100W Poly panel in Home Depot

2oldman wrote:

westend wrote:
An owner can get around paying retail cost of mounting brackets....

One part of the job is finding the bolts that hold the panel to the bracket. RV stores stock some, mostly with those 1" dia knurled knobs that get very difficult to turn at times. I like the big flat knobs.

I do not want to carry tools up top just to raise/lower panels.

I know what you're saying. I used hair pin clips for this attachment. The way I built the struts and brackets allow me to store the struts along side the brackets and there is no travel sideways when using the pins and in transport.

Searching_Ut wrote:
I didn't compensate with brackets for the slope from the curve of the rooftop, leaving that slight angle for drainage.

This is exactly how it should be done. With few degrees slope for drainage.

Arrays larger than 400W are usually made of bigger high-voltage panels. Cheaper per watt, more expensive controller, and easier install without rooftop junction box. Though they never ship big panels for free, you have to be near some solar warehouse.

When it rains, the output drops 5-7 times. My 500W flat array then can barely harvest enough to run the fridge and lights.

I bought 4 of these for $100 a piece a couple months back thanks to information provided by thoughtful folks on these forums. It was a 1 day sale, and I impulse bought prior to figuring out what I really wanted to install. I ended up going with a bogart SC 2030 controller and Trimetric 2030 monitor to control it. Then decided to add 1 more panel which I bought at $125, giving my 500 watts of solar on the roof..

These smaller panels work great for the way I stair step flat mounted them down the back of my 5er where it slopes from the forward bedroom are to the rear cap. I used taller home built bracket in the back than I did in the front. If the panel is too long the rear would be quite high. I didn't compensate with brackets for the slope from the curve of the rooftop, leaving that slight angle for drainage. So far I've been though hail storm with them installed while we were in Estes Park Colorado, and they held up well, and I haven't noticed any issues related to highway travel so they appear to be a good fit for my righ.

I wired my panels in parallel, combiner box with fuses on the roof, Controller etc in the fwd generator bay. I'm currently running 3 grp 24 batteries in parallel as I already had them and won't be upgrading to 4 6volt batteries till next year when I plan to retire and will be doing a whole lot more camping off grid. My summertime charging current to the batteries is generally 24 to 25 amps for an hour or two during peak sun, tapering off slowiy on either side of that. That said I have found most of the places I have camped so far have had significant shade for large parts of the day, and more often than not it starts clouding up significantly by early afternoon with more thunderstorms than I'm used to for this time of the year. I've ordered two more of the panels, one of which I will put up on top of the fiver to take it up to 600 watts of flat mount solar. I'm not the sort who can be bothered to climb up and down on the roof every time I move the camper, and I'm not really inclined to try to position the rig based solely on the best solar capture so I didn't bother with making adjustable brackets.

westend wrote:
An owner can get around paying retail cost of mounting brackets by buying lengths of aluminum angle and cutting to desired length. Holes will be needed so a drill is required.

x2. Few pieces of aluminum angle is all it takes. Tilting has TAD lost its charm after prices dropped. It's easy enough to buy enough wattage and mount flat.

Shops don't have any good mounts for RV panels. For a small panel these Smart Feet will do.

Note that $7.60 is per item, you'll need 4 or 6 of them. Basically, this "smart foot" is nothing more than 2 pieces of alum angle with holes. For $7 you could buy quite a long piece of angle and cut it with a hack saw. I don't like their height-adjustment slot, the panel could slide down with time. It's better to measure and drill this hole yourself, at the proper height, one round hole instead of a slot.

100W panel is small enough to use as a portable, just lean it against trailer tongue. I prefer permanent panels on the roof though.

westend wrote:
An owner can get around paying retail cost of mounting brackets....

One part of the job is finding the bolts that hold the panel to the bracket. RV stores stock some, mostly with those 1" dia knurled knobs that get very difficult to turn at times. I like the big flat knobs.

I do not want to carry tools up top just to raise/lower panels.

2oldman wrote:

Gonzo42 wrote:
That might just make me go for it. Wonder how much the controller and other required items cost?

Another surprise cost is the mounting hardware, if you should you want 4-corner roof mounting with tilting.

Some folks are capable of DIY stuff, but not me.

An owner can get around paying retail cost of mounting brackets by buying lengths of aluminum angle and cutting to desired length. Holes will be needed so a drill is required.

FWIW, I built a 4-way tilt mechanism with struts and two hinges for less than $50. This mechanism is more than anyone truly needs. Eight angle pieces with fasteners and struts for tilting should be less than $30.

Gonzo42 wrote:
That might just make me go for it. Wonder how much the controller and other required items cost?

Another surprise cost is the mounting hardware, if you should you want 4-corner roof mounting with tilting.

Some folks are capable of DIY stuff, but not me.

rjxj wrote:
It seems common to want more.

The cure is to just max it up when you install it. For an average size trailer or 5-er this would be 700-900W total. If you are careful with 120V devices, 300W will do.

Gonzo
Give us an idea of how many amp hours you use. I would also try to imagine what you would want down the road. Every rig has it's roof space limits but I doubt that you will find anyone who has bought solar and not been happy with it. It seems common to want more.

Gonzo42 wrote:
That might just make me go for it. Wonder how much the controller and other required items cost?

With 100W you need 8-10A PWM controller. The cheapest 3-stage controller with temp compensation will cost $40-50: Sunsaver SS-10. Few more bucks with free S/H on Amazon. You could find a whole bunch of fly by night gizmos for $15-20 on Ebay and Amazon, but I strongly recommend against this.

Wires with connectors - $15 or 20, depends on the length.

100W panel is a substantial source of power but not unlimited. It would run DC circuit of propane fridge, lights, pumps, cell phone. Or will top the battery up after 1 hour on generator. Living off 100W solar alone for several weeks would be difficult unless you are really in minimalist mindset.