diy solar

diy solar

Truck roof rack solar...

Screwball

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Joined
Apr 3, 2021
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With my trailer solar all figured out I got this other idea going around in my head:

I want to add a roof rack to my truck, mainly to haul my kayak, but also for occasional work needs (fulltime rver but not retired ?)
Really like to build something similar to the KC M-rack , but don't see the need for all the middle bars.
So im thinking to add one of the 40" square 200w panels from CR there instead.
A little Victron 75/15 scc going into my twin truck batteries that feed my 2000w Samlex psw inverter for occasional power tool use or plug in cordless batt charger etc...
Should also provide some shading from the sun I guess

What do you guys think about that ?

20210529_193432.jpgScreenshot_20210530-084448_Chrome.jpg
Screenshot_20210530-085339_Chrome.jpg
 
With my trailer solar all figured out I got this other idea going around in my head:

I want to add a roof rack to my truck, mainly to haul my kayak, but also for occasional work needs (fulltime rver but not retired ?)
Really like to build something similar to the KC M-rack , but don't see the need for all the middle bars.
So im thinking to add one of the 40" square 200w panels from CR there instead.
A little Victron 75/15 scc going into my twin truck batteries that feed my 2000w Samlex psw inverter for occasional power tool use or plug in cordless batt charger etc...
Should also provide some shading from the sun I guess

What do you guys think about that ?

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I'm wanting to do the same thing...just finished up my solar install on my RV and have two 100watt panels and a 20amp mppt SC left over...I have a Lear topper so that's where I would install my panels...Would like to be able to plug the truck panels to the RV to supplement the 395 watt panel on the RV ...
I say go for it then I could learn from your mistakes...??
 
Hi,
I just finished an Miles Per Gallon test on a rack that has some similarities to the rack in your picture...

Full details on the test here....

Main idea was to compare mounting solar panels on a large rack vs mounting directly to the roof with minimal attachments. The difference is significant in this test: 2.5 mpg down for full rack vs 0.1 MPG down for the direct mount toward the aft end of the roof.

One tentative conclusion I came to was that the details of how the rack is designed probably make a large difference. I think racks that minimize frontal area and that use low drag shapes for the tubing likely make for a lower MPG penalty. I just mention this because the rack in your picture has that impressive thing across the front that looks to add a lot of frontal area?

My test was on the roof of a ProMaster van, but probably not too much different from your situation?

Gary
 
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