Thanks

1: Measure the width of your rPod at the roofline, not counting the Keder rail. 

2. Get a 72 cell large format module with a length that is close (within 1/8 inch or so) of that width.  These are about 77-78 inches long and there are many available so when I looked there were several that would work. These will be in the range of 300-350 watts. You can often buy these on CL or eBay unused left over from projects very cheaply. 

3) Place the module on the roof and support it temporarily where and at the angle you want it to be mounted.

4) Cut two pieces of aluminum sheet (probably 0.125 thickness will be fine) to overlap the sides of the rPod by 1 inch and extend upwards to cover the end frames of the module. Remove the Keder rail where the aluminum sheet is going to be. Standing the module off an inch or two will help keep it and your roof cooler. 

5) Paint the aluminum black or other preferred color. 

5) Using self tapping fasteners attach the aluminum sheets tp the sides of the rPod. Get fasteners long enough to go through both walls of the 1 inch box tube framing along the tops of the walls of the rPod. The screw ttips will be inside the roof when installed.

6) Use SS self tapping fasteners to attach the module end frame to the aluminum sheets. 

This should be a very strong attachment technique since the screws will be in shear not tension so they cant pull out. And no roof holes! I think 4 fasteners at each interface should be fine, more wouldn't hurt,  

The drawback is you will lose the Keder rail in the area where the module is going to be mounted. I don;t use mine so its not a loss for me, if you do you might be able to shim out the Keder rail and put it back.

Standard grid tied modules are about 39 inches wide so you'll need to determine where you have enough room to place one. On my 179 the best place I found is behind the a/c.  

You will need an MPPT type charge controller to charge a 12V battery using these modules.

Now, I won't mount my panels. Why?

* I don't want to have to park in the sun.

* You'll never reposition the trailer for best gain.

* I like wooded sites.

* More protrusions in the roof or wall for wiring.

I like my stand-alone panel. I can park where-ever and put the panel in the sun. I can turn it to optimize gain. Easy to clean.

What I don't like is it's big and harder to stow-away. I may go flex just because of the stowing issue. The costs of flex have come down to an affordable dollar. Some flex units bend easier than others so don't think their all the same. I watched a video you a guy testing an expensive flex against a cheap one and the cheap one was more flexible and out produced.

Just me and my cents! Worth each penny.

I will lean towards you knowledge. 

Flexible panels are fine as long as you accept their very short lifespan...a couple of years or so.

Rigid panels can last decades.

Originally posted by offgrid   Standing the module off an inch or two will help keep it and your roof cooler.

Hey you like to pick apart the details of my posts, well paybacks are heck.

Actually, the roof directly under the panels is hotter, not cooler.

If the panel was mounted a few feet up, then the shade might help, but at a distance of a few inches, the heat radiated off the bottom of the panel heats up the roof surface quite a bit.

Believe it.

I'm not interested in the "payback" thing, nor do I intend to simply "believe" someone's statement in my professional area of expertise. If you want to make a statement in your area of expertise that is certainly another story. 

I am suggesting steps for mounting a grid tie module on an rpod. In one step I'm recommending a standoff mount of an inch or two rather than direct surface mounting, which is the only other alternative on an RV. There is no practical way to place the module a few feet above the roof. So of course the roof under the module is going to be hotter than if the module wasn't there, since it is a light colored roof and the module is designed to absorb as much light as possible. But it will be much hotter if its a direct mount. 

If you have another alternative for Ottr please feel free to suggest it.

 

I was thinking about putting it towards the front part of the roof.   I don't have room in the back unless it angles down slightly which would would have the aerodynamic effect of putting on a drag chute, in my mind.    If it is in the front, even if it angles down a bit, then that's a bit more like an air dam.   Of course, it will catch bugs more, but I think that's a fair tradeoff.

To mount the panel to either the truck or our Pod I use braided cord and small line cleats which are attached to the bottom perimeter of our pod and to the camper shell.  

Stowage is the issue with my panel. I've looked into 100w units and see the sizing is better to stow. Maybe two of this would suit me better.

I mentioned Flexible mainly due to stowing away and the price is coming down to being comparable to hard panels. Would I mount them, or mount a hard panel, probably not. Don't like the idea of parking in the sun.

I'll lean on Offgrid to voice costs vs. duration of hard side to flexible. Right now I can buy either for around a dollar a watt, puts them close to par for cost.

