Solar on a tintop

[Mocki]

It's raining and dull this morning and mine is charging at 2.1amps

I want what you have got !!!!

Mine must be a real crappy make, I'm lucky if I get 100mA on an overcast winters day.

I can't possibly comment on yours, but mine is a 150w good quality semi flexible panel mounted on the roof,
It is what it is, it does the job, and it does it well.... I have not needed to use a hook up since I fitted it and it hasn't cost a penny since the initial outlay .

[slowcoach]

I think its reasonable to ask how to fit one to a tintop given that no one seems to have done it

I have, though its a fibreglass top. It has ridges similarly. Struggling to find closeup images of my brackets though..

[CovKid]

Well its arrived. Definately won't fit between ridges so I'll need to raise gap between ridges to same height. Challenge for the weekend. I think polycarbonate sheeting best solution I can think of.

E D I T: On second thoughts, being as a single sheet is about £25, interior upvc cladding will do it, cut in sections to give the panel something to sit on between ridges. £3.09 a length in Wickes. http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-PVCu-Whi ... 9000018462" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; .

or even: http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-PVCu-Whi ... m/p/120383" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

May help someone else that encounters this problem.

[Mocki]

may as well add some silver foil type insulation while you are doing that , bit of insulation never does any harm??

[CovKid]

Don't tempt me Steve. I was about to do whole roof in polycarbonate sheeting

Opted for the latter stuff as it looked right thickness and was cheap. No silkaflex but got some clear trade-strength siroflex. Claims to stick anything to anything. I'll roughen surfaces slightly including edges of back of panel. Should be fine. Says it will stick upvc to metal.

[CJH]

E D I T: On second thoughts, being as a single sheet is about £25, interior upvc cladding will do it, cut in sections to give the panel something to sit on between ridges. £3.09 a length in Wickes. http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-PVCu-Whi ... 9000018462" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; .

or even: http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-PVCu-Whi ... m/p/120383" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Are you going to lay your strips across the van, i.e. the full width of the van, and if so will they curve sufficiently? Or are you going to lay multiple strips lengthways and have the panel bridge between them?

[CovKid]

The latter, although trying something else first to see if I can get a more precise thickness - a couple of layers of estate agent plastic sign board. Its lightweight and unaffected by moisture. From what I've read, flexible panels have a propensity to dip in places, allowing small puddles of water to build on the surface after its rained. It would seem worth trying to build a surface less likely to encourage this.

On the downside, weather looks terrible tomorrow

[Mocki]

never had any water pool on mine.....

[CovKid]

I think it might if its only supported by strips rather than sitting on an even surface. Just waiting for traffic to die down before I hit Wickes again lol

SWIFTEC ANTINOX - you can sandwich it. Hopefully weather forecast lies for tomorrow. Makes an interesting insulation material too.

[CJH]

Well I couldn't resist. I've ordered a pack of 30 DIY cells from here. I plan to make a 100W panel to precisely fit inside my windscreen. Depending on how unwieldy my template feels I may well make it in two halves that plug together. And as it won't be fixed I won't be tied to using it inside the screen if I'm parked in the shade.



If I get anywhere I'll start a separate thread so as not to take this one off course.

[CovKid]

Put the supports on today while the sun was out. Will leave for 24 hours to make sure they're stuck well then I'll seal edges. After dismissing using estate agent plastic board on grounds I'd be making a giant sponge, I used this stuff. This plastic 'H' shaped strip is normally used between plastic roofing sheets (Wickes sell it: http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-PVCu-Whi ... m/p/120383" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) and cut to 49cm lengths, the stip works out about the right thickness allowing for slight curve in panel (left to right). Stuck down with grip & grab. One full length (£2.99) is enough. The solar panel will sit on these as well as on the roof ribs by about an inch. Should have little to no effect on wind drag. Despite panel being flexible, its still fairly stiff but the supports will help keep it flat and give me more to bond to.

Left enough of a gap on the strip nearest camera to feed the cable out. May go down B-pillar - not sure yet. My leisure battery is directly below - hence why I put panel here (between B & C pillars). On the other hand I could drill one small hole in roof under the panel and take wire under headlining so no exterior wiring shows at all. Seems a shame to make a hole but I'll need one somewhere however I do it.

Mines a right-hooker (sliding door furthest away in pic) so decided to offset panel position so it will sit more towards camera or drivers side (by about 2") so it can't foul or be blocked by any awning fittings on the other side. Just hoping I've thought of everything.

The nice thing about fitting like this is if I wanted to add another panel (unlikely), it can go on the next section to the left and the wires fed under the first solar panel via the gap (bottom left).

[CJH]

Just hoping I've thought of everything.

When (not if) you get water under the panel, is there a way for it drain out from the spaces in between the strips?

[CovKid]

Yep. Left room for that too.

[Mocki]

you may as well put some silver foil bubble wrap under there too, keep some of that heat out of your van in summer and warm in ?
and stop any chance of "Drumming" or whistling ??
that radiator backing stuff from aldi im thinking

[CovKid]

Was trying to think of a way of doing that Steve, without creating some sort of capillary action - ie if water does get in that it doesn't sit there for months - unless I glue it to the underside of the panel itself so its clear of the roof? That might work.

The other thing I don't know as I've never replaced a complete tintop roof, is are the B pillars open at the top - underneath the roof. If they are, I could drill straight down above the gutter line and feed the panel directly down the B pillar and out at the bottom where the battery boxes are. That would be my preferred way - makes the cable run short too. I guess even if it was closed, a long enough drill bit would get it through.

Feeding it under the roof headling isn't an option on a Caravelle as much of it is padding (awkward) and running the cable on the outside over the gutter would still mean drilling a hole and would look really untidy.