Forum Discussion
- The flexible type used to be much lower output but this type of solar panel as received a lot of attention and R&D funding for use in place of asphalt roof tiles on buildings, particularly in Europe where the governments are into protecting the environment and their people than here in the USA.
Check out solar tech sites and look for new products as something might have come out in 2013 that no one on this forum is going to know about. Problem is finding someone in the USA that is selling the new technology. I have often had to buy this type of item from companies in Europe and Asia and take a chance that it would be as advertised and make it intact after shipping.
These would be perfect for mounting with VHB tape to a metal or fiberglass roof for a very quick installation. Important would be the output voltage as the higher the output the smaller the gauge of wire that can be used going to the controller. - Curious about the heat buildup. Fixed frame panels have to be elevated slightly to allow ventilation, otherwise the panels get hot and lose efficiency. I wonder how warm these get if laid out directly on the roof?
- I would like to follow your tech's ideas. I am trying to design a solar array for my Avion TC which has a curved roof. This panel is a bit over 4 feet by a little less that 3 feet. I have around 300 amps in my AGM battery bank, so I need roughly 300+ watts. Two of these would fit on my roof.
rickeoni wrote:
They need a new model to show the panels, but ohhhh those shoes!
I have a tech who works for me that is an electronics genius ( hand made a complete wire harness for a Lamborghini Miura.) His hobby is designing solar systems, guess what I have him doing? So we will see what he comes up with in regards to wattage requirements vs available roof real estate.
I would like to see the results....- They need a new model to show the panels, but ohhhh those shoes!
I have a tech who works for me that is an electronics genius ( hand made a complete wire harness for a Lamborghini Miura.) His hobby is designing solar systems, guess what I have him doing? So we will see what he comes up with in regards to wattage requirements vs available roof real estate. - Here is a different flexible panel for sale. The big thing about these is they are lightweight and thin.
http://store.evtv.me/proddetail.php?prod=180wsolarpanel - The part I'm having troubke with is the description of the panel as mono crystal.
Iunderstand monocrystal to be a single solid wafer of silicone photocell and not malleable.
the only malleable photocells I've seen are thinfilm. Who knows what I'm missing. - Cost per watt is the driving factor and Go Power is very high. We have a Unisolar 135W panel I picked up used on Ebay for $65 that is rolled up in the tongue box and can be rolled out in the sun, the down side is that it is 18' long. Any time I hear "kit" it is equated with too much $ and too little quality.
- AS lightweight as they are you sure would have alot of many different places to use them.
Of course this would not alow to removed and setup as a portable unit when needed for those times you end up parking under a good ole shade tree..
On the Truck Camper you could follow the curve of the front bed area and just move the truck to keep the Solar panels in the HIGH SUN path.
Being lightweight this would be gang busters for those long term tent trips...
Looking at alot of those OFF-ROAD Campers that Robert Ryan shows us alot from Austraila you see solar panels mounted at many angles all over the trailers.. This would neat for those applications...
Roy Ken - The specs look good. The cells are monocrystalline and a 100 watt panel weighs only 2.9 pounds. The cheapest price I could find for the Go Power 100 watt panel is about $512 plus shipping. If you do a search on Ebay for flexible solar panels you will find much cheaper units.
