Solar Panels- Another Step Toward Independence

You’ll enjoy solar but tire of titling panels. Looks like a quality installation. Use adequately sized wire as determined by a good chart.

I use WindyNation’s at: https://www.windynation.com/jzv/inf/choosing-right-wire-size

Hi memtb,

Consider using actuators for tilting. I can't imagine going up on the roof when it is raining and windy to strike the panels.

Nice installation. :C
I agree, manually raising the panels would get old in a hurry.

And those roofs are not made to continuously walk on.

Yep, not much fun to spend time on the roof....especially with several inches of snow. We had tilt panels on our 5ers for years, and the older I get the harder it is.....I’ll have to look into actuators. The panels would only angled when we would be spending 2 to 3 or more days in one location, spring, fall or winter....but, that’s when we do the majority of our camping.

Pianotuna, can the actuators be had, to lift in two directions ,left or right?

jdc1, Thanks for the roof warning, however, we have a pretty heavy duty, well constructed unit! Zero to near zero flex when walking on the roof! memtb

Agreed on the tilting panels, unless you are planning on staying in one location for a long time, it is unlikely that you will end up tilting them. Easier to add more panels than dealing with tilting.

On closer inspection, are your mounting brackets covering some of your solar cells? If so this can have a surprisingly large impact - reducing the current from ALL the cells in that string. It may be worth getting some narrower extrusions.

FWV, yes a very small strip of the panel is covered! memtb

memtb,

I don't known if they are available in the format you want.

I would think having to tilt the panels would depend on daily usage? Most days you should be fine with the flat panels? The tilt ability is there, if you need it.

Oh, and by the way... what a clean roof!

I think you are doing more harm than good, with your tilt setup. The brackets on the long edges are partially covering the cells on all 4 panels. This is very likely significantly reducing your output. (some panels perform better than others if they have bypass diodes but it's still significant). See this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-Np7kvmj1s