quick and easy solar?????

[Penney H. & Mike E.]

Penney, what are the dimensions of that panel, I could not see it on that page (could be going blind though).

it's not on the page, that's why I put it in my post - so you have selective blindness!

20.7 x 25.7 x 2 to be exact!

I asked so I can figure out a storage cover, though the tech guy told me they are very durable, but need dust protection when stored (and obviously kept clean when in use.)



Penney

[curtis c]

how durable is the average solor panel? im thinking about that 50w sun panel but im scared about breaking it. will an acorn falling from a tree break it? can i safely leave it mounted to the roof when not in use? i have a small 5w on there now but im not sure if its a standard solor panel or some kind of stronger rv panel. thanks.

[Joy A]

Curtis,

They are very durable. The acorn won't break it but the tree the acorn fell out of might.

Mine is not mounted because of the two vents on the top of my 13 Scamp I don't have the roof space for it.

[Jim Bennett]

it's not on the page, that's why I put it in my post - so you have selective blindness!

20.7 x 25.7 x 2 to be exact!

Oops, darn this aging remembry of mine.

[Gina D.]

Here is another source for the Sun 50 watt panels Solar Effects.

They are 18 $$$ more than the other source, but they have them in stock now.

[Mary F]

Solar panels are designed to withstand a hailstorm. They're very durable.

As I have described before, in more detail: We plug our 3.1 amp panel into the trailer pigtail and set it on top of the Casita when we are in camp, unless we park in the shade. (We use cheap, black rubber suction cups to stick it to the roof, and so far it has worked just fine.) When underway, we stow it on the large dinette table (perfect fit, secured with a couple of good bungee cords). We are the controller(s).

[peterh]

. . . We plug our 3.1 amp panel into the trailer pigtail . . .

That works well for a 3-amp panel, which generally won't cook your battery. Once you get above 3 amps/45 watts you're getting close to possibly over-charging your battery and "cooking" it, and would need a charge controller.

[Gina D.]

and... I am happy to report that on my first "outing" with my panels, they performed very well!

I have decided not to roof mount mine because They are so light to move and easy to deal with that I personally would rather do so than limit my choice of space based on how the sun hits my roof. The panels stow on the bed easily for travel and I am not worried about them sliding off (My bed is up front and it is so stable up there I swear I could leave a glass of water on it and it wouldn't spill)

I was in a lovely forest service campground this week, with what I felt was the best site in the place, right on a large creek, small river, but the spur itself was completely shaded throughout the day. If the panels were roof mounted, I would have most likely chosen another less lovely site just to get the exposure. Instead, my trailer was cool, and my charging was hot!

I rigged a temporary harness for this trip and was able to position the panels where the sun was. These two and my rock guard 15 watter and separate controller made my time worry free as far as the battery was concerned. So much so, that on my 3rd day, I moved to another campground and only deployed the 15 watter. I was fully charged on arrival and only needed a top off for the evening.

[HerseyBA]

Most solar panels meet this requirement copied from the AMSolar site:
"There is very little that can go wrong with a solar panel short of physical damage. In fact, all panels pass Jet Propulsion Labs Block V tests, which are: withstanding 125 m.p.h. wind loading, surviving one inch hail at terminal velocity (52 m.p.h.), and thermal cycling at temperatures beyond what you will find here on Earth (short of tossing them into molten lava !!)."
Since we have been known to have much larger than 1" hail and my panel is permanently mounted, I designed a removable hail cover that I put out when a bad storm is predicted. It is made from 20 gauge steel and 1" foam.