Which Solar Panel kit to buy?

P

pods8

Explorer
Jeff Wanamog said:
It is as simple as attaching 2" X 2" X 1/8" aluminum angle to the perimeter of the panel and then locating the roof supports of the camper. Use sealant under the angle where you will be attaching to the roof and then on top of the screws.
Click to expand...

I'm planning to mount my 100watt panel on my camper build across (perpendicular) the long way of the camper roof, I'll similarly be using aluminum angle but I only intend to have it on the front/rear ends of the panel and to mount the panel raised off the roof a bit this will allow airflow under the panel from the side. Panels get pretty damn hot which cuts into their efficiency and also going to cast heat down onto your camper roof, I figure some airflow under there would be useful.
 
D

dags

Adventurer
Jeff Wanamog said:
What year is your camper? The reason I ask is the later campers already have the cables run to the roof and with your id#, FWC can tell you exactly where to drill to find them. That is why almost all of your FWC & AT campers have the panels mounted in front of the roof vent.
FYI, I am running a 125 watt panel with a Blue Sky MPPT controller on my Eagle. But, I also have two 80 amp hour batteries. I have never had any problems and my isolator between the truck and camper has never worked so I do not charge off of the truck.
Here is a shot of the trailer I am building so you can see the mounting.View attachment 102943

It is as simple as attaching 2" X 2" X 1/8" aluminum angle to the perimeter of the panel and then locating the roof supports of the camper.
Use sealant under the angle where you will be attaching to the roof and then on top of the screws.

Jeff
Click to expand...

My ATC camper is unfortunately not prewired

Thanks for the photo, good install idea.

So know I'm leaning towards buying a 125 watt panel from UL solar, using 2 x 2 aluminum angle for the install. Which model MPPT controller would everyone recommend for a 125 watt panel?
 
P

pods8

Explorer
dags said:
So know I'm leaning towards buying a 125 watt panel from UL solar, using 2 x 2 aluminum angle for the install. Which model MPPT controller would everyone recommend for a 125 watt panel?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't for that wattage, I'd just go PWM. But if you're going to go MPPT I think morningstar in the best QUALITY available for a lower cost/smaller MPPT controller. Only other one I know of off hand is a little bigger and more costly is the Rogue unit.

Any other "MPPT" controllers cheaper than the morning star one you'd be well advised to do some research on via some of the solar forums, lots of the cheap-o ones are really only PWM and some don't even do that well...
 
P

pods8

Explorer
Folks have had perfectly fine luck with the china panels so no major risk there. That controller is from a good company so no major risk there.
 
craig333

craig333

Expedition Leader
Mounted my panel to my existing roof rack bars. Unfortunately I too wasn't prewired.
solpanelroof2.jpg
 
docdave

docdave

Aspiring overlander
Has anybody used the flexable adhesive panels? They look pretty cool to me, and low profile.
 
P

pods8

Explorer
docdave said:
Has anybody used the flexable adhesive panels? They look pretty cool to me, and low profile.
Click to expand...

Unisolar I assume? I think they work fine, main drawbacks I see on those are larger footprint and cost for the same wattage, the heat they generate will be sitting directly on your roof, and for some folks who like to be able to move their panels around they wouldn't be as convenient.

On the footprint issue, you gotta keep in mind it's not just the required area on your room they need but the required unshaded area to actually function. So if you put anything on your roof that shades it or just have a tree branch shading 25% of it etc. you'll basically have no output out of it. This is the same for a normal solar panel but when you're trying to keep a smaller area exposed to the sun it would be easier to do so.
 
ETAV8R

ETAV8R

Founder of D.E.R.P.
timber said:
I have been running one of those 85 watt panels with a morningstar 10 amp controller to charge my house battery bank ( two 6 volt golf cart batterys) and it seems to do a very good job at maintaining them. My main load is my Engle fridge which is on 24/7 along with led lights in the flippac when camping along with the ham radio. When not camping it is my daily driver and its only 2 miles to work so the truck sits a lot , From friday to monday it may see less than an hour of engine run time and the house bank stays right up there at 12.6v resting after dark. So far With my current loads and battery capacity I am very happy with the whole setup. Panel is mounted flat on the top of my flippac on a 1" standoff for air flow with 2 locking quick release latches along with Anderson powerpoles so I can pull it off easy and move it around to track the sun when base camped for a few days.
Click to expand...

Do you have a thread and/or pics of this? I'd be interested in seeing how you mount a panel on the flippac. Thanks.
 
craig333

craig333

Expedition Leader
I wasn't happy with my options for wiring. Some people do it externally. I didn't want to go that route. Internally the way it would come from FWC would be best but I couldn't see any way to do it without destroying the headliner and maybe having other problems. So I went this route. Comes into the camper near the pop up panel and goes behind it.

solarpanelwiring.jpg


Not nearly as clean as I would like but I have yet to see another good option.
Thats a little marine stainless thingy under all the sealant. 3M 4000 UV
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
188,563
Messages
2,906,953
Members
230,666
Latest member
Cvonruex

Members online

Total: 840 (members: 24, guests: 816)
Top