Solar panels, fixed to the roof, adjustable on the roof, or portable?

[Joe917]

By add an extra panel do you men 3, 100 watt instead of two? Flat sure would make mounting easy! Curious why some suggest going 24 Volt? When you link all the panels aren't you keeping the output 12V but increasing the amperage output?

If you are concerned about not having enough power panels are cheap, especially as you go to larger panels. 1 300 watt panel is cheaper than 3 100 watt panels and your roof space is huge. You can link panels in series or parallel, boost the voltage or boost the amps, watts remain the same.

 

[ionyota]

@pdxfrogdog - can you recommend a solar suitcase system that you like and won’t break the bank? Would be linked to a one or two battery system, running primary a fridge

 

[ajmaudio]

permanently mounted panels arent always working as stated earlier... it takes VERY little shade to make a panel useless. And who wants to park in the sun all the time?

 

[Factoid]

My two cents. One size does not fit all. You have plenty of space, I would fix the panels to the roof. Keep it simple and don’t create another opportunity for a problem (did I remember to lower the panels? Did I remember to secure the panels?). You also eliminate yet another thing to consider in where/how you park (Do I have the hinge side facing the sun?).

That said, you have to map your style of travel and security. Do you move less, but explore your location more? Meaning your vehicle sits in the same space for longer periods of time. Could you leave a portable panel out to charge while you’re away most of the day without risk of theft? If you have an upgraded alternator and battery pack that give you a full charge relatively quickly and move frequently, your panel style becomes less important. I would map the parameters of your style first and then use these parameters to access and determine what is optimum for you.

 

[pdxfrogdog]

@pdxfrogdog - can you recommend a solar suitcase system that you like and won’t break the bank? Would be linked to a one or two battery system, running primary a fridge

On a budget, it's hard to beat one of Renogy's suitcases. You can buy them with or without a solar controller. If you are just starting out, probably get one with a controller like this one, but be aware it will limit how far you should position the panels away from your vehicle. You wouldn't want a really long run of wire between the suitcase and vehicle due to voltage drop between the suitcase's onboard controller and your vehicle's house battery(s).

If it was me, I would go with the 100W Eclipse without a controller, then pair it to nice Victron SmartSolar MPPT charge controller (overkill, but awesome) which is placed right next to the battery to be charged. With this setup, you can have a long run of wire (I use up to 75ft of 12ga low voltage landscape wire from home depot) between the panels and the solar controller. This way I have options for camping in the trees but getting the panels out where they can harvest some energy. This approach also makes it easier for you to grow the system in the future by adding additional panels if your energy needs grow or if you are harvesting in difficult locations (winter, higher latitudes, clouds).

A bonus of the victron smart solar models is you can view detailed info about how much energy you are harvesting via bluetooth connection to a free smartphone app (iOS or android).

 

[Fatboyz]

My two cents. One size does not fit all. You have plenty of space, I would fix the panels to the roof. Keep it simple and don’t create another opportunity for a problem (did I remember to lower the panels? Did I remember to secure the panels?). You also eliminate yet another thing to consider in where/how you park (Do I have the hinge side facing the sun?).

That said, you have to map your style of travel and security. Do you move less, but explore your location more? Meaning your vehicle sits in the same space for longer periods of time. Could you leave a portable panel out to charge while you’re away most of the day without risk of theft? If you have an upgraded alternator and battery pack that give you a full charge relatively quickly and move frequently, your panel style becomes less important. I would map the parameters of your style first and then use these parameters to access and determine what is optimum for you.

We will be staying and playing more, but a lot of that will also be hunts in Northern Alberta and Canada in the fall when daylight is short and furnace runs a bit more at night. I think I'll stick with 300+ watts of capacity and weld an aluminum frame for all three panels that is pinned on both sides. If I need to I could elevate either side or completely remove it. It won't be much more work either way and gives me some flexibility. Also during the fall elevated will encourage the snow to slide off easier than mounted flat. I know for a lot of you that isn't a concern but up here it is. Again it was a balmy -33 this morning!

 

[Scoutman]

It seems that if you want the best of all 3, a set of these AM Solar mounts would work fine. They're more expensive than the plain Z bracket mounts but should give you a solid flat mount, as well as the ability to tilt if needed and remove for cleaning or remote collection. I would think you could keep a coil of extension line for those times when you want to park in the shade and collect in the sun. The rest of the time it's out of sight and mind.

 

[rayra]

akin to the above. A system like this could be rigged so the pivot can be reversed and the panel tilted in the opposite direction. Especialyl with those sort of knobbed bolts.

https://www.amazon.com/Adjustable-Solar-Panel-Mounting-Bracket/dp/B00SBCKLYO

 

[Bikersmurf]

Personally, I'd want it stored flat on the roof. In a suitcase, it'd rarely make it out of storage... unless I was going to be parked somewhere for at least 24 hrs. Tilt and portability would be nice, but KISS is also a real bonus.

 

[IdaSHO]

There is little to no reason to even bother with solar all-together if you never park for more than 24 hrs.


Personally, I have 200watts on the roof, and 200watts deploy-able, all 24 volt.

Roof-top are tilt-able, but doing that every time we stop is more of a hassle than deploying the ground array. Ground array is also that much easier to keep clear in snow country, and is considerably easier to point right at the sun.

 

[rruff]

Personally, I have 200watts on the roof, and 200watts deploy-able, all 24 volt.

That's the easy way to go for most of us I think. Assuming that you can live with 200W most of the time, the portable only needs to come out when you are parked in the shade. Otherwise, you don't need to mess with anything.

 

[IdaSHO]

Yep, and thats exactly how ours is designed to work.

200watts is bare minimum, but survivable.

Hide in the shade, or simply need more, deploy additional panels.


My 200 watts of 24V deploy-able panels consists of 4 50 watt 12V panels.
They are assembled in two pairs of 100w 24V arrays.

So I can deploy 100watt or 200watts, depending upon need, up to 75 feet away from the camper. :ylsmoke:

 

[Bikersmurf]

For deployable I'd wire them to work with a 'household' extension cord. That way you could have a shorter and longer cords and be able to select the one you want. I've even got a SnapOn recoil cord that'd make it super easy. If concerned about it, the 110v plugs could be swapped for plugs of your choice.

 

[IdaSHO]

Considerably cheaper by the foot to go with a legit PV cable.

You also get the UV resistance that way, and done have to carry as much copper (just two conductor)

Add some MC4 connectors, and done!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Solar-Cabl...var=671132760361&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

[Bbasso]

I had my 200w mounted on the Amazon tilting system and it was great for long stays but it added 3 in hight and lost the stealth look... I went back to flat mounted and don't really think about them much. Sure the angled panels harvested more power, especially in the later part of the day but I'm going to add just one more 100w panel for quick deployment in the near future for when needed.