My Flexible Thin Solar Panel Setup

[DAV!D]

[ThankYouJerry]

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1990 Multivan - "Ohana"
1.8T, Auto w/3.27 R&P + Peloquin TBD

[noganav]

They are similar, but not the identical. Notice that Hodakaguy's panels are 4x9, 110w panels. Not sure where he found these, but that is the size you want to cover your roof perfectly. Renogy's and most others are 4x8, 100w. I've seen 4x10, 120W and 4x11 135w panels online, but I've never found the 4x9 ones like Hodakaguy used.

[ThankYouJerry]

Indeed! Sharp eye noganav! I sent Hodakaguy a PM to see if he will post more info here.
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1990 Multivan - "Ohana"
1.8T, Auto w/3.27 R&P + Peloquin TBD

[Hodakaguy]

Hi Guys. These panels are indeed 110W units and fit the width of the top perfectly. They were ordered directly from China from a friend, he had to buy a minimum order (I think 10 or 20 panels) to get them. I bought three panels from him.

I see they are available on Alibaba, you could probably set up a group buy and do a direct buy on them. The plus side is you can get them cheaper that way, downside is someone has to front the money for the order.

Hodakaguy
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My Syncro Build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=517384

My Unimog Build: https://advrider.com/f/threads/meet-the-trotn-turtle-unimog-u1300l-build.1143869/

My Tacoma Builds: https://advrider.com/f/threads/hodakaguys-overland-tacoma-builds-on-to-new-adventures.1274770/

My 4wd Sprinter Build here:https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9334401#9334401

[Xtremjeepn]

The thing I love about solar is that it's always charging without putting any thought or effort into it.

Seems like solar panels that have to be deployed don't fully take adavantage of solar.

They are essentially only charging when you remember to deploy them while setting up camp. They are not charging when you are at a trail head where you might be afraid of getting them stolen, or while you are in a restaurant eating , running into the store to get supplies, or sleeping in because you got into camp late and didn't go set them up the night before.


Also seems like the very space limited interior of a Vanagon would benefit form anything that can be mounted outside, no matter how small.

I could see the advantage of being able to remove them if you were camping in a hot spot and wanted to put the van in the shade and put the panels in the sun. The rest of the time I'd want them stored on the roof where they can do their magic!

[Forthwithtx]

For a permanent installation, I keep thinking about how these panels might withstand a hail storm. One bad moment outside or on the road, and you could be out a bunch of money. Anyone have any experience with this?

[DAV!D]

[benandmj]

Has anyone come up with any other non invasive ways to semipermanently mount these thin panels? Mine is stowed in the upper bunk but as I sit here and stare at my van parked in front of my house, I really wish the panel was mounted so the fridge could be on. I'd still like to be able to easily take the panel down and move it around when camping.
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85 Westfalia Weekender
91 Syncro Westy

[DAV!D]

[DubNuts]

.
Thanks for all who approved of my Solar setup, I realize it's not everyone's cup of tea but, Hey it's just an idea that I had and it works for me so thought that I'd share it.

These Thin Solar Panels are the same ones that are often used for Marine use Sailboats, Ocean going Yachts etc. They can be stepped on, and Salt water, and Weather resistant. They are built to standup to the elements.

They are conforming in shape and often are glued onto curved Decks.

Luckily Boats on the water don't have to deal with tree shadows or shade as our Vanagons do.

Perhaps not perfect for everyone's needs. Myself I didn't want to drill holes into my Top, as technology changes quickly, and for now this works for me. Besides even if I wanted to change the panel the rest of the charging system is already there just change the panel if you so chose when Solar technology changes.
But I truly believe that this solution is much more versatile and portable for my needs. In the event of change it leaves no holes to patch or fill in your Poptop as many other applications require. Plus it's portable enough to catch some rays regardless what side of your Camper the Suns shinning on, because your not limited to a fixed poptop install, and moving your camper often to catch better rays. In this case, Simply move the Panel.

If someone wanted to leave one of these deployed on there poptop while parked or stored. It would be easy enough to simply obtain some industrial strength Velco and apply about a 3 or 4" piece to the four corners.

I have also come up with a easy lock system, not overly secure but it will slow down the quick snatch thief from walking away with your Panel. But heck if a thief wants something there get it regardless how securely you mount it.

I'll post more Pics soon as I can get back on it..

[PDXWesty]

[tim_ha]

I thought I would chime in and share my mounting solution as well as hail experience...

I have the same panels, though mine I bought on ebay as 90watt panels. I believe they are the same dimensions as the OP has. I have a unique set-up with my custom pop-top, but also didn't want to pop any holes in my van. For mounting, I found some stainless perforated base studs on McMaster-Carr that fit through the grommets on the solar panels and epoxied them to the wooden pop-top roof before I monstalinered it.

