Solar Panels on T7

[sticky1]

View attachment IMG_6943.jpeg
If you are interested in installing solar panels, you can see that I can get three of Roger Donaghue’s panels on the roof and still have room to install roof rack feet. https://www.solarcampersolutions.com/
Wire drops down next to the rear door hinge and through the grommet now conveniently installed to route the wiring behind the cupboards.
I now leave the fridge on permanently and the leisure batteries are fully topped up by 10am even if I have run the parking heater and air con the night before.

 

[Nimrodski]

View attachment 137535View attachment 137536
If you are interested in installing solar panels, you can see that I can get three of Roger Donaghue’s panels on the roof and still have room to install roof rack feet. https://www.solarcampersolutions.com/
Wire drops down next to the rear door hinge and through the grommet now conveniently installed to route the wiring behind the cupboards.
I now leave the fridge on permanently and the leisure batteries are fully topped up by 10am even if I have run the parking heater and air con the night before.

That installation looks fabulous and seems like a real value add. Can I ask, do the panels top up the vehicle battery when the leisure batteries are full? If not, what is your experience with the behaviour of the main vehicle battery when in camping mode? Mine looses it charge frustratingly quickly, down to very low levels after two nights camping. I have read the advice in other threads and am careful not to use the front doors, to turn off keyless access etc but I am struggling. There seems to be a constant draw on the main batter of 5-8 amps according to the central control panel.

 

[JuanVecino2023]

I had a 3 panel setup on my T6.1, it was awesome. Kept the fridge running permanently, interior lights, chargers etc & topped up my Ecoflow Delta to run 240V accessories.

It’s for sale at the moment, with Victron MPPT etc. same roof track dimensions on the T7

 

[sticky1]

That installation looks fabulous and seems like a real value add. Can I ask, do the panels top up the vehicle battery when the leisure batteries are full? If not, what is your experience with the behaviour of the main vehicle battery when in camping mode? Mine looses it charge frustratingly quickly, down to very low levels after two nights camping. I have read the advice in other threads and am careful not to use the front doors, to turn off keyless access etc but I am struggling. There seems to be a constant draw on the main batter of 5-8 amps according to the central control panel.

I was intending to have the “Duo” charger which is an MPPT with a 1amp trickle charge but we couldn’t find the starter battery without disconnecting the front seats and my experience with other vans means that you often get an airbag fault on the dash that needs a dealer reset.
I see the same challenge with the starter battery dropping amps on the display but so far I haven’t had it sit for longer than four nights, in camp mode, without restarting the engine. Like you I’m careful to not use the drivers door and lock up without using the remote, so far I haven’t turned off keyless entry, but I am careful to turn off the Infotainment system as I have noticed the Bluetooth on my phone remains connected and I am not convinced the system goes into low power mode when connected to your phone.
I have a jump start lithium pack in the glove box just in case.
I may install a split charge from the leisure batteries if it becomes an issue.
I really recommend getting these solar panels and if anyone is interested they are still under 2m total vehicle height (by 1cm!!)

 

[Californication69]

View attachment 137535View attachment 137536
If you are interested in installing solar panels, you can see that I can get three of Roger Donaghue’s panels on the roof and still have room to install roof rack feet. https://www.solarcampersolutions.com/
Wire drops down next to the rear door hinge and through the grommet now conveniently installed to route the wiring behind the cupboards.
I now leave the fridge on permanently and the leisure batteries are fully topped up by 10am even if I have run the parking heater and air con the night before.

Awesome !
Solar is a game changer isn’t it.
Out of curiosity, what’s the roof made out of ?
Aluminium ?
I’m exploring ways of fitting Starlink mini, before the 4M arrives.

 

[sticky1]

Awesome !
Solar is a game changer isn’t it.
Out of curiosity, what’s the roof made out of ?
Aluminium ?
I’m exploring ways of fitting Starlink mini, before the 4M arrives.

Fibreglass.
Have you seen the roof rack bracket?
You will run the risk of being over 2 metres though.

 

[Californication69]

Fibreglass.
Have you seen the roof rack bracket?
You will run the risk of being over 2 metres though.

Interesting, I have reports of RV users with fibreglass using Starlink mini under the fibreglass pointing upwards and they get almost the same throughput and ping rate as on top of the roof !
Very interesting !

