Fixed solar upgrade. Flexi or rigid?

[Captain Quick]

Mines fixed to 4mm twin wall using the eyelets in the panel and then the twin wall stuck on with VHB tape - it’s holding strong. Can’t understand why more people don’t use twin wall, it only raises it 4mm but gives the panel airflow under it.

Me too. It’s what I’m planning to do but on a sheet of 10mm twinwall. This will still only increase the van height by 13mm. It’ll be mounted so the tubes run fore and aft, with the leading edge sealed up to stop water ingress. Any moisture that finds its way inside will get drained out when the pop-top is lifted up.

 

[Green Giant]

I think I will also seal up the front leading edge under the panel, I guess the hot air will find its way out of the back, and like you say, with the poptop up, it will drain anything out,

 

[TheBambooBus]

I have had a flurry of orders for the Integrated Dakine Pad & Cross Bar Solar Kit!

Just wanted to say a big thanks for all that have either purchased, shared, liked, supported & commented so far!

If any of you are interested feel free to drop me a direct message!

Cheers

Nick

 

[The Flying Scotsman]

I have had a flurry of orders for the Integrated Dakine Pad & Cross Bar Solar Kit!

Just wanted to say a big thanks for all that have either purchased, shared, liked, supported & commented so far!

If any of you are interested feel free to drop me a direct message!

Cheers

Nick

You should take out vip membership then advertise your set up in the for sale section.
I think it would do well.
It’s well worth the money. This is the only forum I would pay anything for

 

[d8smt]

So I've been looking at this myself for my van, again unsure of Flexi vs rigid. I have some questions for the knowledgeable on panels;

1. So I've looked at the larger rigid panels(eg Victron 360W, Craigsolar 330W) but these seem to be current limited in the specs to about 11A despite the large wattage(because the output voltage is higher). So is this is the case, you're carrying twoce the size and weight of panel then a 200W rigid for no extra gain. Or am I missing something? Do these panels deliver a higher current through an MPPT to a 12v battery ??

2. I don't see why a 200W single panel is better than 2x100W panels, if the current delivered is the same, the weight is the same, size is the same and you then have redundancy if one fails? Other than having to configure them in parallel?

3. Are semi-flexible panels too flexible to be mounted on rails, do they have to be mounted straight onto a surface?

4. I remember speaking to Brandon at AJC last year about Flexi solar panels. He put Flexi failures due to a lack of airflow below the panels, and said that if you create airflow gaps beneath them to keep them cool then they stayed reliable. May help!

 

[Drive Wayne]

Having had 2 180 watt semi flexible panels fail on me in 3 years I've gone with a Victron 270 watt rigid panel, bolted on to the poptop. No issues raising or lowering the poptop with the extra weight of the new panel.
Relatively cheap, £147 (at the time) delivered from a company in Tewkesbury. My existing 100/20 Victron MPPT works happily with it.
Very impressed with its performance, getting over 1kWh on its first day in action.
To tide me over after my last flexi failed, I bought a Renogy 220 watt suitcase folding panel array which, if you tracked the sun throughout the day also brought in over 1.2kWh on a sunny day in Bala. The strong winds in Bala did blow it over at one point! Pain in the neck to have to set it up on the drive to keep all systems happy if I wasn't going to drive the van for a few days.
Rigid all the way now for me, I won't go back, I also won't risk going under a 2m barrier again though!

 

[TheBambooBus]

You should take out vip membership then advertise your set up in the for sale section.
I think it would do well.
It’s well worth the money. This is the only forum I would pay anything for

VIP Membership SORTED!

 

[The Flying Scotsman]

VIP Membership SORTED!

Well worth it.
I think you will do well with your stealthy looking set ups.

 

[JumpShip]

Don't like the idea of a rigid (and the aesthetics of it) but it's looking more and more like I'll be going that way .

 

[TheBambooBus]

So I've been looking at this myself for my van, again unsure of Flexi vs rigid. I have some questions for the knowledgeable on panels;

1. So I've looked at the larger rigid panels(eg Victron 360W, Craigsolar 330W) but these seem to be current limited in the specs to about 11A despite the large wattage(because the output voltage is higher). So is this is the case, you're carrying twoce the size and weight of panel then a 200W rigid for no extra gain. Or am I missing something? Do these panels deliver a higher current through an MPPT to a 12v battery ??

2. I don't see why a 200W single panel is better than 2x100W panels, if the current delivered is the same, the weight is the same, size is the same and you then have redundancy if one fails? Other than having to configure them in parallel?

3. Are semi-flexible panels too flexible to be mounted on rails, do they have to be mounted straight onto a surface?

4. I remember speaking to Brandon at AJC last year about Flexi solar panels. He put Flexi failures due to a lack of airflow below the panels, and said that if you create airflow gaps beneath them to keep them cool then they stayed reliable. M

So I've been looking at this myself for my van, again unsure of Flexi vs rigid. I have some questions for the knowledgeable on panels;

1. So I've looked at the larger rigid panels(eg Victron 360W, Craigsolar 330W) but these seem to be current limited in the specs to about 11A despite the large wattage(because the output voltage is higher). So is this is the case, you're carrying twoce the size and weight of panel then a 200W rigid for no extra gain. Or am I missing something? Do these panels deliver a higher current through an MPPT to a 12v battery ??

2. I don't see why a 200W single panel is better than 2x100W panels, if the current delivered is the same, the weight is the same, size is the same and you then have redundancy if one fails? Other than having to configure them in parallel?

3. Are semi-flexible panels too flexible to be mounted on rails, do they have to be mounted straight onto a surface?

4. I remember speaking to Brandon at AJC last year about Flexi solar panels. He put Flexi failures due to a lack of airflow below the panels, and said that if you create airflow gaps beneath them to keep them cool then they stayed reliable. May help!This does of course Depends on your usage but 175 / 200 should be plenty IMHO.

Don't like the idea of a rigid (and the aesthetics of it) but it's looking more and more like I'll be going that way .

How about a rigid set up like this?

 

[JumpShip]

Is it possible to get 2 of those panels on a SWB ?

 

[TheBambooBus]

Is it possible to get 2 of those panels on a SWB ?

It’s not possible… you could maybe go for the 300W Perlight panel… however I’d say 175w is more than enough for almost all leisure activity… unless you like to boil a kettle & run a toaster off grid

 

[JumpShip]

....or have a microwave, an induction hob and a coffee machine

 

[Drive Wayne]

....or have a microwave, an induction hob and a coffee machine

In fairness, 180w was enough, but 300 is just betterer!

 

[TheBambooBus]

....or have a microwave, an induction hob and a coffee machine

That deserves a thorough head examination or a campervan interior design award… fitting all of that inside a SWB transporter is impressive!

If that is the case a decent size lithium battery will benefit you way more than a big solar array. Fogstar Drift springs to mind

 

[JumpShip]

Yep gotta look at a new set up .
We typically spend 3 months touring france and spain each year so if we can do more without hook up then it opens up new possibilities.

 

[Drive Wayne]

That deserves a thorough head examination or a campervan interior design award… fitting all of that inside a SWB transporter is impressive!

If that is the case a decent size lithium battery will benefit you way more than a big solar array. Fogstar Drift springs to mind

Folk do exaggerate, we don't have a microwave, 230Ah Roamer does us well though, gotta keep 2 fridges running now!

 

[Drive Wayne]

Folk do exaggerate, we don't have a microwave, 230Ah Roamer does us well though, gotta keep 2 fridges running now!

This is today's 270 watt solar panel doing its thing on a real mix of weather day, sunny cloudy, rainy, relatively pleasant day in the gaps.