bracket for small solar panel storage when not in use - Fiberglass RV
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Old 07-07-2022, 07:33 PM   #1
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Name: Rufus
Trailer: Surfside TM14
Illinois
Posts: 45
bracket for small solar panel storage when not in use

FWIW. Here's what I did to, more or less quickly, install brackets to hold a small solar panel when not in use.



Home depot (and likely other box stores) sells (when it's in stock) a U-shaped channel that is 3/4" _inside_ the legs; the material is 1/8" thick. The legs are 1" deep. This fits some solar panel frames exactly, possibly saving piecing together other methods to hold the panel safely exactly in place while not in use.


I use two pieces, at present, to hold one small panel (13x18") panel hung on the outside of my full height locker. One piece horizontally at the bottom for support, one piece at top to hold the solar panel in position. The panel slides in and out of the brackets; a piece of scrap 1x provides the stop at the rear, a sliding latch drops down near the top in the front to hold the panel from sliding out. I tried rubber weather strip to cushion the panel, but getting the brackets spaced just right so the weather strip doesn't bind when sliding the panel in/out was too finicky when I cobbled this together in the field.


I secure the brackets with screws through the leg. I drill a screw hole through _both_ legs, trying to get the drill exactly perpendicular to the legs so the holes line up nicely. Then I drill a large (1/2") hole in the leg directly across from the screw hole, using the original hole to locate the large hole properly. This allows using a ratchet or screw drive to reach through the U-channel and install the fastener. I use stainless steel fasteners with a flat head; the 1/2" hole allows using a small 45d counter sink on the screw hole inside the channel to recess the fastener flush and allow the panel frame to slide in nicely.


I expect to cover the exposed panel (between the two channels which hold it), probably with a 26ga sheet of aluminum. Or 22ga, whatever seems best. I may try installing this with short SS bolts into holes I drill and tap in the 1/8" bracket material. This would require cutting/grinding off the extra length flush on the inside of the bracket. I _think_ 1/8" may be thick enough to do this with 32tpi bolts - and lock-tite or the like. I would drill/tap then cut the bolt to a likely length and test with a scrap of the aluminum cover plate. (This happens before the cover plate is installed, using a small piece of that material to test for the right bolt length.) A dremel tool would cut the bolt fairly easily, but a _sharp_ fine hack saw blade would do it ok, also. It might be convenient to use long nose pliers with the handles clamped in a bench vise to hold the bolt getting cut. Or not. Whatever works with your set up.


If drilling and tapping doesn't work or is too much work, I'll try gluing the cover sheet in place. If you can work sheet metal, a hem along the long "open" side between the brackets and a simple 90d fold at the rear will stiffen it considerably.


Cheers,
Rufus
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Old 07-08-2022, 11:02 AM   #2
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Name: Dave
Trailer: Casita
New Mexico
Posts: 34
Hope you can post a photo; this sounds like an interesting project.
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Old 07-08-2022, 07:34 PM   #3
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Name: Rufus
Trailer: Surfside TM14
Illinois
Posts: 45
Hi Dave


I'll try for the pics.



This is mostly a quickie note about the happy fit between what is probably a standard aluminum solar frame and a stock aluminum extrusion found at a box store. Happened to fit my need to store the panel someplace I wouldn't immediately break it... Concept should work with any flat surface having space to hold the panel.


Ok. Looks like I need to shrink the images to allow attachment. I'm afraid I don't have any faith that "hosted" images will remain available for long. My own included.


It appears that the powers don't think much of attached images, though. 400k maximum in this day of terrabyte mass storage and 4-5MB phone photos... Well, then. Better than nothing, right? I'll see what happens when I resize the images.


Cheers,
Rufus
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Old 07-08-2022, 08:01 PM   #4
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Name: Rufus
Trailer: Surfside TM14
Illinois
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Here we go, hopefully


Well, well. The resized files I have on my local disk are all a bit under 400k. The upload size shown by the forum software is about 1/10 of that. IOW, about 45k. Fun and games. Hope the pics show up useably.



Somebody is not playing fair.
Attached Thumbnails
rv_solar_interior-bracket_1_scaled.jpg   rv_solar_interior-bracket_2_scaled.jpg  

rv_solar_interior-bracket_3_scaled.jpg   rv_solar_interior-bracket_4_scaled.jpg  

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Old 09-01-2022, 05:38 AM   #5
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Name: Matt
Trailer: trillium
MI
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rlaggren View Post
Here we go, hopefully


Well, well. The resized files I have on my local disk are all a bit under 400k. The upload size shown by the forum software is about 1/10 of that. IOW, about 45k. Fun and games. Hope the pics show up useably.



Somebody is not playing fair.
Cut out the white space..
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tre.JPG  
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Old 09-02-2022, 02:04 PM   #6
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Name: Rufus
Trailer: Surfside TM14
Illinois
Posts: 45
I just used the "image" button. The requirements for a file were not particularly clear - such&such resolution, such&such size limit, either(?) or(?). Anyway, I tried to downsize the pics to comply and then the forum software seemed to do stuff to the pic "backstage". It was a pretty awkward process that's resulted in the display above; I didn't add any whitespace that I recall.



Rufus
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