Installed 200w semi-flexible panel on Yakima rack

GeoMars

I finally completed our solar installation. Most of the jobs already have helpful tips on this forum (moving the spare tire to the front tongue, installing two 105Ah batteries in a vented box in the passenger-side bench compartment, installing Bogart battery monitor on the wall above the TV, installing Bogart charge controller in the driver-side bench compartment, installing a switch on the TV and stereo circuits).

I had planned to install a 200 w solar panel using the 3M tape to adhere it directly to the T@B, but I had quite a few problems ordering a decent panel. For my first 2 attempts, I ordered directly from China, and neither one arrived. One reimbursed by my credit card and one reimbursed by PayPal. I ordered the third one (Elfeland 200w) on Ebay for ~$280, and it did arrive, but the cell temperatures were extremely uneven (~70°F spread in temperatures), despite being advertised as Class A cells. The seller refunded my money, and told me to keep the panel. The fourth one I ordered was from a different seller on Ebay, and it had an 89° range in cell temperatures. (One was up to 230°F when it was only 70° outside.) So I returned that one for a refund. After 4 purchases, I had 4 refunds and 1 panel that gets too hot (in short-circuit operation putting out a full 200w). 

 I looked online and found that another manufacturer issued a recall for their panels and remedied the problem by adhering a sheet of aluminum to the back of the solar panels, so I did a similar installation shown in the attached photo.
(1) Mounted three 2"x1" aluminum tubes horizontally between the Yakima tracks.
(2) Screwed a sheet of 0.09" aluminum to those 3 cross-tubes.
(3) Used the 3M tape to adhere the solar panel to the aluminum.

Now if an individual cell gets too hot, at least it has the relatively thick aluminum sheet to even out the temperature. 

It would have been less work and perhaps less expensive to install a rigid panel, so I don't know if I would have done it this way if the seller hadn't told me to keep the overheating panel. But I like how the panel follows the contour of the T@B, and the panel still puts out full rated power.

jkjenn

Great job!

Haloo

Sweet!  Let us know how it performs.  I might end up helping my sister install solar on her new 320 Boondock, and this is a nice install.

OpenSky

Thanks for sharing.

This is interesting.  I'd previously planned an install similar to what you've done.  I was worried about temperature/cooling of the panels, didn't want the weight/bulk/fragility of rigid panels, and wanted easy removal if a panel failed. 

Of late I've been leaning back towards bonding the flexible panels to the roof using a narrow silicone adhesive bead around the perimeter that can be cut with a wire.  Perhaps I should backtrack.  We don't have rack in our '16 320 S Max though, so I would need to locate the internal frame members for mounting points.

jkjenn

I will be interested to see how the new Renogy flexible panels perform. I am intrigued by the way they designed them and how it impacts performance.

Michigan_Mike

Thanks for taking the time to share your photo and details of this project as no doubt it will help others down the road.  Well done!  

GeoMars

jkjenn, it was Renogy that had the recall I mentioned for an older version of their semi-flexible panels. Hopefully this new model corrected the problem.

jkjenn

GeoMars said:

jkjenn, it was Renogy that had the recall I mentioned for an older version of their semi-flexible panels. Hopefully this new model corrected the problem.

Yeah. They had them off of the market for a couple of years.

Trailpixie

This looks great.  Where did you run the wires?

GeoMars

The wires run for about 2 feet through a flexible plastic raceway cover on the roof (from Home Depot), then into an RV wire gland (Amazon), through the roof into the air conditioner compartment, down the inside of the wall between the air conditioner and shower, and finally connecting to the Trimetric charge controller that is located under the bench on the drivers side.