Tilting Solar Panels (2 Viewers)

[Eggs]

As anyone come up with a design to tilt solar panels on a PVC ?, if so any pictures.

I've seen the sat-dish one.

 

[eddie]

View attachment 474190Of course if roof space is an issue, fit an automatic self tracking solar panel.

100w, and averages FIVE time more efficient when tracking the Sun then when it’s parked and just like a conventional flat’ panel.

Changes direction every hour to chase the Sun, and uses GPS to check correct elevation every morning

 

[Eggs]

I'm sitting down so don't worry...

How much is that?

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[Two on Tour]

Richard n Ann has made his own setup to tilt his panel.

 

[eddie]

I'm sitting down so don't worry...

How much is that?

With or without your Funsters discount?

Which at 10% makes the Alden Phenix £2250 with the discount

 

[TinaLes]

Pleased this subject has been raised, as I have been thinking about this over the last few weeks.
Been trying to find an autolift arrangement, I have looked at TV scissor lifts, 12v actuators, cannot find anything that would suit, & still cant find any worm threaded ones as yet.
There must be something out there that could be adapted or used, that is waterproof etc, but I have still to find it.
If anyone has found something that would work on 12 volt, via a D+auto drop down safety arrangement please let me know.
Thanks
LES

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[paddymcc]

Pleased this subject has been raised, as I have been thinking about this over the last few weeks.
Been trying to find an autolift arrangement, I have looked at TV scissor lifts, 12v actuators, cannot find anything that would suit, & still cant find any worm threaded ones as yet.
There must be something out there that could be adapted or used, that is waterproof etc, but I have still to find it.
If anyone has found something that would work on 12 volt, via a D+auto drop down safety arrangement please let me know.
Thanks
LES

I used to know a guy who designed software to activate ventilation systems in chicken sheds that weren't on mains. These ran on 12v and included automatic opening of windows/ louvres depending on temperature, time of day/ year , sunlight etc .I suspect that the louvre mechanism would have been something that would work but haven't looked into it. It's something on my to do list...

 

[Minxy]

If you do a search for 'tilting solar panel' you should find quite a few threads about them with various solutions which may give you ideas.

 

[Richard n Ann]

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[Westbarn1]

I’m about to fit 2 x tilting 130w solar panels to mine, manual adjustment mind, just waiting for 15 degree plus temperature to use the silkaflex 292 to fix the brackets to the roof, will be able to tilt either to either nearside or offside, but will need access to roof change inclination or fix level for travelling. I expect most of the time they will be left flat. Will add some pics when installed.

 

[Two on Tour]

Pleased this subject has been raised, as I have been thinking about this over the last few weeks.
Been trying to find an autolift arrangement, I have looked at TV scissor lifts, 12v actuators, cannot find anything that would suit, & still cant find any worm threaded ones as yet.
There must be something out there that could be adapted or used, that is waterproof etc, but I have still to find it.
If anyone has found something that would work on 12 volt, via a D+auto drop down safety arrangement please let me know.
Thanks
LES

Get your design and thinking cap on Les.
D+auto drop down is probably the easiest part.

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[Ivory55]

With or without your Funsters discount?

Which at 10% makes the Alden Phenix £2250 with the discount

That’s a more than a gas powered generator, well it would not be a good thread with out a generator in it. Haha

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[Eggs]

With or without your Funsters discount?

Which at 10% makes the Alden Phenix £2250 with the discount

Wow, just wow.

 

[Kannon Fodda]

With or without your Funsters discount?

Which at 10% makes the Alden Phenix £2250 with the discount

At that price I'd need a sunshine guarantee.

 

[Eggs]

I’m about to fit 2 x tilting 130w solar panels to mine, manual adjustment mind, just waiting for 15 degree plus temperature to use the silkaflex 292 to fix the brackets to the roof, will be able to tilt either to either nearside or offside, but will need access to roof change inclination or fix level for travelling. I expect most of the time they will be left flat. Will add some pics when installed.

This is more like what I was thinking of, either tilt from side to side or front to back. Please do put the pictures up when you've completed it.

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[Gaston aires]

We have an Alden phenix fitted to our van. Luckily it was fitted when we purchased the van.The big difference to this and the home made ones is It tilts and tracks the sun automatically. Effectively giving the same output as 4 x 120 watt flat panels and saving lots of roof space.

