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! 🙂

[Almot]

Naio wrote:
Will I gave to forego this, with solar,

Yes. You don't want car-washers messing around panels on the roof, no matter what panels. Washing under the raised rigid panels is "possible" though tends to be done less frequent than before you installed them 🙂

[Naio]

I, too, was wondering about flexible solar, and whether they had gotten over their early problems. But the I figured if they had you all would be using them.

I also wonder about car washes. I asked about this in an old thread once, and people gave me flak for not hand washing my rig. I do make sure it gets a good scrubdown once or twice a year, but when I've been driving dirt roads and want to stay a bit at an rv park to use their laundry and electricity, it seems only polite to stop at the car wash on the way into town.

Will I gave to forego this, with solar, or can it be made carwash-proof?

[Almot]

You don't have to decide on controller right now unless you have a strict budget. There WILL BE a controller for 400-600W that you are planning.

Can I put 4 x 100w instead of these massive 66"x39" 285w panels? I know I'm loosing 85w and it'll be more expensive but I really don't know where I would fit another one of these.

I meant one 285W on the side like you said, and "another" one on the rear part of the roof.

4*100 you can do either all parallel, or in pairs, or all-series.

5*100 you would have to wire all-series.

I would stay away from those flexible sheets. Solar Blvd had some square-shaped 80W rigid panels. When raised 3" above the roof (1.5" panel thickness, 1.5" from frame to roof), rigid panel won't disturb the balance or air turbulence on the road.

[evy]

RoyB wrote:
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

Hey nice Diagram.
I use AutoCAD 2013, I'm a self employed architectural technician, so I've been using it for a while now.
It helps to give me confidence in this project, since I never done any of this before, I can draw it to scale and see that it'll fit or work before I start cutting or drilling.

[evy]

Almot wrote:
From all the previous threads on this enormous project by Evy, I have a feeling that he will do what he has already decided to do.

One thing to avoid is mismatched panels (=lost wattage). He wants 24V on the side + 2*12V on the roof. No matter whether he wires it all in series or 2*12V in parallel with 24V, there is a good chance of mismatching, and he will still have to buy MPPT (or go for 24V bank).

I would rather installed another 285W (in addition to one on the side) - in the lower part of the drawing, don't know whether it's front or rear.

Almot... come on man 😞

If you would read all the threads I posted here you would realize the complete opposite of what you just said about me, look at my plumbing, electrical and gas threads...

But thanks no mismatch, my drawing was confusing, I didn't indicate what was front and rear sorry, the top of the drawing is the towards the front.

Can I put 4 x 100w instead of these massive 66"x39" 285w panels? I know I'm loosing 85w and it'll be more expensive but I really don't know where I would fit another one of these.

And how about these ultra slim panels?


They are just the right size at 23"x44" If these were ok I could fit one more because they would not add to the height of my van. So is 5 x 100w ok or I have to stay in pairs?

I'm not done reading all the comments, honestly I wasn't going to talk about controllers and everything because I just wanted to plan where the panels would be so I could have a visual and keep that area free, that was the idea behind this thread. Right now I started plumbing and wiring and bought all the equipment necessary for LP gas so my head is about to explode lol.
Unless I absolutely have to figure it out now? you tell me...

[time2roll]

For me Woodalls portal has been more reliable than RV.net

[evy]

Chandalen wrote:
Seriosuly... wtf is wrong with posting... keep getting an error, but if i keep my posts to like 4 sentences its ok...

I totally agree with you, every thread or reply I post on this forum, I have to log out, delete all the cookies, log back in and hope it works... every single time!

I'm on many other forums and nothing like this has ever happened to me, it is very frustrating.

[evy]

smkettner wrote:
I hope we are not too far off track.
If the OP comes back there is still plenty to talk about.

Haha I'm baaack... and you might be right! lol
4 pages or replies, was not expecting this :E
but it's all good.

[time2roll]

I hope we are not too far off track.
If the OP comes back there is still plenty to talk about.

[JiminDenver]

My testing between poly and mono flew in the face of all that is advertised too. I could post graphs and charts and still not change any minds. So why argue it.

[Almot]

grizzzman wrote:

Well "To the door" price of 495.00 for three 160 watt mono panels would go a long ways towards having a bigger system wouldn't it?

And so would 2*250W including shipping from Solar Blvd - for "most" people. The OP is in Canada, so he'll have to either buy local or pay higher prices.

From all the previous threads on this enormous project by Evy, I have a feeling that he will do what he has already decided to do.

One thing to avoid is mismatched panels (=lost wattage). He wants 24V on the side + 2*12V on the roof. No matter whether he wires it all in series or 2*12V in parallel with 24V, there is a good chance of mismatching, and he will still have to buy MPPT (or go for 24V bank).

I would rather installed another 285W (in addition to one on the side) - in the lower part of the drawing, don't know whether it's front or rear.

[Shadow_Catcher]

Chandalen I would like your source as this flies in the face of all of the information I have seen.Wind and Sun forum
From Morningstar PMW vs MPPT

[JiminDenver]

Hmmm

I always thought it would be best to see what your needs and limitations are. Those limitations include what fits on the roof, how much room for battery, what is the budget, and what is available.

Once you get a handle on those things you can start tossing around words like PWM, MPPT, AGM, LIPO. etc. Make these decisions before those above and you may be screwing yourself.

[grizzzman]

KD4UPL wrote:

Chandalen wrote:

smkettner wrote:
OK so $550 for 500 watts. With MPPT you could have 530 watts (2 panels) for $200 less.

What panels are that cheap? I did a quick search and I can find some Poly panels close to $500 @265w, but no Mono's.

I went for a larger controller, to allow for expansion.

Large panels in the neighborhood of 265w go for less than a dollar a watt normally. If you're paying $500 for a 265 watt panel you're getting ripped off x 2.

By the way, any 265 watt panel is going to be a 60 cell panel with a Vmp around 30 volts. This is going to need an MPPT controller regardless of price. Otherwise you'll only get about half the wattage out of the panel due to the vast voltage difference when hooked to a 12v battery.

What's NABSEP certified? Due you mean NABCEP? If so that's a decent accomplishment for sure. But I still have to disagree. The math shows that MPPT will always make more power than PWM.

Well "To the door" price of 495.00 for three 160 watt mono panels would go a long ways towards having a bigger system wouldn't it?

[Naio]

I am lurking this thread, as I may need a panel or two for my van, too!

I had planned on PWM, too... but that was last year. I'm here to learn about the recent changes in the market.