one big panel anyway.

Amazon.com : HQST 100 Watt 12 Volt Polycrystalline Solar Panel : Garden & Outdoor

Amazon.com : HQST 100 Watt 12 Volt Polycrystalline Solar Panel : Garden & Outdoor

www.amazon.com

Maybe, but I'm also trying to keep the weight down, so there's that.

 

[dreadlocks]

Postup a photo of your roof situation.. I mounted my fixed roof panel ontop of the roof bars, this was to get it above everything else on the roof and nothing would be capable of casting any shade onto it... if you mount it below bars, your likely always going to have some shade ************** everything up.

 

[shade]

dont use the space efficiently? You'd need a panel that has greater than 20% efficiency to output the same wattage in a smaller space.. and there really isint much on the market much more efficient than a Panasonic HIT.

3 HQST's would take up far more roof space than one HIT.

I realize that panel efficiency is part of the equation. I'm looking for a solutions that cover the most roof space with the highest efficiency.

40" width is pretty standard from what I've seen in the 20% efficiency range, so I'll probably end up with a single HIT or equivalent. If I could find a 20% panel at 50" width, I could make better use of the available space.

 

[dreadlocks]

it would have to be wider in another dimension.. so your looking for basically a square 300w panel? cant say I seen many of those.. I think there's some 150W panels about 40in square, but then two of those would be 80in long instead of 60 like the HIT..

 

[shade]

Postup a photo of your roof situation.. I mounted my fixed roof panel ontop of the roof bars, this was to get it above everything else on the roof and nothing would be capable of casting any shade onto it... if you mount it below bars, your likely always going to have some shade ************** everything up.

It's a large rectangle, with a T-slot frame around it: 52" x 92"


(Not actual truck)

I plan to keep a load bar at each end, away from the panels.

 

[Pilat]

Have you looked into Solbian's SP series? Claimed efficiency of 24 percent, low weight, and available in a variety of sizes:

SP series - Solbian

Flexible solar panels of SP series are at the top of the range, thanks to the use of selected SunPowerTM monocrystalline silicon cells

www.solbian.eu

These people sell them in the US:

North American Solbian Distributors

North American Solbian Distributors in Northeast US to California and Western Canada.

oceanplanetenergy.com

Edit:
I checked the width of the lid as you mentioned, and it looks like you could fit 4 of the 118L (118w Long in shape) horisontally. That's 472 watts. Or if the "lid" is 53.7 inches wide, you could fit 4 of the SP130L, giving you a total of 520 watts. Both of them will give about 13cm/5 inches to spare on the longer dimension of the lid.

 

[dreadlocks]

Flexible panels are garbage..

 

[shade]

Have you looked into Solbian's SP series? Claimed efficiency of 24 percent, low weight, and available in a variety of sizes:

SP series - Solbian

Flexible solar panels of SP series are at the top of the range, thanks to the use of selected SunPowerTM monocrystalline silicon cells

www.solbian.eu

These people sell them in the US:

North American Solbian Distributors

North American Solbian Distributors in Northeast US to California and Western Canada.

oceanplanetenergy.com

Those are very nice, but I have to draw the line on price somewhere, and those are over 2x the price of an equivalent Panasonic panel.

 

[shade]

Flexible panels are garbage..

I'm not sure if all of their panels are flexy, but they aren't for me. Looks like they use Panasonic cells and found a way to eek a little more efficiency from them for considerably more money than a rigid Panasonic panel.

 

[Pilat]

Those are very nice, but I have to draw the line on price somewhere, and those are over 2x the price of an equivalent Panasonic panel.

Fair enough. But they are hyper efficient, light weight, and if put onto the lid, they won't flex themselves to death.
Yeah, okay, they're pricy. But you could start with one or two and then add from there.
Solbian uses SunPower cells, they're pretty good. I have their "Energy Flyer" (for bike touring - USB-only), and a small All-in-one for various other stuff (does 12V and has an integrated charger/rectifier).

 

[shade]

Fair enough. But they are hyper efficient, light weight, and if put onto the lid, they won't flex themselves to death.
Yeah, okay, they're pricy. But you could start with one or two and then add from there.
Solbian uses SunPower cells, they're pretty good. I have their "Energy Flyer" (for bike touring - USB-only), and a small All-in-one for various other stuff (does 12V and has an integrated charger/rectifier).

I was looking at the SR+:

"The new Solbian SR+ panel by Merlin Solar is the first marine solar panel to use Panasonic’s Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin-layer (HIT) cells, now the most efficient solar cells on the market. "

 

[dreadlocks]

if he attached em to the lid the'd never get near their rated output due to all the heat trapping.. they definitely are not HIT cells either, HIT Temp Coefficient -0.258%/°C, Solbian is -0.38%