TerraLiner:12 m Globally Mobile Beach House/Class-A Crossover w 6x6 Hybrid Drivetrain
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And here are some images of “retractable patio cover systems”. To download these images and many more, see https://www.retractableawnings.com , https://www.retractableawnings.com/patio-cover-awnings/salerno.html , https://www.retractableawnings.com/patio-cover-awnings/ravenna.html , https://www.retractableawnings.com/patio-cover-awnings/modena.html , https://www.retractableawnings.com/patio-cover-awnings/siracusa.html , etc.
First, it's important to remember when looking at these images that one is always looking at fabric attached to horizontal struts. This is more apparent when the fabric is not completely taut, and some of it is pleated:
6 images
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And here are some images of “retractable patio cover systems”. To download these images and many more, see https://www.retractableawnings.com , https://www.retractableawnings.com/patio-cover-awnings/salerno.html , https://www.retractableawnings.com/patio-cover-awnings/ravenna.html , https://www.retractableawnings.com/patio-cover-awnings/modena.html , https://www.retractableawnings.com/patio-cover-awnings/siracusa.html , etc.
First, it's important to remember when looking at these images that one is always looking at fabric attached to horizontal struts. This is more apparent when the fabric is not completely taut, and some of it is pleated:
6 images
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biotect
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It's important to remember this, becauase when the fabric is pulled tight, in this system the fabric becomes taut as a drum, and no longer resembles frabric. It looks like a solid ceiling surface, that in some versions acquires a remarkably reflective, mirror-like sheen:
10 pages
Presumably this is also the recommended degree of fabric tightness in a high wind? The question then would be whether a similarly stable, ultra-rigid surrounding structure could be engineered to “lock into place” as one pulls down the TerraLiner's drop-down deck: a structure that could handle the kind of windstress that the frames depicted in these images were clearly designed to withstand.
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It's important to remember this, becauase when the fabric is pulled tight, in this system the fabric becomes taut as a drum, and no longer resembles frabric. It looks like a solid ceiling surface, that in some versions acquires a remarkably reflective, mirror-like sheen:
10 pages
Presumably this is also the recommended degree of fabric tightness in a high wind? The question then would be whether a similarly stable, ultra-rigid surrounding structure could be engineered to “lock into place” as one pulls down the TerraLiner's drop-down deck: a structure that could handle the kind of windstress that the frames depicted in these images were clearly designed to withstand.
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biotect
Designer
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There also seems to be an intermediary stage available, in which the fabric just hangs in loose, limpid waves:
4 images
In the last few images the versions of the fabric used seem semi-transparent, i.e. somewhat light-conducting. Here is another image of a semi-transparent version of the fabric, but this time pulled tight:
1 image
Perhaps because this manufacturer is Italian, it is not afraid of bold color, and the fabric seems available in a wide variety of densities and hues. Here is one of my favorites:
1 image
I don't usually like orange; cobalt purple and ultramarine blue are my favorite colors. But the orange works here, perhaps because it's an orange tending towards red, and it's backed by dark green foliage: green is red's complementary. The violets then tie it all together, as the split-complentary of green, and I guess orange is the split-complementary of green as well. (Sorry, as a designer I sometimes wonder out loud why a given image works so well…..
In addition to paying attention to the fabrics, this company does beautiful design work on some of the framing intersections:
1 image
You'd think that any company that could design and manufacture that, might also be a company willing and able to engineer a folding version of the same, one that uses the TerraLiner's fold-down decks as its base?
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There also seems to be an intermediary stage available, in which the fabric just hangs in loose, limpid waves:
4 images
In the last few images the versions of the fabric used seem semi-transparent, i.e. somewhat light-conducting. Here is another image of a semi-transparent version of the fabric, but this time pulled tight:
1 image
Perhaps because this manufacturer is Italian, it is not afraid of bold color, and the fabric seems available in a wide variety of densities and hues. Here is one of my favorites:
1 image
I don't usually like orange; cobalt purple and ultramarine blue are my favorite colors. But the orange works here, perhaps because it's an orange tending towards red, and it's backed by dark green foliage: green is red's complementary. The violets then tie it all together, as the split-complentary of green, and I guess orange is the split-complementary of green as well. (Sorry, as a designer I sometimes wonder out loud why a given image works so well…..
In addition to paying attention to the fabrics, this company does beautiful design work on some of the framing intersections:
1 image
You'd think that any company that could design and manufacture that, might also be a company willing and able to engineer a folding version of the same, one that uses the TerraLiner's fold-down decks as its base?
