A couple of years ago I ran across a unique solar panel from a now bankrupt company called Unisolar. The Unisolar panels are made up of solar cells bonded to a flexible rubber-like substrate that has a peel-and-stick industrial adhesive backing. They are essentially a glue-down solar panel, originally made to adhere to metal roofs.
The smallest panel available was 9' long with 68 watts output. I sourced a panel and an MC junction box from eBay for around $120 - a bit much for only 68 watts, but I figured that if it worked good and looked cool, it'd be worth it. The panel was shipped in a box, rolled up to around 18" diameter.
First step - lay the panel out in the snow and check for output.
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[img style="max-width:100%;" style="" src="http://i61.tinypic.com/5ydeyr.jpg"]
I fastened the wires to the roof by cutting a couple of 3/4 aluminum angles to about 3" long, bonding them to the roof with adhesive, and tie-wrapping the wire to the angles (not shown)
The #12's are run down through the closet to a spot under the bunk. I used 1/2" or 3/4" aluminum 'C' channel to hide the wires in the places where they were exposed. The controller is mounted under the bunk, next to the power panel. The battery side of the controller is wired to a spare 15A fused circuit in the power panel. It's effectively back-feeding the 12v side of the power panel through the 15A fused circuit, which then feeds through the power panel up to the two 6-volt golf cart batteries on the tongue of the trailer. The power to/from the batteries is via newly run #6 wires.
Here's the wired-in controller.
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Very nice. Actually $120.00 for a 68W kit is very inexpensive! The (good) flexible "peel-&-stick" kits available today are considerably more than that.
Nice mod, I use a rigid panel that I move around as needed and connect it up to controller set up in a portable box. I also have never come close to depleting my battery.
[quote source="/post/5510/thread" author="@mitch" timestamp="1418318258"]Nice mod, I use a rigid panel that I move around as needed and connect it up to controller set up in a portable box. I also have never come close to depleting my battery.
[/quote]
I see the advantage to that - and would consider it over another rooftop panel.
[quote source="/post/5502/thread" author="@icebear" timestamp="1418306285"]Very nice. Actually $120.00 for a 68W kit is very inexpensive! The (good) flexible "peel-&-stick" kits available today are considerably more than that.[/quote]
I didn't realize that someone else was making a similar peel & stick panel. Do you recall the brand?
[quote source="/post/5514/thread" timestamp="1418343926" author="@michael"][quote source="/post/5502/thread" timestamp="1418306285" author="@icebear"][/quote]I didn't realize that someone else was making a similar peel & stick panel. Do you recall the brand? [/quote]There's [font color="#e619e6"][a href="http://gpelectric.com/products/solar-flex-kits-modules"]SolarFlex[/a] [/font][font color="#313031"](though not technically a "peel & stick) and [/font][font color="#9b09a2"][a href="http://www.globalsolar.com/products/flexible-modules/rv"]PowerFlex[/a][/font][font color="#313031"] to name a couple. But you can still get the Unisolar kits on eBay and Amazon.[/font]
Nice Mod, I'm looking at this Kit present but still researching.
http://www.soldonsun.com/Pr/Solar/Off-Grid/128W-Battery-Charger-1224v.html
That is a very nice and economical system Michael. But be aware that one reason that Unisolar went backrupt is that the output of their panels deteriorated over time. I had three of their 32 watt panels on a sailboat. After 5 years the output was down by half.
Your 68 watt panel is a nominal 12V panel right? The bigger Unisolar panels available on Amazon or Ebay are 24V panels and need a MPPT controller.
SWBC150: That package is expensive because it uses a MPPT controller which is necessary with the 24V panel. An MPPT controller squeezes 20% more output vs a PWM controller and a 12V panel.
Here is a 100 watt thin and somewhat flexible panel that would install similarly to the Unisolar. I haven't read about long term life though: http://www.amazon.com/Renogy%C2%AE-Monocrystalline-Bendable-Solar-Panel/dp/B00IK19VF6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430168984&sr=8-1&keywords=flexible+100+watt+solar
You can use this cheaper PWM controller with it, the same one Michael used: http://www.amazon.com/Morningstar-SS-6-12V-SunSaver-Charge-Controller/dp/B007NN3E1O/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1430169220&sr=8-11&keywords=morningstar+solar+controller
I think that for an RV roof top where you have a lot of real estate, a 12V panel and a PWM controller like Michael's system is a better way to go. Panels (particularly rigid ones) are cheap and MPPT controllers are expensive.
David
[p]I'm not new to Solar power as I have a 4.6Kw system on my Home Roof but a RV Solar setup for the LL will be different.
Thanks for the Suggestions david, as with the investment I did with my SunPower Solar panel Home system, I am still researching the RV Set up.
I may be more likely to go with one of the Portable Folding 12V RV Kits, it too cost a bit more but does offer more, like this one for $549.[/p][p]I've seen these before on campouts but with lower wattage output, they seem to work really good, easy to store away and set up at camp.[/p][p]This one at $549 has a inverter as well, that would come in handy.
Don't really like the idea of drilling any holes in the LL Bearcat Roof or routing all of the other lines through the cabinets and so forth.
http://bhasolar.com/181.html#[/p]
[quote source="/post/10058/thread" author="@david" timestamp="1430169874"]That is a very nice and economical system Michael. But be aware that one reason that Unisolar went backrupt is that the output of their panels deteriorated over time. I had three of their 32 watt panels on a sailboat. After 5 years the output was down by half.
Your 68 watt panel is a nominal 12V panel right? The bigger Unisolar panels available on Amazon or Ebay are 24V panels and need a MPPT controller.
David
[/quote]It's a nominal 12V panel - it floats at something like 18v with no load (IIRC).
I'll watch the output over time. The panel has been in the sun 2 years now, so I should see a drop if it is going to deteriorate.
We use so little power though, that I might not notice a drop.