Removable Panels on Side of RV

[chrisski]

I will be adding some removable panels to the side of the RV. These will be removed whenever I'm driving and will only be set up once parked.

These will be South Facing panels, with the intent of when I use air conditioning in the fall and spring when the sun is lower to the ground, this will give me 150 - 200 watts extra battery charging power. Now, my 2550 watts of panels covers running the AC at those times + or - 100 watts, so this extra should be enough for what I want.


•50 LBS Total Weight
•Panel Weight
43 LBS
•Strut Weight
5 LBS
•Threaded Nut Inserts
•Spring Nuts
•Brackets to secure panels to strut will be leftover from a project.

 

[Factsmanmp]

Thinking outside the box. Plus, these won’t “grow legs “ and walk away from the rig.

 

[zanydroid]

Cool project. Where and how are the panels stowed during transit?

 

[chrisski]

Thinking outside the box. Plus, these won’t “grow legs “ and walk away from the rig.

That is part of that.

I do have a cable to secure portable panels so they don’t walk away, but when I started to use it, I was in a windy area and it kept the panels from blowing away.

Cool project. Where and how are the panels stowed during transit?

The fifth wheel has a bunk room I will put the panels in.

 

[chrisski]

After install

 

[Aussieguy]

I was thinking put a hinge point on the wall above the slide... attach panels and frame to that
so as you open the slide it tilts (opens) the panels away from wall .

put some thin solid plastic or other material UNDER the panels so no water goes onto the roof
now you have a useful slide topper

finding spots to park with the pad and facilities and no shade always in the correct orientation is the KILLER.

so ... easy to install enough flat panels on the roof for most people's needs ... + maybe a ground array

Ground panels .... check Craig's List or Market place for cost effective walk-able panels.

 

[PCola10k]

Had the same thoughts when looking at the pix. Unused space that would become useful for minimal cost.

 

[chrisski]

Had the same thoughts when looking at the pix. Unused space that would become useful for minimal cost.

Mounting and wiring hardware was as much as the panels.

I have a little data now, and for use after the equinox with days getting shorter, the 90 degree panels put out as much energy as twice the wattage of flat panels on the roof plus the vertical panels panels produce earlier and later than the flat panels.

I do need to park 090 true north to get best use.

 

[chrisski]

finding spots to park with the pad and facilities and no shade always in the correct orientation is the KILLER

In the dessert I live in, orientation is not an issue.

so ... easy to install enough flat panels on the roof for most people's needs ... + maybe a ground array

I do have a ground array and a roof filled with panels. I set those up but when I leave the RV, inside these portable panels go.

I wanted something for the fall winter timeframe when the sun is lower that will give some wattage. I’m happy with the results. Also wanted something to be attached to the RV to keep from disappearing when I leave.

 

[JRH]

I will be adding some removable panels to the side of the RV. These will be removed whenever I'm driving and will only be set up once parked.

These will be South Facing panels, with the intent of when I use air conditioning in the fall and spring when the sun is lower to the ground, this will give me 150 - 200 watts extra battery charging power. Now, my 2550 watts of panels covers running the AC at those times + or - 100 watts, so this extra should be enough for what I want.

View attachment 169135
•50 LBS Total Weight
•Panel Weight
43 LBS
•Strut Weight
5 LBS
•Threaded Nut Inserts
•Spring Nuts
•Brackets to secure panels to strut will be leftover from a project.

Hmmm..vertically …no roof holes…...and removable ……that’s a great idea…I should do that with a few too….thx for the idea….
J.

 

[JS43]

I will be adding some removable panels to the side of the RV. These will be removed whenever I'm driving and will only be set up once parked.

These will be South Facing panels, with the intent of when I use air conditioning in the fall and spring when the sun is lower to the ground, this will give me 150 - 200 watts extra battery charging power. Now, my 2550 watts of panels covers running the AC at those times + or - 100 watts, so this extra should be enough for what I want.

View attachment 169135
•50 LBS Total Weight
•Panel Weight
43 LBS
•Strut Weight
5 LBS
•Threaded Nut Inserts
•Spring Nuts
•Brackets to secure panels to strut will be leftover from a project.

Not a good idea at all on a slideout! That will absolutely cause issues with the slideout. It puts an extra 150lbs where it will do the most damage to the slideout mechanisms and supports. It will also lead to water damage on the slideout. Slideouts also have weight limits and this added weight could, with anything else inside put it over that limit.

 

[Lt.Dan]

Not a good idea at all on a slideout! That will absolutely cause issues with the slideout. It puts an extra 150lbs where it will do the most damage to the slideout mechanisms and supports. It will also lead to water damage on the slideout. Slideouts also have weight limits and this added weight could, with anything else inside put it over that limit.

He said in the first post it's only 50lbs. I put a LOT more than that into my slides lol

how would it lead to water damage?

 

[chrisski]

how would it lead to water damage?

It will also lead to water damage on the slideout.

I’m going to post some better pics of the install.

When the slideout is open, I don’t see how it could leak. If the top brackets on the solar panel were not installed correctly, the top of the slide out could bend out, and this may cause issues when closed. Each panel was around 17 LBS and is supported by two hangars, and is also supported from the bottom with super strut, so bending would be difficult.

When you do this, the slideout is made of 1/8” thick aluminum that the panels are hanging off. If too much pressure is put on the top, it could bend out the aluminum in the top. If this did bend the aluminum and when the slideout was closed, that could cause the waterproof seal to bend out and water could run in. It would have to be iits the bend.

When I had this set up, it held up to wind quite well. The wind was going 25 knots and perhaps as high as 45 knots.

