We started our Solar project 6 years ago with a single 100 Watt solar panel. “That’s all we needed”. Well, maybe we didn’t really know yet what we needed.
A few years ago we added two 175 panels, bringing our total to 450 Watts. One of the panels is connected to a linear actuator. This allows us to raise it and take advantage of early morning and late afternoon sun.
Over the years, we added Starlink, tablets, and other equipment. They consume enough power for us to have to keep a closer look at battery levels. During our Baja California trip our solar setup still performed well as the sun was plentiful.
During our last “Cooler Temperatures 2024” trip, we noticed the lack in performance of our solar panels. This trip was later in the year with shorted days and the sun lower in the sky. We spent much time in the forest and placement of the rig with the most sun exposure was crucial.
“It was funny how the shade of the trees somehow always ended up covering us anyway.”
During this last trip we never got more than 200 Watts, even on sunny days. Troubleshooting showed the original 100 Watt panel had cracked causing the panel to not produce any power. On cloudy days use of electronics would have to be managed carefully. Our two 100Ah 12V LiFePO4 Battle Born batteries would struggle to get a full charge on most days.
With the addition of the automatic “push button” roof lift, the weight of the roof is no longer an issue. There is still some space left on the roof to add a few more solar panels.
The two existing 175 Watt panels are flexible panels mounted on a DIY frame. But for the new panels I wanted a different approach. I watched an installation of flexible solar panels using twin wall polycarbonate strips. This would allow the use of lightweight flexible solar panels on a lightweight mounting surface. The other advantage of using the twin wall polycarbonate strips is the airflow they create below the solar panel. Solar panels get hot and having this “air-conditioned” feature should improve efficiency and longevity of the flexible panels.
The strips will be adhered to the roof with industrial strength adhesive backed hoop and loop, Velcro. The solar panels will also be adhered to the poly strips with Velcro. This makes the installation removable, be it probably not the easiest to peel apart, time will tell.
We are added a 200 Watt panel to the front of the roof. We are replacing the malfunctioning 100 Watt panel with two 50 Watt panels. Using two panels will be a cleaner fit on the rear of the roof. This will bump us to 650 Watts of solar total.
Our RedArc Manager30 supports solar panel input up to 480 Watts. Having 650 Watt capacity will not damage the the Manager30. And in all reality the 650 Watts will only have a 70 to 80% efficiency. This puts us at about 450 maximum Watts on a summer’s full sun exposure day.
We will be testing out our new setup this winter. The days will be shorter and sun angle will be at its worst. We have some room for extra batteries but hope not to have to go that route. Maybe leave some of our electronics at home will be the cheaper solution.
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