Brilliant setup Peter.....I will now consider hinging the last 3 panels on my van's roof.Have you ever considered hinging each end of the panel as well,to create an El Cheapo sun tracker? Without moving the vehicle,you could then follow the sun all day, assuming the front of the car faced South(ish).Cheers.
Peter_n_Margaret said
11:37 AM Jul 21, 2020
Our original roof panels were set up to allow hinging.
Too hard - set and forget is a better option and add an extra panel.
The first requirement for the one over the rear window was to provide some shade. The extra solar collection was the bonus. a couple of gas struts would make it neater.
No reason why you could not put them down each ide of a van too, if you weren't into bush bashing, like we do often.
Cheers,
Peter
yobarr said
01:52 PM Jul 21, 2020
Peter_n_Margaret wrote:
Our original roof panels were set up to allow hinging. Too hard - set and forget is a better option and add an extra panel. The first requirement for the one over the rear window was to provide some shade. The extra solar collection was the bonus. a couple of gas struts would make it neater. No reason why you could not put them down each ide of a van too, if you weren't into bush bashing, like we do often. Cheers, Peter
Thats interesting,Peter.I have 3 panels facing the front of the van,at about the 30 degree pitch of the van front,with the rest flat on the roof.Seems it would be easier just to leave things as they are? Cheers
Great idea Peter, but possibly you mostly go around up north where the flat panels on the roof work OK in winter, but having hinged panels would help down south. I found having portable panels in winter made a lot of difference as you could chase the sun several times a day and increase the yield a lot. No special props or legs just use a fence or trees etc.
BUT my dream is get a tiny cheap Hiab with the panels on a frame on the end and just set them up to an angle in comfort from the ground if needed, or out the side away from the shade with the bus under a tree, or just flat on the roof normally. Hmmmm........
Jaahn
Plain Truth said
03:11 PM Jul 21, 2020
Kedron caravans have a flexible solar panel that they can fit on the front window cover awning.
No doubt there will be lots of new solar panel developments in the near future as costs continue to decrease and uses increase. Exciting times.
When we bought the first panels for the OKA just 16 years ago, they cost $9 per watt for good quality rigid panels. The going rate now is under $1.
Some of the flexible panels still have problems, but they will be solved fairly quickly, I reckon, and when you look at the material content involved, they might even be cheaper than rigid panels eventually.
Regarding use up north compared to down south, it is not as dramatic as it might seem. Power requirements for the fridge are much lower down south and in summer at least, the days are longer.
We spent several weeks in Norway north of the Arctic Circle in a motorhome. Solar power was never an issue. Our needs were much lower and the sun did not set, so even at midnight there was still a bit of solar dribbling in.
We had 2 back up systems. Direct charging from the alternator and an Efoy fuel cell that produced 75W continuously 24/7 with about the same noise as a compressor fridge and zero pollution.
Winter needs a different approach.
Cheers,
Peter
Warren-Pat_01 said
09:17 PM Jul 21, 2020
While stopped at Barcaldine a couple of days ago, I saw two vans with tilt-able panels.
The ones on the side were on stainless racks & appeared that they could swing to capture the sun while the front & back were tilted about 15 degrees - facing the front & the back. It possibly was a good system as they caught the sun wherever it was but the wind resistance must have been terrible with all this metal sticking up.
Having a poptop & getting weaker by the year, I doubt whether I could fit them.
Plain Truth,
With panels generally needing 25mm of air clearance under them to dissipate the heat, how do the Kedron ones work?
the rocket said
10:10 AM Jul 22, 2020
Old and Grey wrote:
Morning everyone,
Yes It was a Dream that I dreamt up.
Twin rollout Solar awnings either side of our van, that pumped out 1200 watts of solar power for long term off grid to power including our AC.
What a dream idear, Or am I losing it already.
Can the solar tech boys and girls make dreams come to life.
Have a nice day. I might have a Nanna today.
Grey
Great idea. Working at inventing in your sleep. You need a beer after all that night work.
Tony Bev said
12:06 PM Jul 22, 2020
Old and Grey wrote:
Morning everyone,
Yes It was a Dream that I dreamt up.
Twin rollout Solar awnings either side of our van, that pumped out 1200 watts of solar power for long term off grid to power including our AC.
What a dream idear, Or am I losing it already.
Can the solar tech boys and girls make dreams come to life.
Have a nice day. I might have a Nanna today.
Grey
Hi Grey, keep dreaming please
If what you dreamed about, comes to fruition, it will be a game changer, for those of us, who use free/donation camps
I did read a few years ago, about how they could print off (very thin), solar panels, but alas nothing seems to have come of it
Jaahn said
05:54 PM Jul 22, 2020
Tony Bev wrote:
Old and Grey wrote:
Morning everyone,
Yes It was a Dream that I dreamt up.
Twin rollout Solar awnings either side of our van, that pumped out 1200 watts of solar power for long term off grid to power including our AC.
What a dream idear, Or am I losing it already.
Can the solar tech boys and girls make dreams come to life.
Have a nice day. I might have a Nanna today.
Grey
Hi Grey, keep dreaming please
If what you dreamed about, comes to fruition, it will be a game changer, for those of us, who use free/donation camps
I did read a few years ago, about how they could print off (very thin), solar panels, but alas nothing seems to have come of it
I do notice that the thin film panels, have a theoretically 21 - 22% efficiency rate, while older panels seem to be between 17 - 19% (My own layman research while surfing the net)
In my opinion, it could be well worth carrying on with this research, as the benefits seem to be, cheaper to manufacturer, lighter, and more efficient solar panels
I shall just have to hurry up and wait, until they become mainstream
Peter_n_Margaret said
02:46 PM Jul 23, 2020
Tony Bev wrote:
................... older panels seem to be between 17 - 19% ..................
