There are much smaller panels out there that are optimized for use on camper vans from companies that specialize in outfitting such vehicles with almost every extra you can dream off. They also come with proper mounting systems for vehicles that are safe while driving and keep the roof sealed.
Yes I was going to suggest something similar. Look I love this bloke and think he's a great tradesman, really competent doing houses and industrial buildings. But to instal; on the roof of a campervan which is already tall, and subject to several hours a day of 100 kmh / 62 mph wind forces, whenever driving on open roads and motorways... mate you want ONLY the proper, optimised for that kind of use, slimline near flushmount solar panels and fittings. Also no need to install almost 1500 watts of panels. They guy is getting by just fine as it is, up to 10 days at a time without recharging he said. So using smaller panels made for mobile/camper installation of 400 to 800 watts would still be a great upgrade for him. Plus keep the mountings to the spare roof real estate available, so he still has full use of the skylights Note their semi transparent colour is intended to give light from above as well as ventilation. Covering them up with a black solar panel defeats half their purpose. If you had managed to fit solar panels on brackets and mountings running another 6 to 8 inches, 150mm to 200mm more taller than the roof, you would have cost him another few miles-per-gallon whenever he drove anywhere. Fitting even just a slightly more modern, uprated "dumb" alternator would easily give 150 Amps charging into the 12 volt battery system.
I've a 30 year old Talbot Express camper with a couple of small solar panels on the roof. I've long come to the conclusion that putting more up there is not entirely sensible. My recommendation in this scenario is to keep the panels inside the vehicle when travelling and set them outside the vehicle on some lightweight mounts when parked up and needing power. Just just plug them into a charge controller with a suitable DC connector.
Comment from mech-eng vehicle expertise. If those panels are really going to be mounted on double height aluminium rails, put an air deflector at the leading edge of any exposed panel. All articulated lorries have them on cab roofs, to stop wind-induced trailer instability. Wind forces can be higher than you might imagine, and the main problem with lorries, back in the day, wasn’t so much the magnitude of the force, but the fact that it oscillates. Causing semi trailer instability. Oscillation of force will produce fatigue failure modes, especially in aluminium - aluminium has no fatigue limit. You can design steel components to have infinite oscillating load cycles, but aluminium subjected to any sort of cyclic load has a service life limit. Aircraft with aluminium structural component have fixed service life, because they will ultimately fail via fatigue cracking if they remain in use. Similarly, you will never see a train bogie made from anything other than steel, for this reason. Even though aluminium is strong enough, lighter, cheaper to run, and cheaper to buy.
I can't claim to be a solar energy expert but my basic 'common sense' tells me that applying domestic, fixed roof, technology/mechanics to a mobile environment would have ended in tears anyway. Are domestic panels even mechanically rated to contend with the flexing that wind from travelling would impart over them? Raised above the roof obstructions would surely have created a wind loading risk there must be smaller panels available that can be bonded to the various free roof areas?
3M VHB double-sided tape (ref: 4950) is preferable to Sikaflex and removes the need to drill holes in the roof. It's never going to come off! I was deeply sceptical until I researched it. You can also buy aluminium angle, cut to size, to make your own brackets - a very strong and economical choice. At the planning stage I've used sheets of cardboard to replicate the panels and long thin strips of wood. Using these has quickly highlighted any potential issues.
I fitted a 150 watt panel to the top of my caravan using plastic mounting brackets bolted through the side of the panel and self tappers, and Sika flex thought the brackets into the aluminium roof. Every fixing was stainless steel. It stuck like s..t to a blanket.