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biotect
Designer
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3. Visually interesting Retractable Patio Cover Systems
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Finally, this company has done versions of its frame-structure that are truly special, for instance, a curved version called “Modena”:
1 image
And another version called “Ravenna”, in which the support posts angle outwards:
3 images
“Ravenna” not only looks terrific, but would have practical value. On a really hot day, when no sun at all is wanted on the decks, one would prefer that the awnings' coverage be somewhat larger than the size of the decks. But in a folding, completely integrated awning/deck system, there will be engineering limits regarding just how “creative” one can get aesthetically.
These are images from just one supplier's product offerings, No doubt like motorhome awnings, the world of “retractable patio cover systems” is also a universe unto itself, with at least 5 or 6 competing engineering solutions. A universe that I've only just begun to explore…..emoticon To be honest, because I've realized just how complex the engineering involved here will become, and beause I've only just begun researching this unusual category of product, I've only done a bit of sketching of what the TerraLiner might look like with a “retractable patio cover system'” installed and deployed. I know what I would want it to look like, right at this particular moment: like a cross between “Modena” and “Ravenna”. But after researching other manfacturers, and developing a more realisitic sense of the engineering constraints, all of this will change dramatically.
And dear reader, please remember it's only because I wrote this posting series, and forced myself to think really hard about wind, solar, standard motorhome awnings, and so on, that I am now wandering into the world of “retractable patio cover systems”: because they promise to be so much more robust and windproof.
Notice the wind-speed claim in the PDF:
Quote
“Maximum wind load tested Beaufort scale 10 (55-63mph). Beaufort wind load varies by model and size.”
Unquote
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_scale . So an awning of this kind should in principle be able to withstand 40 mph wind-speeds when the TerraLiner is parked somewhere near Encuentro beach in Cabarete.
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3. Visually interesting Retractable Patio Cover Systems
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Finally, this company has done versions of its frame-structure that are truly special, for instance, a curved version called “Modena”:
1 image
And another version called “Ravenna”, in which the support posts angle outwards:
3 images
“Ravenna” not only looks terrific, but would have practical value. On a really hot day, when no sun at all is wanted on the decks, one would prefer that the awnings' coverage be somewhat larger than the size of the decks. But in a folding, completely integrated awning/deck system, there will be engineering limits regarding just how “creative” one can get aesthetically.
These are images from just one supplier's product offerings, No doubt like motorhome awnings, the world of “retractable patio cover systems” is also a universe unto itself, with at least 5 or 6 competing engineering solutions. A universe that I've only just begun to explore…..emoticon To be honest, because I've realized just how complex the engineering involved here will become, and beause I've only just begun researching this unusual category of product, I've only done a bit of sketching of what the TerraLiner might look like with a “retractable patio cover system'” installed and deployed. I know what I would want it to look like, right at this particular moment: like a cross between “Modena” and “Ravenna”. But after researching other manfacturers, and developing a more realisitic sense of the engineering constraints, all of this will change dramatically.
And dear reader, please remember it's only because I wrote this posting series, and forced myself to think really hard about wind, solar, standard motorhome awnings, and so on, that I am now wandering into the world of “retractable patio cover systems”: because they promise to be so much more robust and windproof.
Notice the wind-speed claim in the PDF:
Quote
“Maximum wind load tested Beaufort scale 10 (55-63mph). Beaufort wind load varies by model and size.”
Unquote
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_scale . So an awning of this kind should in principle be able to withstand 40 mph wind-speeds when the TerraLiner is parked somewhere near Encuentro beach in Cabarete.
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biotect
Designer
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4. Mechanically integrating a Retractable Patio Cover System with a drop-down deck
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Now some might even say that perhaps the TerraLiner simply needs a “flip-up” hard-patio-roof system, similar to those briefly shown earlier in the thread, used in very large side-expanding exhibition trailers – see posts #1151 to #1153 on page 116, at http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...edition-RV-w-Rigid-Torsion-Free-Frame/page116 , and also see http://www.featherlitespecialty.com/trailer-basics/trailer-customizations/stages-and-canopies/ :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47Ez4nra_3s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fZC82zEgF8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF3Da6VeeNM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np_bSBI58FU
Personally, I am fairly convinced that this is where Paradise Motorhomes got their idea for a “drop down” deck:
3 images
In many of these exhibition trailers, folding walls then swing into place as well, to create completely enclosed spaces on either side of the trailer, spaces that effectively triple the total internal volume of the trailer. The second computer-animated graphic from Craftsmen Industries explains the idea well, as do the “Civil War memorial”, “Ericsson”, “Danfoss”, and “Three Rivers” trailers that follow:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFpPpCA60Zo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJV4F4_CMBk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txcHQ_c0aZc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0zHbWCaXqs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0_cjQ71wqw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG1unzTztDU
Once the roof is lowered into place onto these hard expanded walls, the whole assemblage probably gains some degree of structural integrity, and considerable wind resistance.
