Just finished an installation

[Jake Royd]

I thought I would post my experience
Follows on from this comment

Which type of screw/bolt for solar panel installation?

Hopefully last question regards solar installation? what are the best screws/bolts for securing the panel to the side/corner plastic mounts. I’ve searched and thought there might be better solutions to self tappers ?

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

I bought a 200w mono panel , which is big for my roof.
I bought 'traditional' corner brackets but added 2 sets of in between brackets due to the panels size.
The panel is about 1.3 x 1.1m and can produce , so it says . 11A maximum.
I wired it in the way I was inquiring about in this thread:, ie with the CBE system , using the -B2. +B2 and +B1 posts on the 12v distribution unit (a CBE DS-304TR)

Some quick silly questions.

Planning an install on my motorhome. I have a 2 battery , PWM 20A controller. 1) Once the mounting brackets are fixed to the panel I am planning to glue the panel to the motorhome roof using Sikaflex 252i. Is this a good solution?(reason is to avoid holes in the roof. 2) Most panels come with a...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

Used Sikaflex 252i as the adhesive.
used 6mm sq cable.
Used 30A inline fuses.
used a two battery 20A PWM controller.

All when well and appears to be working fine.
I tested it by starting the engine and connecting the EHU, all seems to be OK.

The plate you can see in the picture before mounting the panel is covered up by the panel and does not touch it at all.

The hardest part was working out a plan to get the panel up there (weighs in at 15Kg) and how to apply the adhesive and get it into place.
In the end I whent for getting the panel up dry, inverting it, and then applying the adhesive once up there.
I then placed it perpendicular to the roof and walked around it and guided it down into position.
The wiring was no mean feat either.

Before

After

Conduit box

 

[pappajohn]

That TV aerial may cause problems when it's raised due to shadowing on the panel.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

Looks nice and neat a good job done. You just need to fasten the cables under the panel edge or use some stick on conduit to run them in, save them flapping about when your driving.

 

[Jake Royd]

That TV aerial may cause problems when it's raised due to shadowing on the panel.

Yes, it is quite close , I shall experiment with it.
The panel allegedly includes diodes to reduce the effect of shading.

 

[Jake Royd]

Looks nice and neat a good job done. You just need to fasten the cables under the panel edge or use some stick on conduit to run them in, save them flapping about when your driving.

Yes, you are right.
Some finishing off to be done.
I might stick them to the underside of the frame.
I decided to site the cable gland box sideways to reduce the quite noticeable fight in the cables , ie. to give them the best stress free run. I should have, I know sited the cable exits downwind , pointing backwards but it did not work without having the cables in a big circular arc.

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[DBK]

Nice panel shame about the controller. I know it's more money but a Votronic MPPT controller would be better than the PWM type you have and they can charge both sets of batteries like the one you have. I have a Victron controller but for dual outputs Votronic are probably better.

I'm not criticising what you've done but a few extra pounds for a better controller would have been best.

 

[Jake Royd]

Nice panel shame about the controller. I know it's more money but a Votronic MPPT controller would be better than the PWM type you have and they can charge both sets of batteries like the one you have. I have a Victron controller but for dual outputs Votronic are probably better.

I'm not criticising what you've done but a few extra pounds for a better controller would have been best.

You are right #DBK but so far the cheap controller looks like it's doing it's job. 200w is enough to not require too much optimizing by using an MPPT controller. hopefully

 

[rosalan]

May I suggest that you consider self adhesive cable clips on the roof to stop them slapping about when driving.

 

[Jake Royd]

I thought I might give an indication of costs:-

Panel £140 in January sale
Brackets 8 off & cable gland £35
Adhesive £32
Cable £24
Fuse holders £5
Controller £35 SH from the Forum

 

[MickAm]

Good installation,
Quick question.
Did you use pre-wired cable to your cbe unit or did you run all new cables to batteries?

thanks

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[Nasher]

Good job - well done

 

[Jake Royd]

Good installation,
Quick question.
Did you use pre-wired cable to your cbe unit or did you run all new cables to batteries?

thanks

I used the terminals in the CBE distribution box -B2, +B1 and +B2
These in my motorhome , are under the foot of the fixed bed.
Using a multimeter I could check which +B was the cab battery and which the leisure battery.
I made up 6mm2 tails with looped ends and connected these to those terminals , quite a careful job due to all the cables in the area.
The solar output , downstream of the controller was then connected to these tails, via an inline fuse on each positive.
the controller needs an earth for both the cab and hab batteries. I used the tail with the -B2 (earth) on it and commoned both earths together.

My reasoning was that this avoided the need to run a separate cable to each battery.
When the engine is running the rise in voltage on both +B1 and +B2 means that the solar controller 'sees' fully charged batteries and does not pass any current.


I assumed (fortunately correctly) that the resistance in the opposite direction (diodes?) meant that current from the alternator does not pass through the controller to the panel.

Anyway, it all seems to work and I could get the cables from the panel (6mm2 and quite thick) also down and into the area under the foot of the bed easily.

 

[Jake Royd]

Nice panel shame about the controller. I know it's more money but a Votronic MPPT controller would be better than the PWM type you have and they can charge both sets of batteries like the one you have. I have a Victron controller but for dual outputs Votronic are probably better.

I'm not criticising what you've done but a few extra pounds for a better controller would have been best.

I might do this later , I know there is a Votronic MPPT controller which looks very similar in case shape and terminal layout to the PWM one I used.

 

[Abacist]

From the look of the roof before the panel was fitted can I not see slightly whiter areas where a previous panel's corner fittings might have been fitted, perhaps by a previous owner? I originally thought that the plate was from a Satellite dish but who knows? Just an observation and the new panel looks great!

 

[Jake Royd]

From the look of the roof before the panel was fitted can I not see slightly whiter areas where a previous panel's corner fittings might have been fitted, perhaps by a previous owner? I originally thought that the plate was from a Satellite dish but who knows? Just an observation and the new panel looks great!

The whiter areas were done by me to prepare for the fitting of this panel, there wasn't one before
The plate probably was from a satellite dish. This is the first motorhome we bought and I must admit when we bought it I never looked on the roof so only discovered it later.
The new panel covers it up nicely , and remains well clear of the upstanding nuts and bolts

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[Nixdorfer]

Looks good.

We have exactly the same plate on our roof. Assumed from an old sat setup.

Gonna cover it with our new panel like yours did, ideally would like to get rid as would save a few kg but doubt it will want to come off without a fight.

 

[Raul]

I meant to post this for anyone interested to calculate their solar harvest, just move the cursor for the location, and input your values on the right of the screen. I get very accurate estimates on fixed locations.

JRC Photovoltaic Geographical Information System (PVGIS) - European Commission

Photovoltaic Geographical Information System (PVGIS)

re.jrc.ec.europa.eu