Too many holes in solar panel frame?

Understood on the batteries. At the amount of discharge you have, and the solar charging, the UPG's should work out well.

I have three Enersys Pure Lead AGM's (smaller telecom backup) and they are really forgiving. I had one in an outdoor shed over the Winter at probably a 60% SOC. It is still performing very well.

Yes, a very unique security screw should deter the casual thief. Just remember to not lose the driver for it.

Have to correct myself - and sorry for deviating from the initial subject. UPG battery is not much different from Deka. Daily SOC can drop below 60%, but the lifespan is on a sliding scale VS DOD, as with any battery. See 2nd page, 4th table - at 77F the life is 500 cycles at 50% DOD, or 1200 cycles at 30% DOD. If you spend total 3 months a year in your rig, 500 cycles equals to 5 years of use, not too bad. Hot weather will shorten its life a bit, though.

My confusion with "recommended" 60% SOC was caused by the 3rd table on the same page - Storage and Shelf Life. It is only logical that more damage is being done when battery is sitting at SOC near 60% for weeks and months, rather than a few hours.

West - no, I didn't upgrade the bank. I bought 3*100 AH AGM 12V UPG batteries at the same time with 490W solar. UPG recommends keeping SOC no lower than 60%, or "irreversible loss of capacity may happen". Don't know how much truth is to this statement. If and when my overnight draw exceeds 30%=90 AH, I will upgrade to 400 AH bank after these 3*100 AH will have died. It is VERY difficult to draw over 50 AH overnight without powerful 120V devices.

Security reasons are valid, but my panels are 1) big and heavy 40 lbs, and 2) attached to the brackets with screws that require a well prepared thief as these screwdrivers are not available in a small Mexican town. There are no nuts - the screws are in nutserts riveted into the bracket. I am also considering replacing these low-security screws with better security screws that have a shape so weird that is impossible to describe, and their drivers are hard to find. Cutting four aluminum brackets 1/4" thickness is possible of course. With PV prices dropping, I hope it won't be worth their time and efforts.

Thanks Almot for the report. Glad it's working great!

Ahhh, great to hear the solar system is working good for you! Too bad about Senor Santos and his IT work, dondequiera se cuecen habas.

I know you upgraded your battery bank, how much capacity do you have? I was planning on adding a second panel (from 235->470) but haven't seen the need, as yet. It's good to get back reports like yours to assess plans.

I wouldn't kick myself about the brackets, I can't remember the last time I had a problem by over-building something. Yeah, if you're in a hurricane zone, you might want to strap the modules if you leave for an extended period or take them off for security.

After my last post the camp owner, senior Santos, has managed to "break" the internet. 3 connectors on his wireless gateway were broken off, don't know how he did that, perhaps moving furniture or had too much tequila on Christmas. So until somebody had fixed it, all the camp remained without internet for 3 weeks, a normal speed of repairs in Mexico.

West - yes, this is the site that I'm using for estimating the tilt. Will go for a twice-a-year adjustment. Right now I don't know why I even need any tilt, other than current ~4 degrees tilt of the "flat" position. Batteries are on Float by 11.00 am on a good day, and are 97% full by that time, judging by the AH they are taking by the evening. On a bad day which happens about twice a month - low overcast, no sun at all - they are on Float by sunset or trying to get from Absorption to Float, being ~90-95% full by sunset. 27 latitude, but in low overcast the latitude doesn't matter much. My overnight draw is under 50 AH. When the only 120V device after dark is TV/CD, the draw is very low. Daytime energy use I don't even know, with 490W array I could power up another 2 trailers like mine, in a daytime.

I probably overdid the brackets - too many screws - but this is a hurricane area. They normally come in summer when panel should be flat, though.

Ya, that crack about the tipping was just that, knew you were making progress :B

Those brackets will be more than enough to hold the module but more brings peace of mind.

Do you have your angles worked out for the tilt? Here's some good copy on different methods of tilting. I have the Hilton parked in the Winter so just use the maximum angle, fixed. I thought it also might keep the snow off but I see 3/4 of the panel is blocked, today. I know the cure for that.......drive South. :W

I think Mexicowanderer is 200 miles away, it's a big country. There is plenty to drink in a local village though.

