Skylight in carport for solar panel?
I am building a new house with an additional carport to house my camper. I would like protection from the elements, but also to be able to keep the trickle charge up on my camper batteries using my e...
Forum Discussion
Hi,
I have a solar isolation meter, it measures the watts per square meter. I was using it to measure the light available at 3,800' elevation and near sea level in San Diego CA on a winter day. At 3,800', it was close to 1080 watts per square meter, while near sea level 1 hour later was only 1020 watts per square meter. Inside the van windshield it was less than 800 watts per square meter.
So car widnshields protect us from much of the UV light and also block much of the sun that might charge the solar system. I would guess most skylights will do the same thing, blocking much of the light.
Also consider where you would have to park the RV in order to line up the skylight directly over the solar panel. Sure This RV you can do it, and perhaps if you get another RV, you can park it, then install the solar panels under the skylight to line it up again. However in the summer, the light falls more directly straight down, while winter sun is at a lower angle, so the solar panel would need to be further north of the opening than in the summer.
And to collect solar light more than 1 hour per day, you would need the skylight much wider and longer than the actual solar panel. So for a 39" X 48" panel, you might need a 50" X 72" skylight (and hope that the RV is not parked more than 4" off center or front to back from where you planned it to be centered under the skylight).
So it seems like a expensive skylight to hope it works out, yet probably will not line up with the sunlight for very much time each day. Probably much easier to plug in all winter long.
Fred.
I have a solar isolation meter, it measures the watts per square meter. I was using it to measure the light available at 3,800' elevation and near sea level in San Diego CA on a winter day. At 3,800', it was close to 1080 watts per square meter, while near sea level 1 hour later was only 1020 watts per square meter. Inside the van windshield it was less than 800 watts per square meter.
So car widnshields protect us from much of the UV light and also block much of the sun that might charge the solar system. I would guess most skylights will do the same thing, blocking much of the light.
Also consider where you would have to park the RV in order to line up the skylight directly over the solar panel. Sure This RV you can do it, and perhaps if you get another RV, you can park it, then install the solar panels under the skylight to line it up again. However in the summer, the light falls more directly straight down, while winter sun is at a lower angle, so the solar panel would need to be further north of the opening than in the summer.
And to collect solar light more than 1 hour per day, you would need the skylight much wider and longer than the actual solar panel. So for a 39" X 48" panel, you might need a 50" X 72" skylight (and hope that the RV is not parked more than 4" off center or front to back from where you planned it to be centered under the skylight).
So it seems like a expensive skylight to hope it works out, yet probably will not line up with the sunlight for very much time each day. Probably much easier to plug in all winter long.
Fred.
