Thanks for the feedback Wes. My slide on camper will really be just a camper shell that rests on the sides of the truck bed. My idea of mounting them centrally is so they act like a ballast to prevent tipping in high winds, centralizing the weight more or less evenly on the topper's legs when off the truck. If I slid them more forward, then the cabling would be longer and most of the weight would be to the front of power pod. The solar panels will overhang the top of the supercab, extending about 5 ft forward of the topper. The purpose of mounting the inverter and controller to the rear (other than to reduce the wire run is to offset some of this forward weight. Plus when the solar panels are angled higher, say in the winter at higher latitudes this will shift even more weight forward as the panels will hinge at the front of the topper.
I am trying to design the power pod structure as lightweight as possible while still retaining its strength to hold the 200lbs of panels on the roof. think I will design the front jacks so they can be removed for traveling. I would like to find jacks with the longest possible travel, so I can lower the pod close to the ground when off the truck, to make it more stable and easier to clean and adjust the angle of the panels. I would also like to mount large locking swivel jack wheels (like on a trailer tongue jack, but lockable like casters on a tool box) to the legs to make it easier to position when off the truck. Say something like this but with a lock: http://www.greenlee.com/products/CASTER%2540cSWIVEL-ALL-TERRAIN-10%2540andquot%253b.html or this: http://www.durablecasters.com/pdf/series-67-68-pneumatic.pdf
Chip