Amazing piece of kit. It was fitted by vanbitz.
Phil

 

[MitchandJenny]

100w folding suitcase type panel with a plug and lead that goes directly into leasure batteries.
I DO have keep moving it for max effect.
Oooooh. the stress !!
Stores on edge in our wardrobe.
£120. Total !!
Keep It Simple.
Mitch

 

[Gaston aires]

100w folding suitcase type panel with a plug and lead that goes directly into leasure batteries.
I DO have keep moving it for max effect.
Oooooh. the stress !!
Stores on edge in our wardrobe.
£120. Total !!
Keep It Simple.
Mitch

We also had one of these. The big difference is you have to keep moving it and angling it to make it effective. It in no way compares to a tracking system. What happens when you go out for the day ? Also ours did get stolen when we wernt there.

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[Richard n Ann]

100w folding suitcase type panel with a plug and lead that goes directly into leasure batteries.
I DO have keep moving it for max effect.
Oooooh. the stress !!
Stores on edge in our wardrobe.
£120. Total !!
Keep It Simple.
Mitch

We had a freestanding 40w panel for a couple of years, they work very well. The battery was always charged by lunchtime, even in Scotland. Plus it's satisfying and therapeutic to keep moving it for maximum power

 

[MitchandJenny]

We also had one of these. The big difference is you have to keep moving it and angling it to make it effective. It in no way compares to a tracking system. What happens when you go out for the day ? Also ours did get stolen when we wernt there.

We either move it to the optimum position
depending on how long we will be away, or put it away.
VERY stressful....
Mitch

 

[jako999]

When we first had solar panels many years ago I did a few tests with them before I fitted them, pointing directly at the sun, pointing to the side then away from the sun. I was surprised by the findings the power output when the panel was pointed completely away from the sun only dropped by 20%, I would imagine the new cells are even better. We’ve got 2 x 120w panels mounted flat on the roof of our power happy A class, 32” tv full surround sound with sub, mood lighting the lounge has 12 down lighters even the loo has 4 it’s like Blackpool illuminations plus all fans, pump and tablet and phone charging, I think you get the idea. Even on a dull day the batteries are full charged by lunch time. We don’t like larger sites so stay off grid most of the time.
Before you spend a lot of time and money do some tests with your panel and see if its position makes a massive difference, you may be surprised by your findings?

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[two]

I was tempted to get a tracking panel but decided that the claimed improvements might not actually be achieved in practice and I think you'd see many more of them if they were remarkably good.
Canal boats use solar a lot but most seem happy to have flat panels rather than tilt them.
If you want to track the sun, get portable panels. They will be much larger and you can keep them out of the shade, too. The only reason to consider tracking, in my mind, is if you have limited roof space.

 

[jongood]

We have an Alden phenix fitted to our van. Luckily it was fitted when we purchased the van.The big difference to this and the home made ones is It tilts and tracks the sun automatically. Effectively giving the same output as 4 x 120 watt flat panels and saving lots of roof space. Amazing piece of kit. It was fitted by vanbitz.
Phil

They are a good piece of kit and angling the panels towards the sun does make a lot of sense, but I do question the maths stating equivalent to 480w of fixed. Its a 100w PV that is always angled towards the sun so your going to get max 5.5-6 watts out of it. I would expect to be getting twice that out of 480w even at this time of year and here in Shropshire. In Southern Europe summer I would be expecting low 20's. I saw 21w last week on my current 600w and the motorhome was angled downhill away from the sun.

 

[Richard n Ann]

Just tilting a roof panel south is enough. I made ours tilt because we used a compressor coolbox at the time and were in Benidorm in September/October.
The charge rate flat was about 2 amps, but raised up went up to about 8 amps.

Blue sky with no direct sun is the worst scenario, then overcast white sky, then full sun.

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[eddie]

I was tempted to get a tracking panel but decided that the claimed improvements might not actually be achieved in practice and I think you'd see many more of them if they were remarkably good.

No the cost is too high in most cases, that’s why you don’t see them, not the effectiveness

I had one fitted three campers ago, as roof space was more of an issue.

My current van has space so it was much cheaper to put 3 x 150w panels

Alden, claim when tracking its on average five times more efficient, which was pretty much what we found when we tested one.

We have one installed on the Van Bitz Exhibition Unit if anyone ever wants to see one, not that we anticipate exhibiting at shows again, well certainly till October NEC 2022

 

[Gaston aires]

They are a good piece of kit and angling the panels towards the sun does make a lot of sense, but I do question the maths stating equivalent to 480w of fixed. Its a 100w PV that is always angled towards the sun so your going to get max 5.5-6 watts out of it. I would expect to be getting twice that out of 480w even at this time of year and here in Shropshire. In Southern Europe summer I would be expecting low 20's. I saw 21w last week on my current 600w and the motorhome was angled downhill away from the sun.