17-19% is if they are "good" panels.
That translates to 170 - 190W per M2 of cell area, so that is an easy way to check if the claimed output of a panel it likely to be genuine, or not (at standard testing parameters).
I recently purchased some new panels that were claimed to be 300W each.
I will actually be very happy if they are 180W and not too upset if they are 150W.
Cheers,
Peter
Tony Bev said
03:35 PM Jul 23, 2020
Thanks for that info, Peter
Your formula seems like an easy way, for a layman like myself, to separate some of the facts and fictions, between different solar panel resellers
Morning everyone,
Yes It was a Dream that I dreamt up.
Twin rollout Solar awnings either side of our van, that pumped out 1200 watts of solar power for long term off grid to power including our AC.
What a dream idear, Or am I losing it already.
Can the solar tech boys and girls make dreams come to life.
Have a nice day. I might have a Nanna today.
Grey
It's one idea that has merit, all we need is a smart ar$e to do it, and get a queue lined up to buy them
Cheers,
Peter
Brilliant setup Peter.....I will now consider hinging the last 3 panels on my van's roof.Have you ever considered hinging each end of the panel as well,to create an El Cheapo sun tracker? Without moving the vehicle,you could then follow the sun all day, assuming the front of the car faced South(ish).Cheers.
Too hard - set and forget is a better option and add an extra panel.
The first requirement for the one over the rear window was to provide some shade. The extra solar collection was the bonus. a couple of gas struts would make it neater.
No reason why you could not put them down each ide of a van too, if you weren't into bush bashing, like we do often.
Cheers,
Peter
Thats interesting,Peter.I have 3 panels facing the front of the van,at about the 30 degree pitch of the van front,with the rest flat on the roof.Seems it would be easier just to leave things as they are? Cheers
Hi
The CSIRO are working on some interesting ideas for solar cells in cheap and flexible models. They are in test but who knows when. https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/EF/Areas/Renewable-and-low-emission-tech/Solar-energy/Photovoltaics
Great idea Peter, but possibly you mostly go around up north where the flat panels on the roof work OK in winter, but having hinged panels would help down south. I found having portable panels in winter made a lot of difference as you could chase the sun several times a day and increase the yield a lot. No special props or legs just use a fence or trees etc.
BUT my dream is get a tiny cheap Hiab with the panels on a frame on the end and just set them up to an angle in comfort from the ground if needed, or out the side away from the shade with the bus under a tree, or just flat on the roof normally.
Hmmmm........ 
Jaahn
Kedron caravans have a flexible solar panel that they can fit on the front window cover awning.
When we bought the first panels for the OKA just 16 years ago, they cost $9 per watt for good quality rigid panels. The going rate now is under $1.
Some of the flexible panels still have problems, but they will be solved fairly quickly, I reckon, and when you look at the material content involved, they might even be cheaper than rigid panels eventually.
Regarding use up north compared to down south, it is not as dramatic as it might seem. Power requirements for the fridge are much lower down south and in summer at least, the days are longer.
We spent several weeks in Norway north of the Arctic Circle in a motorhome. Solar power was never an issue. Our needs were much lower and the sun did not set, so even at midnight there was still a bit of solar dribbling in.
We had 2 back up systems. Direct charging from the alternator and an Efoy fuel cell that produced 75W continuously 24/7 with about the same noise as a compressor fridge and zero pollution.
Winter needs a different approach.
Cheers,
Peter
The ones on the side were on stainless racks & appeared that they could swing to capture the sun while the front & back were tilted about 15 degrees - facing the front & the back. It possibly was a good system as they caught the sun wherever it was but the wind resistance must have been terrible with all this metal sticking up.
Having a poptop & getting weaker by the year, I doubt whether I could fit them.
Plain Truth,
With panels generally needing 25mm of air clearance under them to dissipate the heat, how do the Kedron ones work?
Great idea. Working at inventing in your sleep. You need a beer after all that night work.
Hi Grey, keep dreaming please
If what you dreamed about, comes to fruition, it will be a game changer, for those of us, who use free/donation camps
I did read a few years ago, about how they could print off (very thin), solar panels, but alas nothing seems to have come of it
Hi
An up date from the CSIRO 18th October 2019.
https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/EF/Areas/Renewable-and-low-emission-tech/Solar-energy/Photovoltaics/Pervoskite-solar-cells
Jaahn
I do notice that the thin film panels, have a theoretically 21 - 22% efficiency rate, while older panels seem to be between 17 - 19% (My own layman research while surfing the net)
In my opinion, it could be well worth carrying on with this research, as the benefits seem to be, cheaper to manufacturer, lighter, and more efficient solar panels
I shall just have to hurry up and wait, until they become mainstream
17-19% is if they are "good" panels.
That translates to 170 - 190W per M2 of cell area, so that is an easy way to check if the claimed output of a panel it likely to be genuine, or not (at standard testing parameters).
I recently purchased some new panels that were claimed to be 300W each.
I will actually be very happy if they are 180W and not too upset if they are 150W.
Cheers,
Peter
Your formula seems like an easy way, for a layman like myself, to separate some of the facts and fictions, between different solar panel resellers