Photos: 2670W Bifacial tilting RV rooftop array

Installed a 12V compressor fridge conversion, a 22 SEER Pioneer Heat Pump, 6720Wh 24v battery (need to expand this), and the tilting array! Tempest weather station and Home Assistant with ESP32 relays onboard. The array will auto stow in high winds and thinking about close lightning.

I have 2x 400Lb actuators per panel, synchronized! Gotta get the sync'd ones as the motors don't turn at the exact same rate. Also, snow loads, etc.

Built out of 12ga unistrut! Adds 300~ lbs to the roof. A member kept telling me that bifacials weren't worth it, and they may be right depending on handling, but the roof is white and when tilted, should enhance efficiency.





Just gotta secure to roof, do wiring and ensure she's safe to drive on the highway!

That is one SERIOUS frame you've built, look forward to hearing how it works for you. No one will accuse you of just slapping down some panels with VHB that's for certain!
I'm torn between trying to satisfy my inner nerd by going fully articulating/tracking, and keeping it simple for my vacation sanity.

Go big or go home.

zorrobyte said:

I have 2x 400Lb actuators per panel, synchronized! Gotta get the sync'd ones as the motors don't turn at the exact same rate. Also, snow loads, etc.

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Wow! Very impressive! Last year I built a lifting bed in a Sprinter for a customer. Thankfully I figured out the syncing thing before I specified the actuators. What brand did you use? I could only find Progressive Automation and they were pricey suckers.

Nice!

Sweet. Bringing a crane in for install was a cool idea. I would have been struggling trying to install it in place on the roof.

OzSolar said:

Wow! Very impressive! Last year I built a lifting bed in a Sprinter for a customer. Thankfully I figured out the syncing thing before I specified the actuators. What brand did you use? I could only find Progressive Automation and they were pricey suckers.

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I went with Firgelli Automations! Still more expensive than eBay Vevors or whatnot, hopefully, they last!

emerge411 said:

Sweet. Bringing a crane in for install was a cool idea. I would have been struggling trying to install it in place on the roof.

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I really didn't want to have to troubleshoot on the roof, crane was only $315!

jberger said:

That is one SERIOUS frame you've built, look forward to hearing how it works for you. No one will accuse you of just slapping down some panels with VHB that's for certain!
I'm torn between trying to satisfy my inner nerd by going fully articulating/tracking, and keeping it simple for my vacation sanity.

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I'm personally not too worried about sun tracking, as in, constantly adjusting the angle during the day. My big use case was keeping snow off the array and self-cleaning; and as funny as it sounds, being able to tilt the array to access the roof for maintenance, repairs!

That's awesome! Does your RV have an aluminum frame?

Paul_R said:

That's awesome! Does your RV have an aluminum frame?

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Yeah! It's a Thor, so not the best quality.. but they do use aluminium to frame out the roof and sides