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4. Mechanically integrating a Retractable Patio Cover System with a drop-down deck
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Now some might even say that perhaps the TerraLiner simply needs a “flip-up” hard-patio-roof system, similar to those briefly shown earlier in the thread, used in very large side-expanding exhibition trailers – see posts #1151 to #1153 on page 116, at http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...edition-RV-w-Rigid-Torsion-Free-Frame/page116 , and also see http://www.featherlitespecialty.com/trailer-basics/trailer-customizations/stages-and-canopies/ :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47Ez4nra_3s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fZC82zEgF8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF3Da6VeeNM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np_bSBI58FU
Personally, I am fairly convinced that this is where Paradise Motorhomes got their idea for a “drop down” deck:
3 images
In many of these exhibition trailers, folding walls then swing into place as well, to create completely enclosed spaces on either side of the trailer, spaces that effectively triple the total internal volume of the trailer. The second computer-animated graphic from Craftsmen Industries explains the idea well, as do the “Civil War memorial”, “Ericsson”, “Danfoss”, and “Three Rivers” trailers that follow:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFpPpCA60Zo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJV4F4_CMBk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txcHQ_c0aZc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0zHbWCaXqs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0_cjQ71wqw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG1unzTztDU
Once the roof is lowered into place onto these hard expanded walls, the whole assemblage probably gains some degree of structural integrity, and considerable wind resistance.
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biotect
Designer
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But the TerraLiner does not want and can't have anything of the sort. Rather, what's needed is something much simpler: just two decks, and the structural outlines of supporting frames for the fabric solar awnings, with the sides either open to the elements, or perhaps closable with zippable cloth walls, as per the Heineken trailer:
10 images
Notice that in all of these images the roof or “awning” is hard, and has virtually no structural connection to the deck. So although these give some idea of what's wanted, in truth, they're not that informative. For instance, it seems that those unbuttressed, merely cantilevered hard awnings would have a very bad time in winds above 25 mph.
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But the TerraLiner does not want and can't have anything of the sort. Rather, what's needed is something much simpler: just two decks, and the structural outlines of supporting frames for the fabric solar awnings, with the sides either open to the elements, or perhaps closable with zippable cloth walls, as per the Heineken trailer:
10 images
Notice that in all of these images the roof or “awning” is hard, and has virtually no structural connection to the deck. So although these give some idea of what's wanted, in truth, they're not that informative. For instance, it seems that those unbuttressed, merely cantilevered hard awnings would have a very bad time in winds above 25 mph.
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biotect
Designer
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5. Why not a “Hard Awning” solutioin
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I've been trying to avoid such a hard-awning solution for a variety of reasons.
First, aesthetic. There might be days or even just a few hours when one wants to retract the fabric of the awning. For instance, at night when there is no solar irradiation available in any case, one might want to eat dinner out on the deck, with stars overhead. But a flip-up hard surface can't be simply wished away. Where is it going to go, if one doesn't want it there?
Second, interior camper width. It's also one thing to flip up one hard, reasonably thick surface against the wall of the TerraLiner It's another thing to flip down a second surface on top of that. In both cases one loses at least 5 cm, perhaps 10 cm of TerraLiner width. Multiply that by 4 to account for decks and “hard” solar awnings on both sides of the vehicle, and one has lost 40 cm and perhaps more like 50 cm of interior camper width. One loses more in addition to insulation and wall structure. So instead of an interior 2.3 or 2.4 m wide, one ends up with an interior just 2 m or 1.9 m wide. All for the sake of solar power autonomy.
Whereas if only the decks are “hard”, and if the decks were mechanically integrated with some super-clever, super-simple, truly robust box-shaped “frame” that automatically unfolds when the deck comes down – a frame onto which the “retractable patio cover system” then expands and contracts – then the amount of camper interior width sacrificed for the sake of solar power autonomy could be minimized, kept down to 30 cm or less.