I meant 4 x 100 watt. Cant edit it now, too late.

 

[jongood]

No the cost is too high in most cases, that’s why you don’t see them, not the effectiveness

I had one fitted three campers ago, as roof space was more of an issue.

My current van has space so it was much cheaper to put 3 x 150w panels

Alden, claim when tracking its on average five times more efficient, which was pretty much what we found when we tested one.

We have one installed on the Van Bitz Exhibition Unit if anyone ever wants to see one, not that we anticipate exhibiting at shows again, well certainly till October NEC 2022

Surely it depends when and where you re using it? If its a 100w then the max is going to be 6 amps? or is it more?

Our previous mh had 200w with a cheapy chinese mppt regulator and I regularly saw more than 6 amps in the summer and as much as 10a in Spain

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[eddie]

Surely it depends when and where you re using it? If its a 100w then the max is going to be 6 amps? or is it more?

Our previous mh had 200w with a cheapy chinese mppt regulator and I regularly saw more than 6 amps in the summer and as much as 10a in Spain

No, 100w is 100w But most panels will only produce 100w when the panel is perpendicular to the sun. Therefore if a panel is producing 100w midday in June it won't be producing 100w at 08:00 or at 18:00

Where as the Phenix is perpendicular to the sun potentially from the moment the sun rises until it sets, thus being on average five times more efficient.

But good as they are they are too expensive, unless its vital that you have lots of solar and have limited roof space, in which case to some, price is less important than performance

Its a bit like telling someone who has just ordered a Morello that they are stupid as they could have converted a Transit and saved a couple of hundred thousand pounds. Not every decision is made on cost, and just because one person cannot afford or justify something it doesn't make someone else wrong.

 

[TinaLes]

Just to broaden this conversation slightly, its all well and good having enough solar to match your battery bank usage, but as we all know it very much depends on the light conditions, location, time of year etc.
The Alden Unit looks like a clever piece of kit and it should harvest as much solar energy as is available, but its price puts may off as we have witnessed on here.
The new kid on the block to help solve many issues, seems to be the portable lithium Power Packs, which many van lifers are using through the winter as they have had them donated from the likes of PowerOak....lucky so & so's.

A 2kw Power Pack currently costs around £2-2.1K, for those that haven't seen these in action they have many 12 volt outlets to charge your mobile stuff, plus an in built inverter to supply a 2KW load at 240v via 2 sockets.

At 2 KW, they can run most of the stuff that we currently need an inverter for, like coffee machines, hair dryers, even low current cycles on a washing machine. If plugged into your van EHU socket they can help charge up your hab batteries also.
They are fully portable, no noise or pollution produced, some come with a 5 year warranty.
The units themselves can be charged via their own solar source, a B2B, or plugged into the mains, no worries if you change vans in the future, take it with you.
NB: They are quite heavy though, so eat your Weetabix.
Its another option, worth considering, and like most things lithium, who knows the prices may drop in the future when the market in these devices expands more.
LES

 

[eddie]

Just to broaden this conversation slightly, its all well and good having enough solar to match your battery bank usage, but as we all know it very much depends on the light conditions, location, time of year etc.
The Alden Unit looks like a clever piece of kit and it should harvest as much solar energy as is available, but its price puts may off as we have witnessed on here.
The new kid on the block to help solve many issues, seems to be the portable lithium Power Packs, which many van lifers are using through the winter as they have had them donated from the likes of PowerOak....lucky so & so's.

A 2kw Power Pack currently costs around £2-2.1K, for those that haven't seen these in action they have many 12 volt outlets to charge your mobile stuff, plus an in built inverter to supply a 2KW load at 240v via 2 sockets.

At 2 KW, they can run most of the stuff that we currently need an inverter for, like coffee machines, hair dryers, even low current cycles on a washing machine. If plugged into your van EHU socket they can help charge up your hab batteries also.
They are fully portable, no noise or pollution produced, some come with a 5 year warranty.
The units themselves can be charged via their own solar source, a B2B, or plugged into the mains, no worries if you change vans in the future, take it with you.
NB: They are quite heavy though, so eat your Weetabix.
Its another option, worth considering, and like most things lithium, who knows the prices may drop in the future when the market in these devices expands more.
LES

Much better to simply fit a Lithium battery to be honest.

Power packs are fine for tents and weekends away in in your works van, need to be taken home and plugged into the mains to be charged up for the following weekends "trip"

One of our customers was sold / Bought one and was telling us that it will charge through the cigar lighter at 30 amps!

Not without setting fire to the socket and wiring it wouldn't!

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