Burro Solar panel

[kyle minor]

I've been working on the Burro feverishly trying to get it ready to take to Alaska in a month for my first ever travel trailer experience. I know, not the best plan but better than never. Anyway, yesterday i got my 15watt solar panel and charge controller from Nothern Tool and decided to jump right in and install it.

I recently painted the center section of the roof and installed a new fan and was anxious to finish the roof penetrations so I could install the headliner over the bolts. I opted to mount the panel over the centerline seam so that the mount holes would fall within the narrow strip of headliner. I fabricated aluminum standoffs brackets from 1" x 2" channel that would serve to clear the center seam as well as provide a little ventilation for the panel. After a quick paint job I mounted butyl tape along the entire lentgh of each channel and located the supports on the roof to drill the holes. Right before I actually mounted the panel and brackets, I attached new edgetrim to the center seam up to the leading edge of the panel so that i could snake the wire underneath it. I had a pile of stainless hardware that I was able to find machine screws, locknuts, rubber washers for the top and fender washers for the interior. After torqueing the nuts, i routed the panel wire on top of the center seam and placed the edge trim over the top so the wire is completely concealed and protected. It emerges from the trim above the front window where it wraps into the interior and around the window frame into the front battery box.

I was interested to see how the panel performs and hooked up a new LED spot light and to my amazement, it powered it eventhough i was inside my shop on an overcast day. I'm excited to see how it maintains my battery. I bought it mostly as a trickle charge to keep my battery optimized when in long term storage. Pics below were taken with my phone but give a good idea of the install:

[Scott B.]

Looks a very good install. Did you paint the edge trim or find it in the brown color?

Scott

[Gina D.]

Very nice. I like the paint scheme.

[kyle minor]

Scott,

I purchased the edge trim in Black, the pic must have weird lighting or my phone camera is off. I believe i purcheased it from Austin hardware. It's available as white or black, I chose black to go with other details I have in mind.

The paint scheme is a match to the vinyl Burro logo. I wanted to redo the ft. and back windows as well as the roof so the lines are somewhat functional in that I'll paint the rest of the trailer (white) later when i have the time to remove all the other windows and service holes.

Thanks