Solar panel in the luggage rack

[unibagel]

Can you post the link to the hinges? Thanks!

[jackbombay]

[VanDwellerFeller]

[VanDwellerFeller]

[Rich_T]

The codderless hitch pins came from Ace Hardware. I chose 1/4" dia for no particular reason other than it looked about right.

[macjack]

Rich_t, that is an elegant and highly functional hard panel mount. Like the locking and tilting functions.
On my setup, the ¼ inch plexiglas support panel by itself under the flexible Suoki panel didn't survive the winter cold, loaded with snow, and with my friend stress testing my cv joints by doing donuts in a rutted ski area parking lot. Hilarious, fun, and ill advised, the cv oints survived and the plexiglas panel cracked. I decided to replace it with a 2'x4' (18gauge?) perforated steel sheet, cut to fit the Suoki panel.

Heavy enough to be super solid without actually adding too much weight..

UV resistant tape wrapped over the cut edges. We'll see how long it stays stuck. So far so good, kinds, so long as the panel is on top..

Solar panel mounted on top of the steel sheet, under aluminum flat bars across the front and back edges.

Still nice and low profile, and the solar panel remains easily removable with a wrench I leave in the glovebox

I think luggage rack mounted panels make the van marginally more aerodynamic on the highway than with the open luggage rack. I may be wrong but I notice less wind noise up there than without the panel. Smaller low pressure area creating less turbulence?

I am thinking that since this is not stainless, I might want to paint it so it doesn't leave rust trails in my luggage rack.
Any suggestions on painting the steel sheet?
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87 TDI Syncro Westy
81 Westy (sold)
80 Rabbit Wolfsburg (rolled)
Bike as primary transportation

[owokie]

[macjack]

[hansh]

This panel never came up during my searches. I wanted to leave a reference to it on the forum for others. I wanted a 100W panel, but I needed it to fit in the luggage rack so that my racks stay clear for the cargo box and for paddleboards. I was hesitant to go with a trimmed flexible panel d/t seeing reports of thin panels having decreased longevity. I don’t know if that’s true, but I was happy to find this rigid panel and not have to risk it.

Anyway, this panel fits perfectly on a 1 inch riser. I set it up to be tiltable/removable using all aluminum support.

100W Renogy Compact Design

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‘85 ej22
'84 Westfalia

[davevickery]

[crazyvwvanman]

Yes, thanks for sharing, that is the fit I have been looking for. A 100 watt that fits down inside the front luggage area without any trimming of anything, wow. Already ordered, should have it hooked up for our Turkey Day camping trip.

Mark

[Steve Arndt]

How did you run the wiring inside from the luggage rack?
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Steve
Steve's 87 Syncro project

[jimf909]

I don't know how the OP did it, but I ran wires from my solar panel, through that drain hole, through a grommet in the canvas and down the drivers side b-pillar.
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- Jim

[kevtherev]

My Brother in law stuck his 100w to the roof of the westy

I strung the panel across the luggage rail
And yes it stows flat for travelling.
I need the tilt in the low winter sun

My pal fixed his flexible panel directly to the roof

Getting good amps from my 150 watt array.

[mtnride1]

I prefer a portable panel. It is nice to park in the shade and I am able to move the panel around to follow the sun. 120 watt panel with 165ah battery under the van and my 48ah under the drivers seat.
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87 westy 2wd (NED)

[kevtherev]

[davevickery]

The ideal portable panel is one that fits in the luggage rack and can be used in place or moved away from the van. One of the 100 W panels that folds in half so that 1/2 of it is active and providing power was a decent solution. But this would be a lot better with some hinged and quick release mounts so it can lay flat or rotate up 45 degrees, or pop it out of the mounts and set it up on the ground. I think most places, you can get enough power from a 100 Watt panel not to have to worry about having it optimally placed.

This would be the ideal panel for one of the vendors to make a clever mounting kit for.

[henry_de_la_cour]

[Syncronoid]

Now that one can buy a 100 watt panel for the luggage rack space, I upgraded from 3x20 to 1x100. That's an extra 20% for my system for 227watts total.

[PopnDough]

I managed to install one of those Renegy 100W compact solar panels on my '85 Weekender, and for some reason I wanted it to fold up, and rotate, so I bought a 16 inch aluminum lazy susan bearing, and 2 Renegy tilt mount sets.

I also bought a locking surfboard strap w/steel cable to lock it down to the holddowns.

It takes like 10 minutes to set it up once you get it down, and I made 2 sets of braces at different lengths so you can tilt the panel at a steeper angle.

It can rotate 360 degrees(although the poptop would block the sun some if you faced it backwards) as long as the wires don't get twisted too much.

I just barely got it installed the day before my camping trip to Maine, so I spent 2 hours the first night at my campsite hooking up the wires, but after that, it ran my little fridge off a 50ah battery pretty well. I glued it down with some leftover marine adhesive I had.