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Old 06-04-2009, 12:42 AM   #8
Manual Garcia O'Kely
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 96
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Quote:
Originally Posted by w3zi View Post
I had looked at these at the 15 watt kit they have at Camping World but didnt know of the company that made them (Sunforce). You can add panels to increase the capacity. I have been thinking about adding one to my RV, but kind of hung up with the idea of setting those panels down on my roof in a permanent configuration with epoxy etc. Guess I could lash up a temporary rig to set the panel out when I am camped.
73
Mark
Several things to consider:

You don't want to flat mount 'em to the roof - they want airspace below for cooling - panel efficiency drops with heat.

Several campers at Yosemite last fall had bolt-on stands to tilt the panels and allow them to be oriented directly at the sun - I'm told if you adjust the panels a couple of times a day you get quite a bit better performance, plus the panels are easier to clean, but damn, they are a pain to set up and take down unless you have large storage [I do NOT].

I'm still looking for a good permanent panel - my loaner went back to the owner.

What I want to do ultimately is allow myself enough solar power to operate the HF rig off the 72 amp-hour house battery on the tear drop, then I can stop carrying a 33 amp-hour gel-cell separate battery. I want to be able to keep the battery topped off when I'm camped for several days at a time.

This would save me quite a bit of space, weight and equipment pieces for what turns out to be fairly infrequent operation. For a real remote operation, larger still would be the batteries, and it's an entirely different situation from my normal travel.
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