Large Solar Panels
I have been looking at maybe using 2 255 watt panels they are big 65"x 38", this would give me more wattage than using 4 100 watt. I know that I need more battery but you have to start somewhere. Any...
Forum Discussion
Salvo wrote:JiminDenver wrote:
There is a difference between a flat mounted panel and the building. The building has a large face to create up slope. That face allows pressure to build up and create a natural airfoil.
The building in our case is the rv moving at 60 mph. There is negative air pressure on the top of the roof. This is one source giving the panel lift.
A flat mounted panel has a relatively small face and is off the deck allowing the pressure to not build up as much. It builds some because the airflow is less under the panel but it isn't the full effect that a building sees.
Exactly, this is the second source for lift. Air passes above the panel a lot faster than the underside. We have lift according the Bernoulli's Law.
You can lay a piece of wood on the ground and blow enough air over it to lift it just enough to get the wind under it. That's when it takes off. It doesn't take a lot of lift to do that or a lot of support to keep it from happening. That's why we don't read a lot of reports of properly installed panels coming off.
We're not talking about the lift to get a panel to fly off, but the constant flexing due to the environment on the roof of a rv. The bigger the panel, the more it flexes.
BTW, at least one person was brave enough to admit on this forum of having panels fly off.
I would rather pay a couple extra bucks and get smaller panels.
Unless the roof it self is flexing, panel flex would only be a product of poor installation. With the winds we see here and the number of solar installations on both homes and RV's, you would think people would be dieing left and right from the panels being tossed around. Oh wait, like Y2K, some threats are possible but not probable.