Third, wind. If it's truly windy, one probably wants to present as little vertical surface area for the wind to catch as possible. If the solar awnings are not hard roof surfaces, but rather, are retractable fabric, then sails they can be “shortened”, or even hauled in completely, only leaving behind a skeleton framework of beams for the wind to whizz around.
In a high wind the patio decks would still remain down, of course, but this might be a good thing. If the gap underneath the decks – i.e. the space between the decks and the ground – were closed off with canvas “skirting” (or if that skirting was automatically attached to the support legs when the deck first comes down), then the wind would not be able to get under the decks and mess them about. Furthermore, if the decks could somehow be made rigidly integral with the rest of the TerraLiner's hull when lowered, they could also function as super-duper stabilizer-outriggers, of the kind used to stabilize fire-trucks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv01wbcA1gM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixx1pmXgvE4
I already mentioned these much earlier in the thread, in post #878 on page 88 at http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...pedition-RV-w-Rigid-Torsion-Free-Frame/page88 , and once again on page #1022, page 103 at http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...edition-RV-w-Rigid-Torsion-Free-Frame/page103 .
Agreed, strictly speaking these should not be needed, because the TerraLiner with its pop-up extended should be no taller than pop-up versions of the UniCat. But given the very strong solar agenda that the TerraLiner has assumed, and the desirability of spreading as much solar canvas as possible, then with just a bit of additional engineering, full integral rigidity of the Terraline with the lowered decks might be achieved.
For instance, hydraulic struts might expand from the TerraLiner to “insert” into tubes inside the two drop-down decks, thereby unifying them structurally with the main body of the vehicle. The TerraLiner would become absolutely impossible to flip. And even in high winds there would be very little body shake.
Alternatively, the flip-down decks might be lowered by something known as a hydraulic “cantilver lift”. I will explain different kinds of hydraulic lift systems later in the thread, but suffice it to say, if the decks were raised and lowered by such a system, they would be very rigid.
Once again, I am not an engineer, and so I don't know if this would in actual practice be a good idea or not. Perhaps a bit of structural “looseness” and ability to bend “with the wind” would be preferable instead? On the other hand, if it is a good idea, the goal would be to achieve such cross-deck rigidity in the most lightweight and mechanically simple way possible. For instance, if the legs that fold down on the sides of the decks were linked together as sets, as continuous “braces”, then it might simply be a matter of connecting them to strong attachment points on the TerraLiner's frame. I really have no idea.
But if the absolute stability of the TerrraLiner in high winds were desirable, I am sure that absolute stability could be achieved, in a way that makes good engineering sense, and that is much less heavy and complicated than the “hydraulic outrigger stabilizers” used by firetrucks. All thanks to drop-down decks inspired by that vehicle made my Pardise Motorhomes, and the realization that drop-down decks can provide the critical structural stability that massive solar awnings will need, if they are to remain deployed in winds up to 30 mph or even 40 mph…….
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5. Why not a “Hard Awning” solutioin
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I've been trying to avoid such a hard-awning solution for a variety of reasons.
First, aesthetic. There might be days or even just a few hours when one wants to retract the fabric of the awning. For instance, at night when there is no solar irradiation available in any case, one might want to eat dinner out on the deck, with stars overhead. But a flip-up hard surface can't be simply wished away. Where is it going to go, if one doesn't want it there?
Second, interior camper width. It's also one thing to flip up one hard, reasonably thick surface against the wall of the TerraLiner It's another thing to flip down a second surface on top of that. In both cases one loses at least 5 cm, perhaps 10 cm of TerraLiner width. Multiply that by 4 to account for decks and “hard” solar awnings on both sides of the vehicle, and one has lost 40 cm and perhaps more like 50 cm of interior camper width. One loses more in addition to insulation and wall structure. So instead of an interior 2.3 or 2.4 m wide, one ends up with an interior just 2 m or 1.9 m wide. All for the sake of solar power autonomy.
Whereas if only the decks are “hard”, and if the decks were mechanically integrated with some super-clever, super-simple, truly robust box-shaped “frame” that automatically unfolds when the deck comes down – a frame onto which the “retractable patio cover system” then expands and contracts – then the amount of camper interior width sacrificed for the sake of solar power autonomy could be minimized, kept down to 30 cm or less.
