Solar panel fitting (1 Viewer)

[Emmit]

Greetings,

In advance of buying a motorhome, can I ask a question about fitting a solar panel to the roof of our as yet, not bought 'van.

At the mo. We have an 80 watt panel which measures about 4' x 2' and is free standing for when we go off piste in our present caravan.

The question I have to ask is this;
Is there a fitment for solar panels that would allow the user to angle the panel either facing front (or back) preferably both, when on site. I am envisioning it being fitted with the retractable bolts that have built in springs once 'set'. The owner could arrive on site, figure out which is the optimum direction and then adjust the solar panel once parked.

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

To about 35 degrees latitude, it is about 20% loss, so in Oz, we generally conclude that it is not worth the trouble (or the risk of breaking your neck), so we just add some more solar and forget it (solar is cheaper now than ever before).

You guys up north will loose more with flat panels, but it is still worth doing the sums. Adding a second panel should cost less than 80 pounds. End of problem.

Cheers,
Peter

 

[tonka]

Why bother ?? 99% of vans just have them flat and are happy with what they do..

Your efforts and cash would be better spent in maybe adding another extra panel to the one you have or selling yours and just having a larger panel...
With the sun moving your never going to get it at it's optimum angle for long unless you splash out on one of those flash auto tracking beasts...

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[Tootles]

Got one on our narrowboat, it's been there for about four years, and works really well keeping a bank of 6 service batteries 'warm' in the winter. A couple of years ago, I built an angled frame for it, and must agree that whilst facing the sun, it did increase the charge rate, however, once the sun moved around, the loss was greater then the initial gain. And so, unless you want to be leaping up and down to change the thing towards the sun, leave it flat.