I have decided that solar power would be in my best interest so I have gone
ahead with the installation of my first panel. Eventually there will be more
but since I
’m the kind of person that buys a little bit here and there it will be a gradual
progress.
The panel I have is a 20 watt panel and it produces a little over 1 amp of
current with full sun. That should be enough for now to at least charge my
batteries. My goal is to get at least 3 of these panels on the roof of the
trailer. That will be 60 watts total producing over 4 amps of current. Plenty
enough to charge batteries and run my fridge. Of course an inverter will be in
order to do so and maybe 2-6v batteries instead of 12v. It
’s weatherproof and can actually handle up to quarter size hail according to the
specs.
I made my own brackets to mount the panel on the roof out of 1/8” x 2” aluminum bent to a “z” with 1/4” drilled holes on top and bottom. The frame of the panel is made from “c” channel with a lip so you can slide bolts into. That’s how they are mounted to the brackets. I used all stainless steel or aluminum
hardware so rust is not a worry. I had to drill holes into my roof...YIKES, to
mount the brackets. Actually, it
’s not a problem if you seal everything up. What I used was recommended from my
local RV place. It
’s really neat stuff called DYCO C-10 Flow Seal Caulk. The brackets in the front
of the panel are actually mounted into a roof bow with hex head 1 1/4
” 1/4 SS self tappers. I drilled them in until they were snug. In the back I had
no bow to drill into so I used 1
” 1/4 #20 well nuts with 1 1/4” 1/4 #20 SS bolts. I also tightened these till they were snug. I then used my sealant and I was not liberal with it at all. I also had to drill
a hole for the wires to go into. That
’s 5 holes total... YIKES, but it as the others was sealed very well. I have the
wires encased in wire loom and used some brackets with 3M sticky pads on the
back to secure the loom down. I routed the wire down into the small closet and
out at the top of vertical wall and over to the battery box where I have the
charge controller. A charge controller is need to charge your batteries because
although the panels are capable of doing so, they cannot regulate the voltage
going into the batteries, so a charge controller or regulator is needed. I have
some good links about all of this on the links page.
The charge controller I used is the ASC 12/8E. It’s an 8 amp controller with the option of a load alarm (which I do not have
hooked up). I have it mounted in the battery box. I used 12awg wire thoughout
the solar system.
Click on pictures to enlarge them
