Solar Panel

[James_374408700]

Does any one have experience of attaching a solar panel permanently to the roof of their van. I feel that if you use one free standing then it can be positioned in the best way but then is susceptible to theft so I would not want to leave it unattended and therefore it would limit charging. By attaching to the roof it would not be in perfect alignment but would be charging all the time , be it at a lower charge rate.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Rodone]

Hello James,

We have used two solar panels, on the van roof, for about 5 years. They are not fixed, but I never bother to adjust them to follow the sun. I think that nowadays you can get some slim lightweight types of panel that would lend themselves to being permanently fixed to the roof - and I expect that they have improved efficiency over mine. Having said that, we have stayed on a site without hook up for three weeks ( In the summer months) and have found that our panels provide all of the power that we require - even TV/DVD on wet days. To help things, I invested in all LED lights, and got rid of the halogen ones. Even if you place the panels on the ground, you would not be there all day to keep adjusting them - and, as you point out, in this day and age they would probably be pinched as soon as you left them out. Probably more relevant than turning the panels into the sun, is to remember to pick a pitch away from tree shade.

 

[James_374408700]

Hello James,

We have used two solar panels, on the van roof, for about 5 years. They are not fixed, but I never bother to adjust them to follow the sun. I think that nowadays you can get some slim lightweight types of panel that would lend themselves to being permanently fixed to the roof - and I expect that they have improved efficiency over mine. Having said that, we have stayed on a site without hook up for three weeks ( In the summer months) and have found that our panels provide all of the power that we require - even TV/DVD on wet days. To help things, I invested in all LED lights, and got rid of the halogen ones. Even if you place the panels on the ground, you would not be there all day to keep adjusting them - and, as you point out, in this day and age they would probably be pinched as soon as you left them out. Probably more relevant than turning the panels into the sun, is to remember to pick a pitch away from tree shade.

Thanks Rod, What wattage are your panels?

 

[JTQ]

The penalty re fitting them on the roof to an extent depends on whether you want them for summer or winter use.

Horizontally on the roof they will be very inhibited with the winters low sun angles, a time when even optimised there is limited time and level of radiance available.

However in the summer even in the UK being horizontal is better that the far too upright position so often seen; the power levels are high and the hours long. Whilst they still will not be optimised relative to well placed and constantly corrected free standing panel IMO they are a good solution.

So I feel it depends on what your seasonal needs are.

I have an 85 Watt free-standing panel that I can set to 45Deg down to 15 Deg to horizontal; I picked mine for optimum winter use.

 

[Rodone]

Hello James,

One of them is a 36 watt from Butts and the other is a 40 watt from Solar Solutions.

 

[James_374408700]

Hello James,

One of them is a 36 watt from Butts and the other is a 40 watt from Solar Solutions.

Thanks Rod, I was thinking of going with the 65w panel and you have endorsed my calculations.

Cheers Jim