Yes seen the roof rack bracket, and the 2m doesn’t bother me.
Most car parks I visit are 2.2m
I’m considering 2x perlight 175w panels so will be over the 2m option anyway.
But would be nice to keep under 2.1m

I bought a good starlink mini bracket from Amazon, it’s metal and I’ll fashion a bracket to keep it on the roof if it doesn’t work under the fibreglass roof.

 

[sticky1]

Interesting, I have reports of RV users with fibreglass using Starlink mini under the fibreglass pointing upwards and they get almost the same throughput and ping rate as on top of the roof !
Very interesting !

Yes seen the roof rack bracket, and the 2m doesn’t bother me.
Most car parks I visit are 2.2m
I’m considering 2x perlight 175w panels so will be over the 2m option anyway.
But would be nice to keep under 2.1m

I bought a good starlink mini bracket from +amazon+amazon+amazon+amazon+amazon+amazon, it’s metal and I’ll fashion a bracket to keep it on the roof if it doesn’t work under the fibreglass roof.

There’s definitely enough room in the roof rack channels for a sturdy bracket.
I’m tempted to mount mine at the back and have it easy to remove, I’ll run the power on the offside rear door hinge the same as the solar wiring and use the 12v socket in the back that runs off the leisure batteries.

 

[blind_oracle]

I was intending to have the “Duo” charger which is an MPPT with a 1amp trickle charge but we couldn’t find the starter battery without disconnecting the front seats and my experience with other vans means that you often get an airbag fault on the dash that needs a dealer reset.
I see the same challenge with the starter battery dropping amps on the display but so far I haven’t had it sit for longer than four nights, in camp mode, without restarting the engine. Like you I’m careful to not use the drivers door and lock up without using the remote, so far I haven’t turned off keyless entry, but I am careful to turn off the Infotainment system as I have noticed the Bluetooth on my phone remains connected and I am not convinced the system goes into low power mode when connected to your phone.
I have a jump start lithium pack in the glove box just in case.
I may install a split charge from the leisure batteries if it becomes an issue.
I really recommend getting these solar panels and if anyone is interested they are still under 2m total vehicle height (by 1cm!!)

I can't see clearly on photo, but are those flexible solar panels which are sitting on top of two L-shaped bars each which are bolted to the roof rails? Can you post a close-up photo if possible?

I am just thinking now how to mount my 3x flexible 100w panels and I arrived probably to the same solution - bought the L-shaped bars at local store and cut/drilled them.

Though I am afraid that since the panels are ~2-3cm above the roof and rather flexible - at high speeds they might wobble or something like this. You have any problem with that?

Thanks

 

[blind_oracle]

Just wanted to share my experience on installing the solar panels.

I've got 3x 100w ETFE-coated semi-flexible panels from Amazon for around 150 EUR total, Victron 100/20 MPPT charger and a box of MC4 connectors.

The biggest problem was a spiral cable that has a flat long part on one side - I couldn't find in anywhere and I had to order one (2 x 2.5mm^2 wires) from some Cali solar installers for a whooping 100 EUR. It is also a bit thick so the tailgate compresses it a bit when closed, I guess I'll find out in the long term if that causes a problem.

To mount the panels I've used the aluminium L-shaped bars 1.5mm thick (though probably better to go thicker, but I haven't found them in a local store).

The bars in some places are very close to the roof, so there I've added pieces of two-sided tape to fix them and avoid wobbling. Or one can put some spacers between rails and bars to raise them, though it makes Cali higher and might cause more wobbling due to air intake under panels.

The wire goes through the rear grommet just fine, you need to remove the rear compartment trim to guide it down to the water tank, it is held on plastic clips that are rather easy to screw out with a Torx head.

The MPPT charger I've mounted near the fuse box above the battery compartment, under a removable shelf - there's an M5 bolt you can screw it to. You can connect it directly to any of the batteries since the new Cali seems to read the charging current directly from the batteries' BMS and shows it correctly in the App and on the rear touch screen.

I did some long highway runs at 120-140km/h and the thing holds quite nice and doesn't produce any noticeable noise it seems.

Overall cost of parts was I guess around 350-400 EUR.