DIY solar installation

[Almost bought a california]

Just finished installing a 100W solar panel and thought there might be some interest in a DIY option - I did see the post by MCEv (Moxie) asking for experience of the Solar Campers Solution but didn't want to hijack his post as the DIY route won't be for everyone and by all accounts the Solar Campers Solution is very good if you want a ready to fit kit.
Total price was just under £300 so not cheap! I loved the Califaktur solar module and the AMAG solution but the prices were way out of my reach and so got a local sheet metal firm to fold a mounting panel for me. I managed to find a suitable curly cable for under £20 but after ordering the solar panel and the controller I discovered that the company only had orange cables in stock so I had to get a one off made at great expense by a super helpful company in Ireland (£61 after carriage and taxes!)


I order to keep the roof neat I had to chop the plugs off the solar panel - I did test it first but needless to say I suspect this will negate any warranty LOL


I opted of a 100W Renogy panel and it was giving 50W here at 5:00 on an April evening so happy with that!


I expected the cable route would be straight forward - it was in the end but the back end is double skinned and so it didn't end up taking the expected route.



I opted for the 75v, 15W controller incase I fit more panel(s). still overkill I suspect but it's a very nice bit of kit and has an App to monitor and log the solar and battery parameters.

Happy to share the panel mount drawing if anyone else fancies having a go ;-)

 

[Benham]

It looks like a top job you've done there. Well done.

 

[dspuk]

I think this shows that while Rogers kit and service are very dependable there are better looking solutions out there. I much prefer this low profile “factory look” frame to the tig welded home made aluminium one that comes with SCS kits. A little innovation would be great in the look and feel. I’ve seen these kits in Germany but they have a hefty tag to match. Be nice to clip them on and off easier too to clean under them. Mine gets pretty manky!

 

[DGB99]

Hi - I am looking at installing 200W and very impressed by this. Could you give a breakdown of prices and suppliers please as I am looking to do something similar.

 

[Carl_______________]

I have done the same, lovely job you have done, love the bracket. I have 2 x 100w. There is a guy on eBay that makes the curly cables for about £25 plus postage

 

[Carl_______________]

Security measure

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Almost bought a california]

Hi - I am looking at installing 200W and very impressed by this. Could you give a breakdown of prices and suppliers please as I am looking to do something similar.

Hi DGB99 the price will vary a bit depending on exactly what you buy and how much of the work you do for yourself but here's what it cost me;
- Renogy 100W Flexible Solar Panel - £89 from Amazon
- Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT 75V 15 amp 12/24-Volt Solar Charge Controller (Bluetooth) - £53 from Amazon
- Curly cable (4 * 1.5mm2, 500mm coil, 300/800mm tails with PUR outer sheath) - £61 from Flexform Cable Engineering / E.J. Harper & Co. although you might also want to check out the eBay link above from Carl______________
- 3mm thick Aluminium panel approx 1260 * 622mm with bends to drawing - £61.60 from HB Humphries and Co ltd (Sheet metal fabricators, Kettering)
- Sikaflex-522 adhesive sealant (also available in white so check your getting the colour you need) - £13 from Amazon
- 12 AWG Inline Fuse Holder (30A) fitted at the battery positive to protect the cable in the event of a short (not to protect the controller!) - £5 (pair) from Amazon or eBay
- Paint - £5.99 from Toolstation
Total £289
In addition to this I also had / used;
- 4mm cable between battery and MPPT controller
- Heat shrink
- Cable crimps, ferrules and eyes
- Tyraps
- M5 stainless button heads to align and mechanically fix the solar panel
- M6 stainless button heads to fix the mount to the roof
- M6 tee slot nuts (I made these to suit)
-A couple of counter sunk SCH screws and nuts to mount the MPPT controller

Hope this helps, I've attached the drawing I used

 

[DGB99]

This is brilliant, thank you so much for your help! One further question. I presume that you used this 100W Renogy panel from Amazon. They offer a 200W model with the same dimensions (double the price of course) - any reason not to use this rather than 2 x 100W?

Amazon.co.uk

 

[DGB99]

Security measure

www.ebay.co.uk

Hi - can you identify which cable you used? Thanks!

 

[Almost bought a california]

This is brilliant, thank you so much for your help! One further question. I presume that you used this 100W Renogy panel from Amazon. They offer a 200W model with the same dimensions (double the price of course) - any reason not to use this rather than 2 x 100W?

Amazon.co.uk

I think the brief description at the top of the page is wrong, if you scroll down she's a whopper!



There are a lot of the thinner flexible panels out there, they all seem to claim 22-23% efficiency but if you compare the output of the panel by its area they vary by a lot! My only conclusion was that the conditions (intensity of the light source) must not be consistent and that price / area (for a given efficiency) might be a better index of value. You might want to compare the construction as well as some panels may give significantly better performance when partially shaded.

I'll post some data from the controller when I have something useful but in the meantime there is probably someone here on the forum with some more expert advice for you.

 

[DGB99]

Well

I think the brief description at the top of the page is wrong, if you scroll down she's a whopper!

View attachment 134528

There are a lot of the thinner flexible panels out there, they all seem to claim 22-23% efficiency but if you compare the output of the panel by its area they vary by a lot! My only conclusion was that the conditions (intensity of the light source) must not be consistent and that price / area (for a given efficiency) might be a better index of value. You might want to compare the construction as well as some panels may give significantly better performance when partially shaded.

I'll post some data from the controller when I have something useful but in the meantime there is probably someone here on the forum with some more expert advice for you.

Well spotted! Did you put any foam type insulation under the Al sheet to protect the roof, either just where fixed or under the entire Al sheet?

 

[Carl_______________]

Hi - can you identify which cable you used? Thanks!

I used a 2.5mm 3core and earth, however, in theory a 1.5mm would be large enough even with two 100w panels, and you only need 2 cores,

I am going to install a switch to be able to either select connecting the panels in parallel or series for when my van is parked with one panel in the shade

 

[Almost bought a california]

Well

Well spotted! Did you put any foam type insulation under the Al sheet to protect the roof, either just where fixed or under the entire Al sheet?

I used 30mm wide strips of 3mm thick EPDM rubber (I used solid rubber and not foam as I assumed foam would go flat with time), one down the centre of each ridge - add £8.50 for 5m.
I used strips from front to back to protect the roof and maintain a small gap for a little cooling.
Used some of the Sikaflex to fix the strips to the mounting plate as the adhesive backed rubber was more expensive and I wasn't sure how well it would stand up to the heat generated from the panel.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

I wouldnt bother with the foam, it collects dirt, tree dust, pollen etc, so leaves a light ‘tide’ mark on the roof when panels are removed (which can removed with T-cut or similar).

Think it’s better to leave the gap open. Have sold our van but used to remove panels once a year to clean the roof properly.