My work is still in process, but some pics won't hurt. Not as elegant as your design, but hopefully will be strong. Poor quality of a flip-phone camera, sorry.

Lower-South bracket - parallel to the back of the trailer.

6 screws #10, all in 3/8" particle board, not in rafters. Could have been 5 screws, since it's a lower side. The rafter is right under the panel frame, but it had a lot of screws already, holding the plywood to rafters. So I flipped the bracket away from the panel and drove the screws into plywood alone.

Upper-North bracket with mock-up wooden tilt leg - and the reason why I needed heavy bracketage.

See 2 vents under the panel - they are 3" high, so I needed 4" brackets to clear the vents when the panel is lowered flat. There is no 4x4" angle in 3/16" or 1/8" thickness, so I had to use 1/4". 3 screws in the rafter and 3 in the plywood. This was my very 1st bracket and I overdid it, 2 screws in rafters + 3 in ply would be enough. Sealed and painted, it will outlast the rest of the trailer.

Short pirate leg is for now, until I get 2ft long 1/8" thick aluminum angle. The panel top is skewed for now, to squeeze thick wooden leg in. With all the screws tightened there would be 1/8" clearance in vertical plane between the wall of the bracket and side of the panel, just enough for aluminum angle-strut.

Both the lower and the lifted corner of panel have nut inserts where 1/4" machine screws go in.

OK, enough work, merry Christmas to everybody.

Yeah, that us some pretty heavy bracketage. With 6" heavy angles and 5 or 6 fasteners there should be no worry. I kind of always envision a guy using a piece of 1"-16 ga. angle found at Lowes or similar.
My roof is somewhat crowned, too. I adjusted the center mounting bracket and attachment to allow for that. The mounting brackets are laid parallel with the longest side.
I've observed my tilting mechanism in strong winds and there isn't a creak or tap out of it. These solar modules have more strength than I originally thought.

Good luck with the rest and figure out the picture thing. AFAWK, you're sitting down there with Mex, sipping some Daiquiris and just playing with us, lol.:B

Thanks guys. Sounds like a board under the long side of he panel won't hurt.

Westend, I saw your design long time ago on that list of completed projects here. There wasn't as many pictures in that thread though. Aluminum stock in a small Mexican town is unrealistic, I bring all the supplies with me every time when coming here, same as other fellow gringos. Damn customs this time confiscated all my supply of buckwheat, they have never seen it before and there was no label on the 10-pound bag. Have to eat their rice now.

After looking at many projects I decided to do install similar to Bigfootford and Mr. Wizard (and I think Golden HVAC) - aluminum brackets anchored to the roof, with sides of the brackets bolted to the sides of the frame via nutserts. Check their pics, then it will be easier to understand what I'm talking about.

I am using - as anchoring brackets - 4x4 pieces of aluminum angle, 6" long, 1/4" thick. Each bracket is attached to the roof with 5 or 6 tapping screws #10, and plenty of sealant under the bracket foot. The tilt legs - angle 2x2x1/8" are then attached to the vertical side of the bracket via 1/4" machine screws or pins. Will post the pics when figure out how to link pics from Skydrive.

OTH, your rig seems like a flat roof. My TT is a typical crowned EPDM over 3/8" plywood over rafters, and it's arched side to side and front to middle. Imagine a dome, stretched lengthwise. So any long channels or angles laid on the roof wouldn't conform to the arch.

If I decide later that need more support for brackets on the roof plywood, I can still lay out "struts", channels like yours (or angles) onto the roof from bracket to bracket, and anchor channels between the brackets. But after driving 5-6 screws #10 per each of 5 rackets (4 corners + 3rd tilt leg), that's 25-30 screws per panel, 60screws for 2 paanels - I am afraid that my roof has now more metal in it than wood :)...

Yes, I too was told not to drill anything, never ever, not only in solar panels but also in the roof because all the bad things will happen.