For the two holes that are for the lower superstrut, when not installed I have a 1/4” rubber cap I put in those to keep from leaking.I am running out of places to put these panels. Even with 2550 watts of panels, this won’t provide the approximately 1700 watts I need to run the air conditioner after the equinox where the days are shorter. A month after the fall equinox with shorter days and sun lower I need about 600 watts more panels to keep up with the load, but after the spring equinox and days getting longer and sun higher, 2250 watts is enough to run the AC and provide some battery charging

 

[JS43]

He said in the first post it's only 50lbs. I put a LOT more than that into my slides lol

how would it lead to water damage?

For one it's putting added pressure where it's not designed to have added pressure and weight. Slideouts are very tricky. They are designed for specific weight in specific areas of the slideout. As I read it each panel was 50lbs, even at 17 lbs with 3 of them it will destroy the slideout at some point, and depending on what type of slideout it is it could happen sooner than later. If it's the cable type slide it will stretch the cables and one day those cables will not bring the slide in or the cables will just break. It doesn't take much to throw a slideout off and they are expensive to repair.

 

[JS43]

I’m going to post some better pics of the install.

When the slideout is open, I don’t see how it could leak. If the top brackets on the solar panel were not installed correctly, the top of the slide out could bend out, and this may cause issues when closed. Each panel was around 17 LBS and is supported by two hangars, and is also supported from the bottom with super strut, so bending would be difficult.

When you do this, the slideout is made of 1/8” thick aluminum that the panels are hanging off. If too much pressure is put on the top, it could bend out the aluminum in the top. If this did bend the aluminum and when the slideout was closed, that could cause the waterproof seal to bend out and water could run in. It would have to be iits the bend.

When I had this set up, it held up to wind quite well. The wind was going 25 knots and perhaps as high as 45 knots.

For the two holes that are for the lower superstrut, when not installed I have a 1/4” rubber cap I put in those to keep from leaking.View attachment 175626I am running out of places to put these panels. Even with 2550 watts of panels, this won’t provide the approximately 1700 watts I need to run the air conditioner after the equinox where the days are shorter. A month after the fall equinox with shorter days and sun lower I need about 600 watts more panels to keep up with the load, but after the spring equinox and days getting longer and sun higher, 2250 watts is enough to run the AC and provide some battery charging

You would be better off putting 400w (or larger) panels on the roof than hanging anything on the slide. Not sure what kind of system your slide has but if it's cable you will have an expensive repair to replace them. You may even be better off having them slide out from under your roof panels over the top of the slideout. You could use long shelf sliders, then when you move the trailer just slide them back in. Just trying to help you avoid an expensive issue. I have already seen one person destroy their slide doing something similar.

 

[andrew-d]

I’m going to post some better pics of the install.

When the slideout is open, I don’t see how it could leak. If the top brackets on the solar panel were not installed correctly, the top of the slide out could bend out, and this may cause issues when closed. Each panel was around 17 LBS and is supported by two hangars, and is also supported from the bottom with super strut, so bending would be difficult.

When you do this, the slideout is made of 1/8” thick aluminum that the panels are hanging off. If too much pressure is put on the top, it could bend out the aluminum in the top. If this did bend the aluminum and when the slideout was closed, that could cause the waterproof seal to bend out and water could run in. It would have to be iits the bend.

When I had this set up, it held up to wind quite well. The wind was going 25 knots and perhaps as high as 45 knots.

For the two holes that are for the lower superstrut, when not installed I have a 1/4” rubber cap I put in those to keep from leaking.View attachment 175626I am running out of places to put these panels. Even with 2550 watts of panels, this won’t provide the approximately 1700 watts I need to run the air conditioner after the equinox where the days are shorter. A month after the fall equinox with shorter days and sun lower I need about 600 watts more panels to keep up with the load, but after the spring equinox and days getting longer and sun higher, 2250 watts is enough to run the AC and provide some battery charging

That's quite the setup! What panels are you using for your ground array? Are you happy with them and would you change anything?

 

[HighTechLab]

There's a point where trying so hard to not run a generator is just not worth it. I don't have a single panel on my RV, ran the AC all weekend on 3 gallons of gas in a Honda 3200w genset. It's a lot lighter and cheaper than this many panels...way less stress too.

 

[Lt.Dan]

There's a point where trying so hard to not run a generator is just not worth it. I don't have a single panel on my RV, ran the AC all weekend on 3 gallons of gas in a Honda 3200w genset. It's a lot lighter and cheaper than this many panels...way less stress too.

It's just a hobby for me. It's fun.

But not on @chrisski 's level lol

 

[andrew-d]

There's a point where trying so hard to not run a generator is just not worth it. I don't have a single panel on my RV, ran the AC all weekend on 3 gallons of gas in a Honda 3200w genset. It's a lot lighter and cheaper than this many panels...way less stress too.

Related: I'm really hoping someone releases a good EU3200i propane dual-fuel conversion kit... it's such a nice genset and having the extra power for charging batteries while running an AC (vs the 2200) would be great ?

 

[chrisski]

That's quite the setup! What panels are you using for your ground array? Are you happy with them and would you change anything?

I use lion energy 100 watt portable panels. They are pretty solid panels and one of the cheaper panels available if purchased from Wal Mart. Even cheaper than I could build them by myself.

As far as changing I’m happy with what I have, but I may do things different. THe first build was three phases and the upgrade was two phases. If I started out knowing I would have 2.5 kw of panels, I would have went straight to lithium versus upgrading from golf cart batteries, and arranged the 100 watt panels a little better to fit 300 - 600 watts more on the roof.