Third, wind. If it's truly windy, one probably wants to present as little vertical surface area for the wind to catch as possible. If the solar awnings are not hard roof surfaces, but rather, are retractable fabric, then sails they can be “shortened”, or even hauled in completely, only leaving behind a skeleton framework of beams for the wind to whizz around.
In a high wind the patio decks would still remain down, of course, but this might be a good thing. If the gap underneath the decks – i.e. the space between the decks and the ground – were closed off with canvas “skirting” (or if that skirting was automatically attached to the support legs when the deck first comes down), then the wind would not be able to get under the decks and mess them about. Furthermore, if the decks could somehow be made rigidly integral with the rest of the TerraLiner's hull when lowered, they could also function as super-duper stabilizer-outriggers, of the kind used to stabilize fire-trucks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv01wbcA1gM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixx1pmXgvE4
I already mentioned these much earlier in the thread, in post #878 on page 88 at http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...pedition-RV-w-Rigid-Torsion-Free-Frame/page88 , and once again on page #1022, page 103 at http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...edition-RV-w-Rigid-Torsion-Free-Frame/page103 .
Agreed, strictly speaking these should not be needed, because the TerraLiner with its pop-up extended should be no taller than pop-up versions of the UniCat. But given the very strong solar agenda that the TerraLiner has assumed, and the desirability of spreading as much solar canvas as possible, then with just a bit of additional engineering, full integral rigidity of the Terraline with the lowered decks might be achieved.
For instance, hydraulic struts might expand from the TerraLiner to “insert” into tubes inside the two drop-down decks, thereby unifying them structurally with the main body of the vehicle. The TerraLiner would become absolutely impossible to flip. And even in high winds there would be very little body shake.
Alternatively, the flip-down decks might be lowered by something known as a hydraulic “cantilver lift”. I will explain different kinds of hydraulic lift systems later in the thread, but suffice it to say, if the decks were raised and lowered by such a system, they would be very rigid.
Once again, I am not an engineer, and so I don't know if this would in actual practice be a good idea or not. Perhaps a bit of structural “looseness” and ability to bend “with the wind” would be preferable instead? On the other hand, if it is a good idea, the goal would be to achieve such cross-deck rigidity in the most lightweight and mechanically simple way possible. For instance, if the legs that fold down on the sides of the decks were linked together as sets, as continuous “braces”, then it might simply be a matter of connecting them to strong attachment points on the TerraLiner's frame. I really have no idea.
But if the absolute stability of the TerrraLiner in high winds were desirable, I am sure that absolute stability could be achieved, in a way that makes good engineering sense, and that is much less heavy and complicated than the “hydraulic outrigger stabilizers” used by firetrucks. All thanks to drop-down decks inspired by that vehicle made my Pardise Motorhomes, and the realization that drop-down decks can provide the critical structural stability that massive solar awnings will need, if they are to remain deployed in winds up to 30 mph or even 40 mph…….
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biotect
Designer
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PART M: SOLAR ENERGY – 11 to 12 KW of Solar Power?
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1. Inspired by Paradise Motorhomes
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The existence of drop-down side-decks on the TerraLiner as per the offroad Australian Paradise Motorhome (see posts….) clearly provides an opportunity to engineer an awning system that looks more like one of the “retractable patio cover systems” shown above, than a regular motorhome awning:
3 images again
When Paradise Motorhomes built the above vehicle, they clearly did not do the engineering necessary to realize this new kind of possibility. They simply installed what appears to be a standard lateral-arm awning, of the kind that can't withstand strong wind. Paradise Motorhomes can't be faulted for this, because the vehicle is already innovative enough as it is. But once one begins thinking about current motorhome awnings and their limits, and the value of having solar-covered awnings kept open for as long as possible, even when there's strong wind, immediately one begins imagining some kind of completely mechanically integrated fold-down “deck/awning” system.
Personally, I have only a few mechanical ideas as to how one might engineer a “foldable/retractable” version of the very stable and robust box-frames depicted in the “retractable patio cover systems” above. These awning systems are clearly a specialized product, and many of them seem to be designed and manufactured in Italy, the land of “al fresco” living, because the climate is so kind. If you've spent as many years living in Italy as I have, you'll know that big, stable, robust, and wind-proof awnings are everywhere.
So perhaps what's needed is to get some engineers at a specialist Italian manufacturer of “retractable patio cover systems”, to come up with an equally stable version of their product in which the awning frame folds up and retracts automatically in concert with the deck?
