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Hole in roof for Solar Panels,

January 23, 2014, 07:55:37 am

This is how my solar Panels ended up with a hole thru the roof over and above your drivers side Chair,

Then a hole through the Fibreglass overhead cupboard, Then down the wall and under the couch, Then thru a hole I drilled under the coach into the Genny Bay,
Only about two feet of the cable is visible inside the Coach, and thats the bit above the couch, Its very neat and not that noticeable,

Its all cable tied on the roof, as I dont want any of the leads banging on the roof as I am driving along,

270 Watts of Solar Panels has brought my 8 D House Battery up from one bar to the 3rd bar in a Day and a Half, There are only four bars,

16 hours of Full Sun,    Is that good or bad, I have no idea, But it is working and I can see the results happening,

Its putting in more than the Fridge and Radio are taking out, I can see that on the Battery monitor on the Dash, Over a period of days watching it run down,

Its about 3/4 inch thick where I drilled the roof hole, I wiped the inside of the hole with Silicone to make sure it was sealed,
I Then ran the cable,then packed the hole with Silicone, I will repack the hole from under neath in a few days, and that will allow me to pack the silicone in with some force behind it, Making sure its sealed,

I also gave the outside of the roof a going over with sand paper to remove the dust and grime of years, The Silicone will stick to the roof now,
I am quite pleased with my First Ever Solar Panel Installation,
 
Thanks to the Peeps on here that helped me to do it,

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Re: Hole in roof for Solar Panels,

Reply #1 – January 23, 2014, 11:04:14 am

Brian, it seems to me that the two solar panels on the front stand a chance of being shaded from the sun by the air conditioner, a little bit of shade on a panel is deadly for producing power.

Roland

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Re: Hole in roof for Solar Panels,

Reply #2 – January 23, 2014, 02:07:29 pm

If you park facing east or west the shading might be a small problem depending on the time of year and angle of the sun. If you park facing north or south the shading would be only at the beginning of the day and at the end. We usually park facing east for morning sun to help warm up. our panels are on the passenger's side and so they are then on the south side. The fridge is on the drivers side so it doesn't get the solar gain and that helps a little bit with the propane or electric over a period of time. Just a little planning should make everything OK!

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Re: Hole in roof for Solar Panels,

Reply #3 – January 23, 2014, 04:56:33 pm

I did find that parking and facing to the East, cuts down on the heat inside the Coach, 40 + Celcius, It gets Hot here,
-4 C is our lowest Temp, And the coach handles that easily with out heating, It stays warm Inside,

The right hand side of the Coach is the business side of it, The Fun Side, Hahahaha,

So position is every thing when I park, I should get 6 hours per day of uninterupted sun on the Panels, The rest of the day, I am not concerned with,

Between 10 AM and 4 PM, Its putting out more than I actually use, So I dont think I will have any problems with it,

With no sun, Rainy days, Etc, I still have about a week on the House Battery, From fully charged,

The Coach battery is always fully Charged, I only use that one to start the Engine, And the motor charges both batterys, Win Win,

My Second Mid door is a real Doozy, I have both doors open and it creates a breezeway thru the Coach, It knocks the Temps down dramatically,
And I get a nice cool breeze blowing thru the Coach, Which I dont get with the door closed, Its just Hot an Muggy,
 
Unplanned Bonus from the second door, Makes the cost of it worthwhile, Instead of an Idiotic ADR Compliance Item,

Only buses here have doors on the left, and no right hand doors, Every one else gets out on the right hand side of all our vehicles, Duhhhh, Hahahaha,

With the shade thing, The panels were putting out 9 and 18 volts inside my house with no sun, Hahahaha, Dont touch the wires,  Brian, Their live, Hahaha,  Even in the shade, El Shoko is waiting to get me, Hahahahaha

Parking, Facing West here, Is a definate NO NO, Its just too hot on the windows, Cooks the Coach, Even with the drapes drawn,
Its all a learning experience, I am almost there, Once i have finished with it, It will give me many miles of reliable fun times,

This is all a Once Off, And I did it from the deep end, Hahaha, Its still fun, I love it,

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