Chinook RV

As always, thanks Clay! ALL SOLAR HAS BEEN ORDERED!

For those of you considering Hoosier's Nuclear Upgrade (HNU), I've included my engineered mockup of what your rigs might look like. It WILL fit within our roof confines, tight, but it will fit!

Dano wrote: March 5th, 2019, 11:03 am For those of you considering Hoosier's Nuclear Upgrade (HNU), I've included my engineered mockup of what your rigs might look like. It WILL fit within our roof confines, tight, but it will fit!

Drat! Looks like I'll lose the roof-top AC.

Back on topic... FYI: the Renogy "Compact Design" 100W panels are on sale (their website).
My plan is very similar to yours, Dano. The layout would be two 100W panels, one on each side of the tier (removing the old TV antenna), with the option of adding panels/wattage later. I'm investigating what it would take to add a wall panel for the controller to be closer to the batteries...say on the pillar behind the driver seat, or low on the window wall.

The original solar panel has max. rated current at 3.15A (see reference section for SM50-H), so they put a 7.5A on there and it is working fine. For Clay's upgrade, he got 3 panels, so the max is 3X3.15A or ~ 9.5A, and this is why his panels blew the 7.5A fuse when all the planets aligned.

You can do the similar calculation to find out the max. current of your setup by adding the current of each panel (assume you do them in parallel), or take the max of those in the same series (if you go with Blue's method), and get the right (minimum) fuse size. Obviously, there is no point if the fuse size is larger than what you controller is rated for, or what the wire can handle. I would seriously considering reading up on Blue's and others comments on rewiring the line to a larger gauge.

If you do consider to go with the HNU, I don't think you need to worry about fuse at all. The only problem I can see is the cooling towers will make the rig too tall to go under the bridges on the parkway.

Hoosier; I just took a rough measurement with 2 feet of snow still on top of mine but the outside edge is mostly exposed and my thought of two, 100 watt panels inline on the driver's side might just be too much in terms of length but the 100W + 50W panels end to end should work.

Chin; I just spoke with Renogy and went with a 20 amp inline fuse to the controller. Will also do some read up on the line from the charger to the batteries. Is it fairly accessible or is it a lot of surgery to pull one line out and put one in?

Clay; I found your 7.5 amp fuse at the battery so know which one to upgrade there...

Blue;
Just got off the phone with Renogy and the correct specs for the new 100W Compact Design panels are:
Maximum Power: 100W Maximum System Voltage: 600V DC (UL)
Optimum Operating Voltage (Vmp): 17.9V
Open-Circuit Voltage (Voc): 21.6V
Optimum Operating Current (Imp): 5.72A
Short-Circuit Current (Isc): 6.24A
Weight: 16.5lbs
Dimensions: 42.2 X 19.6 X 1.38 In

You are correct on the 18"-18.5" top panel, I thought it was 20" so it looks like I will have about a 1" overhang, still okay in my book

Dano wrote: March 5th, 2019, 12:30 pm Hoosier; I just took a rough measurement with 2 feet of snow still on top of mine but the outside edge is mostly exposed and my thought of two, 100 watt panels inline on the driver's side might just be too much in terms of length but the 100W + 50W panels end to end should work.

I may go with 100W+50W panels end to end on both starboard and port for a total of 300W. It would be a neat setup and meet my "travel style requirements".

(Okay, the HNU project is now dead)

The total distance available from the antenna mount (with no arm or antenna head) back to the bathroom vent was about 80" plus or minus. Both of these new panels were 66" in total combined length. If you add in some space between both the panels, say 3-4", you should still have about a foot of extra length to play with...assuming you don't change your mind about adding a reactor

Thanks for the measurements and the illo of your roof layout. Very helpful.
What type of panel mounts are you thinking of using? Blue has great research on the topic and I believe even had some brackets custom made. After seeing several vids on the benefits of using VHB tape, I'm convinced that's the way I'll go when attaching the mounts to the roof.

Maybe time to start a new thread on your "Solar Upgrade"?

Did this for you Hoosier...It pretty much shows about every location you could stick a panel with an extra 50 on top of the A/C unit as per Clay's great idea. Renogy makes a flexible one that appears to fit perfectly within the confines and will conform to the top.
https://www.renogy.com/renogy-50-watt-1 ... lar-panel/
Total is about 450 watts. I think I am just going to use the Renogy Z brackets but maybe the 3M tape is worth a look! I'm not too concerned with holes if everything is Dicor'ed and covered with Eternabond tape.