Advise on Solar Mounts ....
We scored three 250w solar panels in exchange for some work. This is great as this is how we like to pay for things. Before you get all jiggy on that I'll tell you that Cat is an Electrical Enginee...
Forum Discussion
Shading becomes important if this is MPPT with panels in series. May result in disproportional drop of total output. Less important in parallel wiring, where it always drops proportionally to the shaded area.
I don't think that 3*250W is overkill. It does rain in SoCal - yes, in desert. People there tend to camp in winter at least as often as in summer, if not more. On a winter day if it rains all day you'll barely harvest enough to keep battery where it was before, with only fridge and few lights running. Though in MH you probably have a generator.
Mounting... Can't be 99% positive at this angle, but a few things look not quite right:
Not enough sealant under the bracket. It should be oozing from under the perimeter, on all sides, overlapping the bracket area by 1/4-1/2 inch.
TAD small footprint of each bracket, too.
Also, it looks like they are L-brackets, not Z-brackets. If you will ever have to remove the panel for any reason, getting those fasteners out of the frame or reinstalling them again will be a royal pain. The only instance when this type of mount is OK is when you are using rivnuts in the panel frame, so there are no locknuts on the other side and bolts can be easily removed.
I don't think that 3*250W is overkill. It does rain in SoCal - yes, in desert. People there tend to camp in winter at least as often as in summer, if not more. On a winter day if it rains all day you'll barely harvest enough to keep battery where it was before, with only fridge and few lights running. Though in MH you probably have a generator.
Mounting... Can't be 99% positive at this angle, but a few things look not quite right:
Not enough sealant under the bracket. It should be oozing from under the perimeter, on all sides, overlapping the bracket area by 1/4-1/2 inch.
TAD small footprint of each bracket, too.
Also, it looks like they are L-brackets, not Z-brackets. If you will ever have to remove the panel for any reason, getting those fasteners out of the frame or reinstalling them again will be a royal pain. The only instance when this type of mount is OK is when you are using rivnuts in the panel frame, so there are no locknuts on the other side and bolts can be easily removed.