RV is similar to marine. Lifepo batteries are typically that (not all come with bms). Not all charge controllers are built and designed equal. Critical difference with RV is motor spec law. Alternators are one hell of a crank (comparable with lower end industrial)
Ha ha, so funny. I started with solar on my boat and upgraded to the same Victron MPPT charge controller the Swedish gentleman has when I doubled up my panels to 4 x 68W. I've now got experience of mobile solar on my narrowboat, on a yacht and on a motorhome and in all cases we used self-adhesive panels attached directly to the roof to mitigate against marine corrosion, wind, obstacles (like bridges and trees) and foul play. Amorphous silicon panels on a rubber substrate can be walked on without damaging them and are thus ideal on boats. However, I'm envisaging a diesel-electric RV project in the future where there are three decks of rigid panels on the roof that cantilever out and tilt when parked to provide shade underneath and a phenomenal solar collection area to make at least short haul 100% carbon free. I wonder whether it will ever make it from my imagination into reality. I can imagine it looking pretty cool sitting out under bifacial panels!
If you are serious about PV on a camper you need all the real estate available. I can't see that either vent windows or A/C strictly have to be set in the roof and high placement on the vehicle sides or rear could work. I have seen successful A/C compressor placement on an extended rear bumper bar, for example.
Get rid of that aircon unit, if you're intent on spending long periods off grid anything up top which isn't solar is a waste of precious rooftop real estate. I fitted 665w of panels on my motorhome around the existing skylights, two 245w panels in parallel flat on the roof to one Victron 100/50 and a separate 175w panel on a remote controlled tilt mechanism using a linear actuator to a Victron 75/15. Been off grid for between 3 and 7 months in Spain, Portugal and Morocco the past 4 winters with extensive use of the gaming laptop, induction hob, mains kettle, power tools and charging the eBike battery. 460Ah Fogstar Lithium leisure battery has been a game changer the past few years.
I would agree if the AC was broken / barely working - but someone made sure to maintain it for over 40 years - everything still works! Combine that with the thin form factor + heating functionality.. It will be kept. I am actually looking for a shroud replacement because that is the only thing that has been beaten over the years. :D
@@WoollyWanderers off the grid would be nice but not a requirement for me. Some occasional AC charging / urban living is probably what I’d want in the long run
I've seen flexible panels on narrow boats. They could be fitted direct to the roof, around the obstacles. 12 or 24 volt. Less aerodynamic in 70mph winds. 🤞
If an auto (or marine) electrician started fitting solar panels on a house you would probably get upset about it, so why would (when you clearly have zero knowledge of campervans) start on this job?
If an auto (or marine) electrician started fitting solar panels on a house it would probably be in contravention of building regulations as they wouldn't be deemed "competent".
Yep I would of gone for Flexable panels that can be sicaflexd down fully..cables would be surface mounted by design and massivley minimise the weight....your 130v over 3 panels would be ok but overrated for the 100v 50amp victron so the 18v flexible would give a more flexible solution in a series parallel design (excuse the pun)...
I know from experience it is harder to retro install solar panels onto a finished vehicle than it is to install them on a fresh build because before any of the interior finishings are fitted you are able to map out all the roof structural supports to be able to fasten all the rails to over having a stab in the dark and failing and then having to try and remove all the finished panelling from the roof unless you have previously done the same vehicle before and got all the measurements where the rails are to be mounted to and even then you don't know if anyone has been in there previous to you and run wiring where your going to be drilling, I try to keep away from retro fitting them.
Totally agree-retrofitting is tough without knowing what’s behind the panels. Fresh builds are so much easier to work with. Thanks for sharing your experience!
Hey, I hope you also have all about practical electricity lessons or course for those who want to learn electrical stuff so we can be good as well. -so we don't have to go the university route and teach just what matters in daily life. thank you!
Well done for pausing and not making a mess 😁There will be a way to make this work with the constraints on the camper as they are. It will just take more modelling, grey matter, time, experience and expertise to come up with the best solution. TH-camrs, Ladi & Margaret hinged their panels using a frame and actuators to get the best angle for optimum solar harvesting ☀😎👍🏼
Thanks so much! Appreciate the encouragement. Sounds like there's definitely a way forward-I’ll keep exploring options and getting creative with it! I'll have to check out Ladi & Margaret's setup.
