Well I have spent a fair bit of last week fitting up two new 150 w 8 amp panels on the roof removed the old 68 w one will put it up on the shed roof for when the van is in the shed, all hocked up and Friday in the mid day sun was pumping in 8.3 amp, very nice, will see how it goes in a couple or three weeks
Oh I had to shorten up the wingard 6 inches so it would fold down, what's 6 inches between friends hey
When the power of Love becomes greater than the love of power the World will see peace ! 24ft Trailblazer 5th wheeler n 05 Patrol ute and Black Series Dominator camper trailer ( for the rough stuff)
You should go to Bunnings and buy a length of square plastic conduct and stick it to the roof with silicone and run the wires inside it make it very neat and protects from the weather and you can unclip the top if you want to get at the wires or add more
That's a complex system.
I had 4 panels on last roof. 2 fore and aft on each side of 4 way hatch.
Wiring strung from one to another then across roof to other side.
ALL cabling set in Sikaflex Pro. and moulded to roof (Never, ever intended romoving. double sheathed.)
all panels linked and coming out of one cable at front, same side as hole in roof.
Electrical junct box small as yours.
One cable in. Hole in roof under box. with cable going straight down under box through roof to reg.
then box filled with Sika, mounted on Sika. NO moistues ingress.
Visible Cable crosses roof at seam lines and moulded into. All other cable run under panels
Sika's to underside of to keep off roof.
13 yrs later. couldn't move sealed sika on open cable to remove a panel.
It stayed there for replacement panel to mount to.
That stuff really IS permanent.
In regards to potential solar lose from some shadowing from large plastic enclosure at base of panels .
It doesn`t take much to degrade out put .
If it becomes a concern shifting the panels 100mm [with slight overhang ] and shift the brackets 50mm . Both in the direction away from the large plastic enclosure.
Any way u look at it u will gain more usable solar hours.
You should go to Bunnings and buy a length of square plastic conduct and stick it to the roof with silicone and run the wires inside it make it very neat and protects from the weather and you can unclip the top if you want to get at the wires or add more
Dragonfly1
Hi Woody,
I agree with Dragonfly 1 here and would not leave the cables exposed to the sun on the roof. They are not rated for that extreme exposure. Otherwise a neat job !
Just apply some nice white paint over cable.. It will protect them from UV and camouflage them. The shading wont make a hell deference.. Looks good.. Get out there and enjoy ..
I support conduit.
Gallahs and Correllas LOVE the sheathing on the cables and I know of several cases of bird damage shorting out cables and in one case caused some major shorting resulting in severe burning to the cables.
If you decide to not cover then keep it in the back of your mind to check regulatory for damage as it can take several strikes to get to the wires.
Regards
Brian
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11 Mtr house Boat based at Mannum hoping to travel up the Murray as far as I can get then drift back again
A relative had new solar panels fitted to the roof of her office a while back. A short time later someone rushed in and said the roof was on fire ?? Called the fire brigade etc. Turned out the ****atoos had destroyed the wiring correctly enclosed in plastic flexible conduit coming off the roof, so causing it to short and burn the new wiring out in a short section.
The installer replaced the plastic conduit with metal conduit !! And also put some metal protection on some other roof top items !! Hmmm interesting wildlife we have!
Jaahn
PS the thought police have removed the first part of the name of the common local bird I was referring to above. What is the world coming too ?
-- Edited by Jaahn on Tuesday 7th of March 2017 09:56:34 AM
I was unaware that birds like to eat the cables, so thanks for that info, beiffe, and Jahhn
Panels look good woody, I managed after much difficulty to turn my Wingard aerial from the original front to rear position, to the side to side position (from north south, to east west)
The hump on the front of my campervan, stops the wind from lifting Wingard, while travelling
Jaahn I hadn't considered the corella problem as we don't have them here, we do however have galahs, but have only known them to chew into tv arial wires on house tops so it's an interesting point you raise will ponder it over the weekend as we are off to Echuca tomorrow for three nights where there will be pesky screeching white birds I will keep an eye on their behaviour , with a cool beverage in hand ,lol.
Nor had the losses from the exposed cables getting hot occurred to me, the large plastic hump next to the panels is the shower cover / exhaust thingy had thought of putting them further away from it but didn't want the panels that close to the outside of the van I case Dougwes uncle Al visits and I drive too close to a tree branch ,lol.
Aus-Kiwi I like your thoughts, paint them wires white so the the little chewers won't see them, and the white paint would help stop heat absorption from the sun, I will ponder this too with the second cold beverage.
I guess I will just have to ponder what life is about with the third cold beverage, no wait that one will be to de stress after looking after 2 year old grandy and her similar aged cousin for the day, hope not as I'm looking forward to spending the day with them.
Woody
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When the power of Love becomes greater than the love of power the World will see peace ! 24ft Trailblazer 5th wheeler n 05 Patrol ute and Black Series Dominator camper trailer ( for the rough stuff)
Before you have too many cold drinks, check the voltage at the junction of the 2 solar panel cables inside the box, in full sun, and compare it to the battery voltage while the controller is in full boost mode. You should be seeing more than 8 amps from 300w of solar and it could be the cable size running from the junction box down to the controller and from the controller to the battery pack that is causing the loss of output.
T1 Terry
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hi
Shading of any type reduces output . AND
If u start with a semi shaded panel ,the panel has little tolerance for a cloudy day , so u get double blow/reduction make that triple because the early sun rise and sunset harvest will be reduced also .
