tony.latham wrote:That interior looks great. Can't wait to see the beat-up skins back on it!
tony.latham wrote:And I'm going to watch this thread to see how you decide to install the panels.
T
absolutsnwbrdr wrote:tony.latham wrote:That interior looks great. Can't wait to see the beat-up skins back on it!
Thanks! Been a lot of hard work... much more than building a teardrop from scratch!tony.latham wrote:And I'm going to watch this thread to see how you decide to install the panels.
T
Not fair! Thats cheating! You're supposed to come with ideas!
I want the panels to "float" about 1/4" off the roof surface, for airflow.
tony.latham wrote:absolutsnwbrdr wrote:tony.latham wrote:That interior looks great. Can't wait to see the beat-up skins back on it!
Thanks! Been a lot of hard work... much more than building a teardrop from scratch!tony.latham wrote:And I'm going to watch this thread to see how you decide to install the panels.
T
Not fair! Thats cheating! You're supposed to come with ideas!
It is bigly fair to stalk other builds on here for ideas...I want the panels to "float" about 1/4" off the roof surface, for airflow.
How come? I might do another build next winter. If I do, this new 'drop will have a roof-top panel so I'll be following you on this one. I'll be curious to see how you run your wires too.
Tony
KTM_Guy wrote:The T track is a great idea.
My concern would be with wind getting underneath the panel while driving. Especially if you're going to mount it to the thin piece of acrylic you could easily break the acrylic at your bolt holes. Are you thinking to mount them crossways on the roof? Then you would need to mount at least the front edge in a few spots to reduce fluttering.
Instead of acrylic you might be better off with some aluminum sheet to mount the panels to. Probably would be stronger and cheaper in the long run.
bdosborn wrote:I used 3M VHB tape to stick it down on mine. No problems 5 years later and they haven't blown off. The flexible panels do have one characteristic I don't like, the output falls off dramatically at off angles to the sun so the output goes way down in the morning and evening.
Solar Panel Installation Linky, towards the bottom of the thread.
Bruce
absolutsnwbrdr wrote:
The issue with flexible panels (which you shoudn't have on your flat roof)
absolutsnwbrdr wrote:Any solar panel at an angle to the sun will have significant drop off, and I've found nothing in research that indicates the flexible panels are any more susceptible to that when compared to a rigid panel. The flexible panels I got are actually supposed to have better performance characteristics than the rigid panels I bought for the X-Cubed 4 years ago. On a flat surface, a flexible panel facing the same orientation as a rigid panel should have comparable output.
sodatrain wrote:absolutsnwbrdr wrote:
The issue with flexible panels (which you shoudn't have on your flat roof)
Why not?
bdosborn wrote:absolutsnwbrdr wrote:Any solar panel at an angle to the sun will have significant drop off, and I've found nothing in research that indicates the flexible panels are any more susceptible to that when compared to a rigid panel. The flexible panels I got are actually supposed to have better performance characteristics than the rigid panels I bought for the X-Cubed 4 years ago. On a flat surface, a flexible panel facing the same orientation as a rigid panel should have comparable output.
I know, right? I read the same thing about my flexible panels but my meter says differently, the rigid panels easily outperform the flexible ones when they are all flat.
Bruce
absolutsnwbrdr wrote:sodatrain wrote:absolutsnwbrdr wrote:
The issue with flexible panels (which you shoudn't have on your flat roof)
Why not?
The roof material acts like a giant heatsink. Which means as the roof heats up, it transfers the heat into the panels. When panels get really hot or really cold, they lose efficiency. On a white roof, its not as big of a deal compared to a bare aluminum or dark colored roof.
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