Last weekend I finally got around to installing a solar panel charging system on our little TC. Weight has been a concern for me and will remain to be, until I switch to a bigger truck, so I went with a light weight flexible panel. Renogy's 100 watt panel weighs under 5 lbs and the controller was about 8 ozs. I only have 32ah of battery power so it should charge up ok. I think I did a pretty good job for a tin horn. I started by thoroughly cleaning the top.Next I marked an area to mount the panel. I was limited with space had to mount it next to the a/c unit. The attachment was very easy and simple, squirt out some sikaflex and stick it on. The thought of drilling holes in the roof didn't set well with me.I did have to drill one hole to get the wires into the coach.I then installed the 10 amp charge controller while the adhesive set up some. Connected the wires in the specified sequence and everything worked just fine.Once the sikaflex set up some I used some Proflex around the edges of the panel and the hole where the wires went into.I used proflex to hold the wires to the top and flattened them down with a weight until it dried. I hope it holds up?Here it is finished, I left the protective film on it for now to keep it clean until our next outing. All in all took about 2 hours to complete and cost was around $250. It was a very easy project and lots of fun too.Time to relax and enjoyHope this helps someone and thanks for viewing.Vic

Hi,Thanks for sharing. May I ask you to provide a link to the kit?

Very nice... would definitely look at this kit. Any pics of wiring to the battery? Thanks for posting.

Not really a kit, but here ya go:solar panelCharge Controller

"Any pics of wiring to the battery?"The charge controller comes with the battery wires already connected to it. You just connect those wires to your battery. It's so simple I didn't take pics. The directions are pretty straight forward.I did have to fish the wires behind the cabinet down to the battery.

Really nice install, looks like the one we'll get, thanks for sharing.

My 7lb flexible solar panel system install | Good Sam Community

tonymull
Explorer
Jun 30, 2015
Have you figured out what exactly failed? I'd think Renogy would be interested in finding out. These are marketed as 'boat kits' so I wonder if it was heat.
These panels get like a 95% five star rating on Amazon.
Fastbrit
Explorer
Jun 30, 2015
I have installed the same panels on my camper and so far so good.

4x100W Renogy flexible solar panels
Blue Sky 3000i mppt charge controller
2500W p/s inverter
4x110 amp/h group 31 agm batteries
transfer switch from 30 amp power cord and generator to inverter to main fuse panel

So far I have seen 19.7 amp going to the batteries in the afternoon not facing south
will keep you posted on long term use
jefe_4x4
Explorer
Jun 30, 2015
Vic,
I'm glad you had he guts to report the failure. You had me convinced this is the way to go with all the lightweight parts. You have been our temporary R&D department when it comes to lightweight solar panels.
Thanks for reporting the news.
regards, as always, jefe
pianotuna
Nomad III
Jun 15, 2015
Hi,

Sorry to hear about the failure. Is there a warranty?
Victory402
Explorer
Jun 15, 2015
Follow up post. I hate to have to announce this, but my solar panel recently failed. I'm pretty sure it was due to heat. What also was weird, when I removed the panel from the roof, there was water underneath it. I really hope I didn't mislead anyone.
Bob__B
Explorer
Oct 20, 2014
kjenckes wrote:
I like his panels and learned a lot from his post. I want to buy some and need some more information first. I trusted someone here to help me with questions relating to these panels and guess I didn't realize that being ignorant to the etiquette of posting that I did something horribly wrong. If this is the equivalent of hijacking something then I apologize to the original author.

Well, I am a little confused myself sometimes what whether a post redirects the conversation or not.
The one thing I can tell you is that RC and amp hours are not the same thing. You will not get 160 amp hours from a group 27 battery.
Copy and paste your questions into a new post and I am sure you will get get some good feedback.
kjenckes
Explorer
Oct 20, 2014
I like his panels and learned a lot from his post. I want to buy some and need some more information first. I trusted someone here to help me with questions relating to these panels and guess I didn't realize that being ignorant to the etiquette of posting that I did something horribly wrong. If this is the equivalent of hijacking something then I apologize to the original author.
mkirsch
Nomad II
Oct 20, 2014
Rather than hijack someone else's thread, why not start your own?

You will have far more readers because many people will just assume yours is a late response to an old thread that has already run its course, and ignore it.
kjenckes
Explorer
Oct 20, 2014
Good Afternoon. I am hoping someone can provide a simple answer or 3 for me. I love the look of this, I have a Northstar 850SC pop up that this would go on. I have plenty of room over the bed end for these with out shadows from roof top stuff. I currently have 1 Interstate SRM-27 listed as 160 RC. (I will be adding a 2nd) I would prefer 31s but am not sure about the space available yet.

#1-50% discharge or 80amps or 12.2 volts is the lowest I want to take this battery on a regular basis, correct? Therefore 2 would give me 160 amps?

#2- The listed optimum amps for this 100W panel is 5.7 amps with a max fuse of 10amps. Does this mean that 2 of these on the 20 amp controller is appropriate as the minimum? 30 safer? Could I run 3 on a 30?

#3- What is the rule of thumb for minimums watts per battery? I know sunlight hours and shade, etc affect all of this. I see some with 270 or more watts but no mention of how many batteries this supports.

My goal with all this is to get my wife out more with me. We both use CPAP (12v ). She is not as comfy with out some of the comforts of home as I am. We live in NH and the State Parks in NH and VT as well as the White Mt. and Green Mt. National Forest sites are almost entirely off grid.

I have learned a lot from this forum and want to thank every one for their posts.
RickW
Explorer III
Oct 18, 2014
bobndot wrote:
Nice solar install, good job #1 .

I like the bolt security idea on the beer. with all the gang activity attacking pickup truck guys and stealing beer from them is getting out of hand. Glad to see someone is doing something about it ! Good job #2.

pickup truck driver held ransom for beer

I looked at your link and instead saw a TC rig just like mine! :E

Rick