Attach Solar Panel to Rubber Roof?
Hello, I have one of THESE and want to attach it to the roof of my camper. (Yes I know it's a cheap-o one, but this is my first venture into the solar charging world) The roof covering is rubber, I...
Forum Discussion
I certainly wouldn't start drilling into your roof for such a small solar panel. Is there some way you can attack it with just cable ties to that luggage rack?
As previously mentioned over-charging is not a good thing. I killed a couple of batteries from a charger that boiled them dry. Maybe this panel won't produce enough voltage to cause that problem, but certainly something to be careful of. If you like it you could consider a good size solar panel.
I would only go to the effort of drilling into my roof if I was installing a panel of more useful wattage, i.e. 80 watts or more. That would be a more worth-while installation and would act not just as a battery maintainer but also usefully charge the battery when camping. When I went down this route I wasn't willing to commit a lot of money to solar just to try it out. So I hunted around and found a supplier who sold a whole budget package - in my case a couple of 80w panels, some good thick cable (to avoid electrical loss) and very importantly a solar charge controller (a cheapo Chinese one with amusingly translated instructions). The charge controller will control the voltage to ensure it charges the battery properly but doesn't boil it dry. After a year or so I was pleased with the results and replaced the charge controller with a more sophisticated model.
Steve.
As previously mentioned over-charging is not a good thing. I killed a couple of batteries from a charger that boiled them dry. Maybe this panel won't produce enough voltage to cause that problem, but certainly something to be careful of. If you like it you could consider a good size solar panel.
I would only go to the effort of drilling into my roof if I was installing a panel of more useful wattage, i.e. 80 watts or more. That would be a more worth-while installation and would act not just as a battery maintainer but also usefully charge the battery when camping. When I went down this route I wasn't willing to commit a lot of money to solar just to try it out. So I hunted around and found a supplier who sold a whole budget package - in my case a couple of 80w panels, some good thick cable (to avoid electrical loss) and very importantly a solar charge controller (a cheapo Chinese one with amusingly translated instructions). The charge controller will control the voltage to ensure it charges the battery properly but doesn't boil it dry. After a year or so I was pleased with the results and replaced the charge controller with a more sophisticated model.
Steve.
