Sunday, June 26, 2016

Another Solar Panel

We have one solar panel on the roof of the RV, a 125 watt unit I bought a few years ago from Camping World. It has generally been enough but when I saw a deal from Canadian Tire I had to jump on it. They had a 100 watt Coleman panel on sale for $199, marked down from $525! I called to discover they only had one left so I asked them to hold it for me and I headed downtown to pick it up.

I got it into the car OK but the box was very slippery and awkward and when Norma and I were carrying it from the car to the workshop I tripped and dropped my end as I fell backward. Norma then dropped her end so she could help me. I was fine and way more concerned about the panel! Anyway all was well and there was no damage. I manufactured some mounting brackets from some aluminium stock I had laying around (never throw anything out!), drilled four holes in the frame of the panel and pre-drilled the brackets. I then cut some #10 wire to length from a couple of rolls that my previous employer had kindly donated when I retired.

Tomorrow is the day! I will go up on the roof and run the wires down the fridge vent and into the solar controller. Later in the day Norma's new lawn guys will be here so I will have one of them pass the panel up to me. I have some Dicor self leveling sealant as well as some Butyl rubber to go between the brackets and the roof. It will look very professional.

I made the brackets because the hardware store did not have exactly what I needed and ordering them from eBay would have taken two weeks. So... I made them.
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12 comments:

  1. our awesome travelsJune 27, 2016 at 4:21 AM

    Be careful up on that roof.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CroftJune 27, 2016 at 12:28 PM

      The older I get, the more of a concern that becomes!

      Delete
  2. BillJune 27, 2016 at 12:08 PM

    Nice job... now you can put in a big screen TV. :>)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CroftJune 27, 2016 at 12:27 PM

      It won't fit in the door Bill. It will have to wait until I take the roof off again.

      Delete
    2. BillJune 27, 2016 at 3:20 PM

      Just drive under a low overpass ala Monterrey. That'll open it up.

      Delete
    3. CroftJune 27, 2016 at 3:41 PM

      That's what I'm thinking.

      Delete
  3. Mister edJune 27, 2016 at 4:35 PM

    I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the rule of thumb is a dollar a watt for any decent Solar panel however it's the dam shipping that really drives the price up but if you pick it up at the store they should not have factored in the shipping
    If you using professional type solar plug-ins just remember when you plug it in male to female Becomes positive and female to male becomes negative
    So check twice before you plug them in you won't blow it because it has a diode but your solar controller read 0
    Have fun

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CroftJune 27, 2016 at 6:05 PM

      Mr. Ed, you must be thinking of price in the USA. This is Canada where stuff is always twice as much and our dollar is worth much less.

      Delete
  4. ShadowmossJune 27, 2016 at 4:58 PM

    Hope you are in Mesa towards the end of the year to help me sort out some kind of (cheap) solar setup for my rig.

    ReplyDelete
  5. ShadowmossJune 27, 2016 at 5:00 PM

    Oh, and tell Norma I'm understanding her more and more each day of living in my rv. I also haven't worn socks since I moved in. She may have me getting mani-pedis yet. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. DonJune 28, 2016 at 5:08 PM

    Of course a store bought bracket would have looked better but who's going to see it up on the roof besides you.

    ;)

    ReplyDelete

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