Chinook RV

Clay: Love how you have yours mounted and great use of the a/c shroud I never even thought of. Grape Solar has a 160w thin panel that's a little wider than the existing. I was thinking of getting 2 to do down the side like yours. Do yours tilt or are they fixed? I was thinking I would take the original panel off and use it to charge accessories. Set it on the dash or something.

Skillet wrote:Clay: Love how you have yours mounted and great use of the a/c shroud I never even thought of.

I noticed that too. Clever!

Skillet wrote:Grape Solar has a 160w thin panel that's a little wider than the existing. I was thinking of getting 2 to do down the side like yours.

BTW, I don't think the Grape 160 is as narrow as you are thinking (?). Unless there is one I don't know of (but would sure LIKE to know of) it's 26" wide, and those "side tiers" on our roofs are only 18" wide (original panel is around 13" wide). Boy would I love the early 90's roof that didn't have the "top cake layer" that we have - solar panels would be so easy!

While we are on the topic, and in case this is useful to anyone: I removed the original solar panel and figured someone might like to know how it was held on. There was a "Z" angle on each short end, which was held in with three screws. Then, around in the center there was a "plug" where the panel male plugs in to a female fitting on the roof. The fitting on the roof has a three-screw flange and the hole in the roof is around 1" in diameter. Then the wire goes in between the roof layers over to the area of the overcab where the solar controller was and comes into the overcab. From the controller the wire went over to the driver's side pillar - I can't remember how it ran right now, sorry (some stuff went between the overcab floor and the Ford roof, other stuff went across the ceiling of the compartment). Then down to the positive battery post with the 7.5 amp fuse along the way.

Also, I looked at the Chinook-installed solar controller my rig came with and it was just like kyidletime's. Mine never showed the red light. When plugged in, always the green light. When not plugged in, the "solar charging" light would be on most of the time during the day (gold, IIRC), and then later would start to flicker back and forth between yellow and green before settling on green until I used some power.

Skillet wrote:Clay: Love how you have yours mounted and great use of the a/c shroud I never even thought of. Grape Solar has a 160w thin panel that's a little wider than the existing. I was thinking of getting 2 to do down the side like yours. Do yours tilt or are they fixed? I was thinking I would take the original panel off and use it to charge accessories. Set it on the dash or something.

Hi Skillet,

As noted, I think the 160W panels are quite a bit wider. The back of the rear Siemens panel is in between the "top cake layer" and the refrigerator vent, so you really only have the 13" width to work with. That is why a second Siemens panel was the "path of least resistance". By way of warning, the panel on the AC shroud is the second one I installed. The first one is somewhere between Cody, Wyoming and Yellowstone Park, on the side of Dead Indian Hill Road, one of the most beautiful highways in the country (Chief Joseph Scenic Byway). I highly recommend that drive if you are visiting Cody and Yellowstone. However the panel blew off in a raging wind. It was attached with small screws and a strip of packing tape. The new replacement is held down by 4 3/8" nuts and bolts through the shroud, along with some 3M VHB (very high bond) tape along the front edge and a couple of places on the sides and back.

The panels are all fixed, and are not adjustable. I was looking for an improved setup without spending a lot. I didn't really want to go over 150W considering that 7.5A limit on the existing wiring, so the third 50W panel finished it off for me. If you want to go to a 300+Watt system, I think you are forced into using some useful roof space and upgraded wiring. I would probably go to a fixed TV antenna, and put a panel or two on the driver side, along with something in the original panel space. The AC shroud is a free location for this 50W panel, and could hold a 75W panel if you were willing to hang off the sides of the shroud a little bit.

The original panel is kind of klunky for a portable charger, because it is relatively heavy and cumbersome. The flat panel on the AC shroud on the other hand, weighs next to nothing and provides the same 50W. Don't throw it away though. You might sell it to someone like me that just wants to double the factory setup easily. Here is a link to the flexible 50W panel:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013DZ ... ge_o08_s00


Clay

caconcourse wrote:By way of warning, the panel on the AC shroud is the second one I installed. ... the (first) panel blew off in a raging wind. It was attached with small screws and a strip of packing tape. The new replacement is held down by 4 3/8" nuts and bolts through the shroud, along with some 3M VHB (very high bond) tape along the front edge and a couple of places on the sides and back.

Just wanted to thank you for the idea of mounting a flexible panel on the A/C shroud, and also for the wind warning

This afternoon I added a second 50W panel to my 1994 Concourse. (I'm saving both roof sides for walking at this point - that's why it's dirty in this photo - grin.) Keeping your advice in mind, I used bolts & washers instead of screws, some silicone adhesive, and an aluminum carpet trim piece at the front to act as a wind break and to help hold the panel front down. (There is clear silicone in the slightly open areas under the front trim to stop wind and rain from going under the trim.)
I was inspired not only by your post, but also by reading about how much even small shadows from roof vents drop a solar panel's output. Obviously a panel on the highest point makes extra good sense.

Regards,
Kevin

Oops. Only three images allowed in each post.

So last... a side view, to show how thin it all is: Don't forget that you can click on an image to (usually) make it bigger.

And sorry about the branches in the way