One additional advantage of such a design is that instead of rolling up, the awning in a “retractable patio cover system” seems to fold back in pleats:
Images of pleats
This means that this awning type may prove compatible with the ultra-efficient, “semi-flexible” solar cells that safas referenced, made by Alta Devices, and that pump out 130 W per m[SUP]2[/SUP] in the real-world application of a solar charging mat. If so, then the TerraLiner's solar output would become truly impressive, with 6,644 W of additional potential solar power added. Rounding down, 6 KW from the awnings + 5 KW from the roof-top array would give the TerraLiner 11 KW of total potential solar power, in ideal DNI conditions.
That certainly provides quite a bit of motivation to engineer a good, completely integrated, fold-down awning/deck solution.
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PART M: SOLAR ENERGY – 11 to 12 KW of Solar Power?
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1. Inspired by Paradise Motorhomes
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The existence of drop-down side-decks on the TerraLiner as per the offroad Australian Paradise Motorhome (see posts….) clearly provides an opportunity to engineer an awning system that looks more like one of the “retractable patio cover systems” shown above, than a regular motorhome awning:
3 images again
When Paradise Motorhomes built the above vehicle, they clearly did not do the engineering necessary to realize this new kind of possibility. They simply installed what appears to be a standard lateral-arm awning, of the kind that can't withstand strong wind. Paradise Motorhomes can't be faulted for this, because the vehicle is already innovative enough as it is. But once one begins thinking about current motorhome awnings and their limits, and the value of having solar-covered awnings kept open for as long as possible, even when there's strong wind, immediately one begins imagining some kind of completely mechanically integrated fold-down “deck/awning” system.
Personally, I have only a few mechanical ideas as to how one might engineer a “foldable/retractable” version of the very stable and robust box-frames depicted in the “retractable patio cover systems” above. These awning systems are clearly a specialized product, and many of them seem to be designed and manufactured in Italy, the land of “al fresco” living, because the climate is so kind. If you've spent as many years living in Italy as I have, you'll know that big, stable, robust, and wind-proof awnings are everywhere.
So perhaps what's needed is to get some engineers at a specialist Italian manufacturer of “retractable patio cover systems”, to come up with an equally stable version of their product in which the awning frame folds up and retracts automatically in concert with the deck?
One additional advantage of such a design is that instead of rolling up, the awning in a “retractable patio cover system” seems to fold back in pleats:
Images of pleats
This means that this awning type may prove compatible with the ultra-efficient, “semi-flexible” solar cells that safas referenced, made by Alta Devices, and that pump out 130 W per m[SUP]2[/SUP] in the real-world application of a solar charging mat. If so, then the TerraLiner's solar output would become truly impressive, with 6,644 W of additional potential solar power added. Rounding down, 6 KW from the awnings + 5 KW from the roof-top array would give the TerraLiner 11 KW of total potential solar power, in ideal DNI conditions.
That certainly provides quite a bit of motivation to engineer a good, completely integrated, fold-down awning/deck solution.
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biotect
Designer
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2. Yet More Solar
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It also has not escaped me that now that we have two drop-deck decks that may or may not be covered (or only partially covered) by retractible awnings, and now that walkable solar exists, the decks themselves might also be covered by the walkable solar panels we saw earlier in the tread.
Recall that the walkable solar panels had a fairly low power density, about 4 KW per square foot, or 43.06 W per square meter. The decks on either side will run from the end of the cab area to the very back of the vehcle, as per the deck in the Paradise motorhome, so perhaps 7.5 to 8 m long. They'll begin at 1.6 m, just above the wheel wells of the tires, and extend to the roof, so roughly 2.3 m wide. Their total potential solar suface might then be 2.3 x 2 x 8 = 36.8 m. So their total potential power output, when not shaded by the awnings above or by the vehicle itself, might be 1,584 W, or another 1.5 KW. That's not a huge amount, but it's also not nothing.
In hot climates and especially on lakes and oceans, there's a tremendous amount of solar irradiation getting reflected at a million different angles, which is why in Florida during the summer it's possible to get a suntain sitting in the shade. So even if the awnings were fully deployed, it would be interesting to see how much additional juice the walkable solar cells on the decks produce, in various conditions.
