Tilting solar panel bracket installed

This is how I decided to mount the Renogy tilting solar panel brackets I bought.

I got 1/8" thick, 1-1/4" wide, 36" long flat aluminum from a big box home improvement store and cut it into four, 6" strips. (Actually, I cut it into six but I found that only four were needed.)

I lined them up with the solar panel with the brackets, drew lines around them with a marker, then put 3M VHB tape on them and applied them to the roof.

After the strips were stuck on, I lined up the solar panel brackets and drilled holes for the screws.

Then I went back and sealed around the bars with Dicor, screwed down the brackets and sealed over the screws with Dicor too.

So it's all night and watertight, but totally removable except the flat aluminum, whuch was less than 1/3 he cost of the brackets, so they can be removed if the RV gets wrecked, and I don't lose them. And it's super secure. Oh, the roof is fiberglass with a very thin layer of aluminum on top, by the way.

Here is the final result, from ground level.

For the wires, I drilled two holes in the metal fridge roof vent, which is sloped downward with the mid way of the roof, and ran the wires down the vent shaft. I put in rubber grommets and they fit almost tight. A little silicone next time I have a tube open will seal it, though the way it's facing and with the overlap of the vent cover lid, I doubt water can get in very easily.

I put more cable clip things further down after I took the picture above. I still have to run the wires from the solar controller to the battery bank, but that's no big deal to do later.

Now in a motorhome!

I have changed my living quarters again (twice). I got a (pretty rotten) motorhome a couple months ago. The diesel engine and newer fridge tempted me. I have been pouring too much money into it. Same ol' story.

This is the best picture I have right now. I was rebuilding the door and had to replace the door's glass, hence why it's missing. That picture was a while ago, I just haven't taken a better one.

Long story short about the trailer, I sold it and went back into the truck camper last summer. I kept and moved the solar panel, batteries, Fantastic vent fan to it. Now they have been moved to the motorhome. I also kept the LP tanks from the trailer, sold one and kept the other for a camp stove and instant hot water heater shower. I will probably soon sell the LP tank though, since the motorhome has a fixed tank. But maybe I'll just keep it in case I want/need it again. I stayed a few months in SD then came back south, a long round about way.

The truck is getting stored for free at a relative's house, where the motorhome was parked in the picture above.

I will soon be heading out on the road again, planning to spend the summer in New Mexico.

I'm honestly truthfully gonna try to blog more. I still have the hotspot plan and I have a dinette in the motorhome, plus it has a big generator built in and I am going to also carry the small generator since it gets 5x the fuel economy.

For the solar panel, I bought a tilt mount this time, so I can try to capture every ounce of sunlight .

Here are the tilt brackets vs the cheap fixed ones:

That's all for now.

Solar panels - Part 2

I just realized, I never did get around to showing the rest of my solar panel installation!

Here is a photo showing the cable coming in from the panels, going to the cheapy MPPT charge controller from China on ebay and the cable running out, down to the battery bank.

Both solar panels have in-line fuses outside in weatherproof holders and the controller has a fuse between it and the batteries, so it's all well protected. It's almost all 8 gauge wire, except the ends at the charge controller, the solar panel connectors and the fuse holders. Those are all 10 gauge but such short length, they can carry plenty of amps like the 8 gauge, should I add more panels later. 10 gauge might have been all I needed, but it's better to oversize the wiring in case of expansion, rather than having to rip it all out and redo it later.

I have a 3 outlet strip plugged in to a 12v outlet up front I added. I'm not using the power output hookups of the charge controller but some people might wish to, if they do this kind of setup.

Dead house battery

Thankfully no harm was done, but my very old Diehard marine battery went bad. It was at the stage it could have exploded though!

About a week ago, my CO detector woke me up about 9am for no apparent reason. I thought perhaps the batteries in the detector were getting low or the detector is just aged and needs replacing.

Later on that day, I saw my battery voltage reading was unusually low so I plugged in my RV converter. I should have realized something was wrong at that point. Normally I have it unplugged since my solar panels keep the house battery bank charged. At 4pm, I shouldn't be showing 12.3V. I should be showing 14V from the solar charging!

I exited the van for about 10 minutes and returned to find 'rotten egg' smell, but not from any of the propane burning appliaces or from the propane tank storage compartment! It was coming from the battery box! The box is vented to outside but not airtight from the interior. I opened the box and the odor was strong and the old battery was burning hot.

I quickly unplugged the RV converter and disconnected my solar panels. After allowing it to cool down about 5-10 minutes, I promptly removed the bad battery and placed it outside. Thankfully, I caught it in time before it exploded. I was a bundle of nerves disconnecting it and hauling it outside.

I am holding on to it for core exchange since I will be getting another cheap marine battery next week. In the long run, such batteries are a waste of money but in the short term, it's 1/3 the cost of a pair of 6V Trojan T-105s, or rougly 1/2 the cost of a pair of cheap golf cart batteries. Plus I would have to modify the battery box I already built. I used scrap wood so I was limited in the size I could build it, so it ended up too short for 6V golf cart batteries.

It has crossed my mind to pull the old, worn out generator and install 6V golf cart batteries in it's place, but I'm not going to right now. I may do that in a year or two, if I decide I need more battery power. I would probably need a third 100W solar panel to keep up with the battery bank. I did install my first two in such a way that I have room for a third by removing the RV antenna so it's possible to do. Just not something I want to do right now. It would cost roughly $500 to add a pair of Trojan T-105's and a third solar panel so I may budget for that later on.

Solar panels - Part 1

I have got my new two 100W Renogy solar panels installed to the roof. I am waiting on some MC4 wire connectors for making some custom cabling between the panels and controller. I have the wiring run part way, but no photos of that yet. Once the MC4 connectors come in, I can wire them up and I'll be all set. I am putting in-line fuses on both panels and between the charge controller and batteries so it'll all be well protected and I will be able to pull fuses to disconnect power if I need to work on the system in any way.

I had to offset them slightly so they aren't uniform. I realized that the rear one (installed second) was going to slightly interfere with the roof vent so I had to move it over a bit. It's not that noticeable and won't effect the usage of the panels. I'm not that OCD that they had to be perfectly lined up.

I used 3M 9468 VHB between the brackets and roof for a bit of adhesion of the brackets to the roof then put in a single sheet metal screw into a predrilled hole in the roof. They appear to be mounted plenty sturdy. I am tempted to add a tether to the sides at the decorative luggage rack for extra safety should one of the brackets break loose from the roof somehow. But since they are mounted low and should be pretty aerodynamic, I don't think there will be a problem. I have to seal around the brackets with some self leveling RV caulking next week after I get some.

I have room for expansion, for at least one 50W panel. If I were to remove the TV antenna, I could add another 100W as well but I think 200W to start with is plenty.