Remove the AC and fit a new one to the rear better efficiency and that would free up more space for solar and I would probably use Flexible Solar Panels and set up a fold out set as well for when stationary
...P.S. according to the "new" regulations for Camper vans, RVs, Trailers each PV-Panel has to be fuesed separately e.g. with a standard car fuse in a junction box with the correct Amps as close as possible to where the cables are coming in😉
Did you get Kia? Was gonna screw businesses? I know you moved before then but well done for moving ‘cause I think if I was a business I would’ve gone out of Britain as well.
...💭 Why are all "the others" using standard alu mounting rails 40x40mm over the whole length... well there's a lot of good reasons. The other thing is that the screws need to go completely through the roof and from the inside it takes a thick huge washer or something that the screws are not toren through the roof... Sikaflex is just for sealing ...well and the distance is the distance of the mounting holes of the PV-Panels and these also have to be reinforced e.g. with an 3x28mm thick aluminum bar... (Hexhead screw, bar, washer, lock washer, flange lock nut.. wow and this is working on both sides 😮) I really don't understand why people always want to redevelope everything 🤷♂️ ... You'll just would need to open the eyes😂 And appart of that just using two panels instead of three and the existing "Victron Setup" will work...
What went wrong? It's very simple you did not whatch any of Will Prosse TH-cam videos on solar and RV solar or used his webpage and forum either. An all in one converter from EG4 and any decent brand LFP batteries would work great. Even a couple of used Tesla packs would work if you know how to do the correct settings in the app. The 100 refers to max amps the solar controller can accept.
@@artisanelectrics it's almost as bad as your converted EV Van where you purchased a 30kwh petrol van converted to EV when you could have bought a 75kwh OEM van. Then complained about the range. Very surprising seeing as you already owned a Tesla Model 3 at the time.
Yeah, the initial solar charger was installed with the 100v / 50A, mainly because I did not think I would be possible to fit more than 100V worth of solar (but 1350w would have been crazy-nice.). Another limitation was solar combined with our DC/DC charger at 50A - almost at the full capacity our Victron Inverter / Charger at 120A. But in retrospect, Maybe I should have bough a 70A Solar Charger just in case? Ironically, our Alternator is only rated at 35A right now, so we can only squeeze out ~17.5A safely.. So I guess we're looking for a new alternator too. 🫠
@ funny enough I live in Sweden and have helped some friends with the electrical in their camper van. But this hopefully is finished by now because here we have no had short pants for a while 😅
Send him to Poole next time, I’ll sort him out 😉
😂 I will help you cory 😊
Commission on that clip I reckon 😂
That feels like a job Corey would do well with
I mistook this for one of Corey's videos lol I was surprised to see an unexpected Jordan.
And Corey would have made it infinitely more enjoyable.
I was asked but I was busy 😢
There are much smaller panels out there that are optimized for use on camper vans from companies that specialize in outfitting such vehicles with almost every extra you can dream off. They also come with proper mounting systems for vehicles that are safe while driving and keep the roof sealed.
Yes I was going to suggest something similar. Look I love this bloke and think he's a great tradesman, really competent doing houses and industrial buildings. But to instal; on the roof of a campervan which is already tall, and subject to several hours a day of 100 kmh / 62 mph wind forces, whenever driving on open roads and motorways... mate you want ONLY the proper, optimised for that kind of use, slimline near flushmount solar panels and fittings. Also no need to install almost 1500 watts of panels. They guy is getting by just fine as it is, up to 10 days at a time without recharging he said. So using smaller panels made for mobile/camper installation of 400 to 800 watts would still be a great upgrade for him. Plus keep the mountings to the spare roof real estate available, so he still has full use of the skylights Note their semi transparent colour is intended to give light from above as well as ventilation. Covering them up with a black solar panel defeats half their purpose. If you had managed to fit solar panels on brackets and mountings running another 6 to 8 inches, 150mm to 200mm more taller than the roof, you would have cost him another few miles-per-gallon whenever he drove anywhere. Fitting even just a slightly more modern, uprated "dumb" alternator would easily give 150 Amps charging into the 12 volt battery system.