For me, if mounted, I would double (maybe triple) my wattage so I still don't have to park directly in the sun.

A 1KW array? What the heck are you trying to power? Can the Pod handle the extra weight of the Batteries of such a system? Oh My!

The holy grail of boondockers: off grid a/c

I want to install a high efficiency mini split condernser where the batteries are now and the evaporator would go above the head end of the bed in the 179. That will not only clear the roof for solar but will also reduce the electrical load of the a/c by nearly 50%, RV roof airs are not shall we say state of the art units. Not to mention the noise that will go away, the minisplits are whisper quiet. 

There is no way to carry enough capacity of lead acid batteries in an rPod, you are absolutely correct on that point. So, I would need to install a lithium pack. Probably I'll use a salvage Tesla auto battery. They are 24V and 5kWh and are pretty reasonable on eBay. They only weight about 50 lbs so I would save weight over the dual lead acid batteries I have now and give about 4x the useful capacity. 

My calcs suggest that that and a 1kW solar array should get me through about 12 hours of nighttime (not daytime) a/c use, we don't usually use the a/c in the daytime anyway because we're outside most of the time. I'll need a 24Vdc to 120Vac inverter for the a/c and a 24V to 12V dc dc converter to run the existing 12V trailer loads. 

Anyway, that's my basic plan, we'll see how it all works out. 

I've been out for almost 3 weeks now and finding out what I'm happy with, and what I'm not happy with. 

The main thing I am happy with is the 200 watt solar power supply on/in my pickup that I plug the pod into. 

The thing I am least happy with is trying to keep the trailer in the sun for the 150 watt solar it provides. 

I have finally emptied the 12v compressor freezer and now using it for dry storage and back to only using the dometic absorption fridge for food, drink, and ice. 

That 12v compressor fridge (when in freeze mode) is a power hog, relatively speaking, meaning that with my smallish total solar, and larger additional other loads (vent fan, ham radio, laptop, ebike) and all these damn trees, I have to run the small genset for a couple of hours just about every morning.

In fact I moved the trailer again after arriving (set up twice) to gain more solar, but the comfort level went WAY down because of the lack of all-day shade where I am now. Of course, over in the shade, the comfort level was higher but the solar production suffered, which meant even MORE genset run-time. 

I think I will rely more on propane power to cool what remains of my perishable food provisions and 

possibly back-track on 12v compressor fridges...for now anyway.

I like the minisplit A/C idea but I mostly camp in cooler areas in the fall and spring, and warmer areas in the winter, so what little A/C I need, the loud as hell Champion 3500 genset will suffice. In the mid summer I use hookups at state parks in NM for $4 per 24 hours...a bargain....or free hookups in several locations in the Texas Panhandle, and I can choose shady spots and run the A/C all dang day if I need to!

For me, I either camp on the beach here on the OBX where it is hot, humid, and (generally) sunny or in the mountains where its cool and shady. I don't need the a/c in the mountains and have direct sun on the beach. The National Seashore does not allow generators at night which is when I want the a/c, and only has a few hookups which are in high demand of course. In the mountains even a mostly shaded 1kw solar array should provide plenty of energy.  

That being said, I would still want to have a fossil fuel backup source no matter what. I'd like to try alternator charging of the 24V Tesla battery via dc/dc step up converters, that should solve the problem of not getting enough charging current from an idling engine in the TV. If I have a cloudy day at the beach I can run the TV in the late afternoon to top off the battery. 

My biggest concern about my plan is that the minisplit might not hold up to the vibration from travelling, we'll have to see. 

The holy grail of boondockers: off grid a/c

 Probably I'll use a salvage Tesla auto battery. They are 24V and 5kWh and are pretty reasonable on eBay. They only weight about 50 lbs so I would save weight over the dual lead acid batteries I have now and give about 4x the useful capacity. 

Anyway, that's my basic plan, we'll see how it all works out. 

We'll, you'd be the guy to pull it off!

That is pretty decent pricing for lithium's. I'll be watching for which seller you buy from, and of course how they test out.

You know what's happening to me, mine is gone for the balance of the season.. 

Side project has been building a camper top for my truck. Something small for overnights, yet big enough to be comfortable. It may be my only camper to roll through the balance of this season...

Seems I may need to get serious on finishing...

  

In a 'fair world' they'll fix it, period. I'm still hoping for that..