The panels are connected in parallel and the cables run back along the rear roof rack down into the rear pillar. From there they pass forward around the gas tank (Syncro) and in through one of the holes left from the removed rear heater line where I located the charge controller and house battery.

One thing that I don't like about how I mounted the panels is that they tend to flap somewhat in the wind when driving at higher speeds or into a wind. On the other hand, the airflow keeps the panels cool and running at peak efficiency.

The setup worked incredible for the first 9 months of my trip! I never had to worry about plugging in and rarely even combined while driving to get some charge from the alternator. It was in a campground in Mendoza, Argentina that the hail storm hit. We quickly had golf ball sized hail pelting us. I figured that the panels should be ok. I was dead wrong. I have not seen more than about 60 watts total coming from both panels. For reference, the previous record that I saw was about 160 watts.

Looking at the damage, it is easy to see the dents. Most of the dents have some cracking of the plastic laminate on top of the cells. It is difficult to tell whether the silicone wafers are cracked or what exactly is causing the loss in output. I honestly have not had the time to thoroughly look into it or play with the panels. In the little bit of tinkering, I wonder if there aren't some sort of delimitation issues with the backing on the silicone wafers. We limped by for the last 3 months of our trip and will look into it and probably replace the panels when I get back home. I just stuffed the van into a container in Valparaiso, Chile and will pick it up in Galveston in about a month.

I would STRONGLY recommend that anyone with permanently mounted flexible panels have an emergency plan to cover the panels in case of hail.
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1986 Syncro Sunroof EJ22
www.subagonsouth.com

[vanagonjr]

Posted 7/20/2014

[noganav]

Each panel is a 120W KingSolar from Amazon. Very high quality. I like them for a few reasons. The attachments are on the back, which makes for cleaner mounting. Also they are 9 x 4, which makes them the perfect width for the roof. The price fluctuates up and down a bit. I got both for $440 including shipping from Singapore which took a few weeks. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R8SMVC2

The panels mount to Thule tracks on the poptop. The Thule feet clear it so I can move the bars around if need be. I used expansion nuts as rubber feet to hold it up a little in the center, the whole thing is pretty low profile, sits about 3/4 inch up from the top of the poptop.

I made the frame out of aluminum strips (this picture is before I cleaned up the wiring joining the panels).

It's wired in series so that I could use just a single fuse between the panel and the controller. I got an Instapark MPPT, and put all the electrical the little cubby beside the water tank.
http://www.amazon.com/Instapark%C2%AE-MPPT-2010-Solar-Charge-Controller/dp/B00B11SSVA

It's protected by a blue sea switchable breaker mounted in the small cubby at the top of the back cabinet. The plug is an Aqua Signal. Each pin is capable of 16 amps so I split the current among 4 pins. The plug is very nice once it's all set up, but I wouldn't recommend it because it's extremely difficult to get the wires properly seated. It literally took hours. The panels are easily removable, secured by tamper proof screws. I'll make an extension cord for it once my fingers recover from putting the plug together.

It's currently making 38 volts in the California sun

I've got a surepower 1314 combiner for automatic charging from the alternator. I'm going to add a bypass so I can manually combine the batteries and decide which battery provides power to all the interior accessories. I'll add a picture and description of that once it's all set up.

[Benjabear]

Hello all,

1st post here... so go easy on me. Just picked up an '87 vanagon westy. I will be living/working out of it and looking for power source options. I will be powering an 80w-ish toshiba laptop, iphone 4, 4G internet card, and the famously inefficient original camper fridge

1) goal zero yeti 400 ... seems pricey and the Nomad 20 panel wouldnt be enough energy... am I correct?

2) flexible solar panels... looking at the Renogy marine 100w kit. Either keeping them detached or attaching to the topper with 3M VHS tape... scary Embarassed

What is the difference between the PWN, PWN-LCD, and MPPT controllers?

I am confused on the watts/amps... How big of an inverter do I need?

Any ideas on what deep cycle battery(ies) to use?

I am also confused on how to hook up the system to the fridge... again, go easy on me.

3) Any other options are very welcome!

Thanks!

[kamzcab86]

[tjet]

Has anyone tried these Go Power flexible solar panels?

I'm interested in something like this that I can glue to my tintop roof (no screws) - & it will conform to the roof curve line.

http://gpelectric.com/products/solar-flex-kits-modules

[DubNuts]

..
Dude..
There the one's we'll already using.

That company's just marketing them as a Kit..

You'd probably be able to pick and buy your own parts and build it for cheap.

BTWyou mentioned glue them down, so if your looking to glue these down like they did in that RV video, I'd wouldn't go to nuts with the Siklfex etc because one day you just might want to remove or relocate it, and you may damage the panel trying to up it..

Good Luck

[tjet]

Dude,

I didn't know Renogy & Go Power were using the same panels