Furthermore, when the decks are folded up, thjakits will be happy to know that the TerraLiner will have sides that now look something like this:
Paradise Motorhomes with decks folded up
A clean, windowless surface, one without windows that can break (or get broken into), and an overall appearance that is slightly more “utilitarian”, more akin to the all-metal windowless exterior of the Wothahellizat. There will still be an Art-Deco-inspired, huge panoramic window in the cab area, composed of multiple flat-panels of glass that can be easily replaced…… That will be unsual, sure, and might attract some attention, but more on that much later, in a different series of posts. For now, suffice it to say that when underway, the TerraLiner could present yet more surfaces that might be worth covering with solar.
Again, those solar cells mentioned by safas seem promising. The undersides of the TerraLiner's decks won't be curved, so the flexibility of thin-film solar is not a major advantage here. But thin film solar cells are tough, they don't break easily, and they're featherweight.
So one could also imagine covering the undersides of the decks, such that when the TerraLiner is underway, these too are pumping out power. They'll be vertically aligned and not horizontal, and at any given moment at best only one side of the TerrraLiner will be producing power, not both. But suppose the sun were fairly low in the sky (it's late afternoon), and the TerraLiner has just stopped to glamp in the middle of the Atacama desert in Peru, where the DNI is stratospheric, and the TerraLiner stops with one side facing due west. The cells made by Alta Devices produce 130 W per m[SUP]2[/SUP], so just one wall of the TerraLiner covered with these, facing west, might produce as much as 2,393 W, or roughly 2.3 KW. Certainly extra power that the TerraLiner could use!
1 image (or more) of people with solar on the sides of their vehicles.
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CONTINUED IN NEXT POST
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CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS POST
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2. Yet More Solar
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It also has not escaped me that now that we have two drop-deck decks that may or may not be covered (or only partially covered) by retractible awnings, and now that walkable solar exists, the decks themselves might also be covered by the walkable solar panels we saw earlier in the tread.
Recall that the walkable solar panels had a fairly low power density, about 4 KW per square foot, or 43.06 W per square meter. The decks on either side will run from the end of the cab area to the very back of the vehcle, as per the deck in the Paradise motorhome, so perhaps 7.5 to 8 m long. They'll begin at 1.6 m, just above the wheel wells of the tires, and extend to the roof, so roughly 2.3 m wide. Their total potential solar suface might then be 2.3 x 2 x 8 = 36.8 m. So their total potential power output, when not shaded by the awnings above or by the vehicle itself, might be 1,584 W, or another 1.5 KW. That's not a huge amount, but it's also not nothing.
In hot climates and especially on lakes and oceans, there's a tremendous amount of solar irradiation getting reflected at a million different angles, which is why in Florida during the summer it's possible to get a suntain sitting in the shade. So even if the awnings were fully deployed, it would be interesting to see how much additional juice the walkable solar cells on the decks produce, in various conditions.
Furthermore, when the decks are folded up, thjakits will be happy to know that the TerraLiner will have sides that now look something like this:
Paradise Motorhomes with decks folded up
A clean, windowless surface, one without windows that can break (or get broken into), and an overall appearance that is slightly more “utilitarian”, more akin to the all-metal windowless exterior of the Wothahellizat. There will still be an Art-Deco-inspired, huge panoramic window in the cab area, composed of multiple flat-panels of glass that can be easily replaced…… That will be unsual, sure, and might attract some attention, but more on that much later, in a different series of posts. For now, suffice it to say that when underway, the TerraLiner could present yet more surfaces that might be worth covering with solar.
Again, those solar cells mentioned by safas seem promising. The undersides of the TerraLiner's decks won't be curved, so the flexibility of thin-film solar is not a major advantage here. But thin film solar cells are tough, they don't break easily, and they're featherweight.
So one could also imagine covering the undersides of the decks, such that when the TerraLiner is underway, these too are pumping out power. They'll be vertically aligned and not horizontal, and at any given moment at best only one side of the TerrraLiner will be producing power, not both. But suppose the sun were fairly low in the sky (it's late afternoon), and the TerraLiner has just stopped to glamp in the middle of the Atacama desert in Peru, where the DNI is stratospheric, and the TerraLiner stops with one side facing due west. The cells made by Alta Devices produce 130 W per m[SUP]2[/SUP], so just one wall of the TerraLiner covered with these, facing west, might produce as much as 2,393 W, or roughly 2.3 KW. Certainly extra power that the TerraLiner could use!
1 image (or more) of people with solar on the sides of their vehicles.
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CONTINUED IN NEXT POST
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