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Flexible cells on my slide out?

willo

Solar Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 8, 2020
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OK, so just got thinking a bit when I noticed that newpowa 100w flexibles are $100 each.
My fifth wheel has a huge kitchen slideout that's all solid on the back side. I was thinking of adding some 4-6 flexibles to that side of the camper.
Some reasons for this - when it snows in storage, my cells end up being covered for a days. Even a bit of vertical cell would make sure that I can usually get a maintenance charge. My roof cells are all fixed mounted, so I do miss out a bit on morning charging when the sun is at a low angle. I have a spare smart solar charger sitting in my parts bin, so I could just dedicate it to them.

Hmmmm.
 
OK, so just got thinking a bit when I noticed that newpowa 100w flexibles are $100 each.
My fifth wheel has a huge kitchen slideout that's all solid on the back side. I was thinking of adding some 4-6 flexibles to that side of the camper.
Some reasons for this - when it snows in storage, my cells end up being covered for a days. Even a bit of vertical cell would make sure that I can usually get a maintenance charge. My roof cells are all fixed mounted, so I do miss out a bit on morning charging when the sun is at a low angle. I have a spare smart solar charger sitting in my parts bin, so I could just dedicate it to them.

Hmmmm.

Sounds like a plan

Where did you find the sale?
 
The only concern would be the wipers on top of your slide. My 5th wheel has a fairly stout, rubber wiper blade that scrapes debris clear when closing. The flat panel and wires would take a beating... You might create a cardboard template and some spare wiring and see how it operates.
 
Ah no, not on top of the slide out.
I have 1200w facing the sky, I was thinking on the actual side of my kitchen slide out.

Eyeballing this a little more, these may play nicely with my current system, actually.
The specs on these mono's is pretty close to my poly rich solars.
  • Peak-power: 100W
  • Maximum Power Voltage (V): 16.8V
  • Maximum Power Current (A): 5.95A
  • Voc (V): 20.1
  • Isc (A): 6.54A
Rich Solar Poly:
  • Maximum Power(Pmax): 100W
  • Maximum Power Voltage(Vmp): 18.2V
  • Maximum Power Current(Imp): 5.49A
  • Open Circuit Voltage(Voc): 22.1V
  • Short Circuit Current(Isc): 5.86A
So voltage is just a little bit lower, but if I run three in series like I do for the poly's, i'd add another 6A to my solar feed.

My controller is a Victron 150/45, it's currently maxing around 63 or so volts and 20-25A max.
I run 3s4p with my Polys, so I'd do the same with a set of these.
Hmmm.

Also, I could actually drop these in between my current cells on the roof. I kept a path open for walking around. Hmmm.
 
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