Planning Solar Panels

[evy]

Hi everyone,

I'm working on my very first DIY camper conversion, using a 2010 extended Ford E250.

I was looking at solar panels yesterday, I was going to make the move eventually but maybe sooner than I originally thought.

I just want to plan where the panels will be mounted on my roof rack and how many I needed, this is what I came up with.

I can fit a big 285W solar panel on the side of my van, with hinges on top and some sort of an adjustable bracket (see drawing)

I can also fit two smaller panels on the top of the roof rack but only in a specific area, I need space for my canoe or kayak on the right side and I can't put them too close to the rear which is the highest point of my van, as of now I have 2-3 inches of space when I back up through my garage door...

There probably is a 100W thin model I could install, around 20"x48" ish ?

Take a look at my roof rack drawing, I added the panels (clouds)

Also Is 485W of solar energy worth it? I don't know much about solar, I'll have two 6v golf cart batteries at 225AH.
My rig is fully equipped, 3 way fridge, microwave + convection, LED lights, pump, fans, AC + DC outlets...

I red that you can get more energy out of your panels by tilting them to face the sun.
Does anything exist on the market today to manually adjust the angle of a panel, I was thinking of adding a sturdy central bracket.

Thanks for any help! 🙂

[time2roll]

If you are going MPPT consider two 24v ~250 watt panels side by side in the front (lower section of drawing). Again one under the canoe and one in the open.

Canoe may cast quite a shadow that could severely limit solar production to any roof mounted panel.

[Boon_Docker]

smkettner wrote:
How often will you have the canoe? When you have the canoe will it be off the roof when camped?

I say this thinking to put two more 100 watt panels under the canoe to avoid the complexity of the tilt up and the mix matched panels probably requiring two controllers.

Just put the two sides in parallel (or all 4) to a single controller. Maybe just get the two panels for now and a controller rated to expand if needed.

That is exactly the way I would do it.
485 watts of solar is plenty to keep your 225ah of battery charged.

[catkins]

Where are you going to place the batteries for that solar system?? Don't forget that very important part of the entire solar equation.

Do an energy audit, as suggested, to figure out how much panel and batteries you need to do what you want when camping. Some things and solar power do not play well together like ACs and microwaves. For most of us, solar does have it's limitations. Good luck. We LOVE our solar system for boondocking in AZ where there is rarely any cloud..

[westend]

The first thing you need to assess is how much power you use. Any recommendations will be skewed either too much or too little because of that unknown.

Link to a spreadsheet calculator.

FWIW, I have a single 235W module and 300AH of battery capacity. I run a 120V fridge, 120V entertainment gear, and all of the 12 V stuff without an issue. I do have a tilt mechanism that I use when in storage.

Your side mount system will serve the same purpose and also act as an awning when deployed. There are a couple of members here that use that side wall mounting system and you can make it detachable for more functionality.

[JiminDenver]

Should you do all of them the two up top will require their own controller. You will want to be able to really lock down the one on the side for travel.

[time2roll]

How often will you have the canoe? When you have the canoe will it be off the roof when camped?

I say this thinking to put two more 100 watt panels under the canoe to avoid the complexity of the tilt up and the mix matched panels probably requiring two controllers.

Just put the two sides in parallel (or all 4) to a single controller. Maybe just get the two panels for now and a controller rated to expand if needed.

[RoyB]

OK you are wowing us with your drawings What are you using...

I was a pretty good AUTOCAD LITE guy but had to give that up when I retired from work... We used alot of ADOBE PRO drawings as well where you can update and modify almost any drawing.

I have moved everything now over to the new WIN10 platform and lost my FREE TO USE drawing packages... Just curious what you are using...

I like to mix pictorials block drawings with schematic flow... Things like this and then save them in PDF format so I can show them to anyone...



Roy Ken

[2oldman]

French.. how exotic. What does 'worth it' mean to you?