Tony Latham
Senior Member
Every spring, we do a nearly month-long trip to the Four Corners.
But this year, I noticed our solar system wasn't keeping up with our usage (based on our AiLi battery meter).
When I built this teardrop in 2019, I installed a 30-watt panel on the tongue box and a 100-watt panel on the roof. Using a towel, I determined that the little panel was still producing, but the larger panel's ghost had departed our campsite. Fortunately, our electrical needs are low, and I had replaced the old lead-acid battery with a 100-amp lithium battery before the trip. After three weeks, we still had 35 amps in the battery–if we'd had the old AGM, we would have had a problem and probably would have to had cut our trip short.
I designed the roof around a 100-watt flexible solar panel from Renogy, and that's the one that failed.
The panel was attached using the six grommet holes that it came with and a line of Lexel under the leading edge. I adjusted the spar placement to match the grommets and moved the fan an inch to the passenger side to allow for panel width.
While on the trip, I started shopping for a new panel. I looked at BougeRV's ETFE flexibles, but they're too wide by a mile. You might think it odd, but once again, I chose a flexible panel from Renogy. They are made with ETFE fiberglass instead of the cheaper PET plastic, and those things are famous for lasting about three years.
Hopefully, this one will go beyond 7 years.
The problem with the new Renogy flexible panels is that they weren't designed around my roof. They are shorter and about an inch wider.
Fortunately, the material around the cells is about 2 inches wide and easily trimmed with a penny cutter.
In this photo, you can see the notch cut around the fan and the third brake light.
The next problem was the location of the grommets; the front and center were not set over my spars. I had to add three grommets to address that issue. Easy-peasy.
The last problem was that there was no meat to attach the front-inward corner of the panel. No wood to screw to.
My 'fix' was to print off a 3D printed bracket that uses the fan screws to hold this down. For you 3D printer folks, I used PETG filament and spray-painted it to protect it from UV rays. (I also added about an inch of Lexel under the center of the leading edge.)
I think it's a fine solution.
Anywho... Flame's solar system is up and running again. I just need to clean up a bit of Lexel sealant that I used to glue down the leading edge of the old panel. That stuff, by the way, is great.
Tony
But this year, I noticed our solar system wasn't keeping up with our usage (based on our AiLi battery meter).
When I built this teardrop in 2019, I installed a 30-watt panel on the tongue box and a 100-watt panel on the roof. Using a towel, I determined that the little panel was still producing, but the larger panel's ghost had departed our campsite. Fortunately, our electrical needs are low, and I had replaced the old lead-acid battery with a 100-amp lithium battery before the trip. After three weeks, we still had 35 amps in the battery–if we'd had the old AGM, we would have had a problem and probably would have to had cut our trip short.
I designed the roof around a 100-watt flexible solar panel from Renogy, and that's the one that failed.
The panel was attached using the six grommet holes that it came with and a line of Lexel under the leading edge. I adjusted the spar placement to match the grommets and moved the fan an inch to the passenger side to allow for panel width.
While on the trip, I started shopping for a new panel. I looked at BougeRV's ETFE flexibles, but they're too wide by a mile. You might think it odd, but once again, I chose a flexible panel from Renogy. They are made with ETFE fiberglass instead of the cheaper PET plastic, and those things are famous for lasting about three years.
Hopefully, this one will go beyond 7 years.
The problem with the new Renogy flexible panels is that they weren't designed around my roof. They are shorter and about an inch wider.
Fortunately, the material around the cells is about 2 inches wide and easily trimmed with a penny cutter.
In this photo, you can see the notch cut around the fan and the third brake light.
The next problem was the location of the grommets; the front and center were not set over my spars. I had to add three grommets to address that issue. Easy-peasy.
The last problem was that there was no meat to attach the front-inward corner of the panel. No wood to screw to.
My 'fix' was to print off a 3D printed bracket that uses the fan screws to hold this down. For you 3D printer folks, I used PETG filament and spray-painted it to protect it from UV rays. (I also added about an inch of Lexel under the center of the leading edge.)
I think it's a fine solution.
Anywho... Flame's solar system is up and running again. I just need to clean up a bit of Lexel sealant that I used to glue down the leading edge of the old panel. That stuff, by the way, is great.
Tony
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