It's funny, these guys produce videos critical of amateur mistakes, then half-arse solar and get roasted in the comments.
I've a 30 year old Talbot Express camper with a couple of small solar panels on the roof. I've long come to the conclusion that putting more up there is not entirely sensible. My recommendation in this scenario is to keep the panels inside the vehicle when travelling and set them outside the vehicle on some lightweight mounts when parked up and needing power. Just just plug them into a charge controller with a suitable DC connector.
Cory to the rescue??? OY
Comment from mech-eng vehicle expertise. If those panels are really going to be mounted on double height aluminium rails, put an air deflector at the leading edge of any exposed panel. All articulated lorries have them on cab roofs, to stop wind-induced trailer instability. Wind forces can be higher than you might imagine, and the main problem with lorries, back in the day, wasn’t so much the magnitude of the force, but the fact that it oscillates. Causing semi trailer instability.
Oscillation of force will produce fatigue failure modes, especially in aluminium - aluminium has no fatigue limit. You can design steel components to have infinite oscillating load cycles, but aluminium subjected to any sort of cyclic load has a service life limit. Aircraft with aluminium structural component have fixed service life, because they will ultimately fail via fatigue cracking if they remain in use. Similarly, you will never see a train bogie made from anything other than steel, for this reason. Even though aluminium is strong enough, lighter, cheaper to run, and cheaper to buy.
I can't claim to be a solar energy expert but my basic 'common sense' tells me that applying domestic, fixed roof, technology/mechanics to a mobile environment would have ended in tears anyway. Are domestic panels even mechanically rated to contend with the flexing that wind from travelling would impart over them? Raised above the roof obstructions would surely have created a wind loading risk there must be smaller panels available that can be bonded to the various free roof areas?
3M VHB double-sided tape (ref: 4950) is preferable to Sikaflex and removes the need to drill holes in the roof. It's never going to come off! I was deeply sceptical until I researched it. You can also buy aluminium angle, cut to size, to make your own brackets - a very strong and economical choice. At the planning stage I've used sheets of cardboard to replicate the panels and long thin strips of wood. Using these has quickly highlighted any potential issues.
I fitted a 150 watt panel to the top of my caravan using plastic mounting brackets bolted through the side of the panel and self tappers, and Sika flex thought the brackets into the aluminium roof. Every fixing was stainless steel. It stuck like s..t to a blanket.
RV is similar to marine.
Lifepo batteries are typically that (not all come with bms).
Not all charge controllers are built and designed equal.
Critical difference with RV is motor spec law.
Alternators are one hell of a crank (comparable with lower end industrial)
Ha ha, so funny. I started with solar on my boat and upgraded to the same Victron MPPT charge controller the Swedish gentleman has when I doubled up my panels to 4 x 68W. I've now got experience of mobile solar on my narrowboat, on a yacht and on a motorhome and in all cases we used self-adhesive panels attached directly to the roof to mitigate against marine corrosion, wind, obstacles (like bridges and trees) and foul play. Amorphous silicon panels on a rubber substrate can be walked on without damaging them and are thus ideal on boats. However, I'm envisaging a diesel-electric RV project in the future where there are three decks of rigid panels on the roof that cantilever out and tilt when parked to provide shade underneath and a phenomenal solar collection area to make at least short haul 100% carbon free. I wonder whether it will ever make it from my imagination into reality. I can imagine it looking pretty cool sitting out under bifacial panels!
If you are serious about PV on a camper you need all the real estate available. I can't see that either vent windows or A/C strictly have to be set in the roof and high placement on the vehicle sides or rear could work. I have seen successful A/C compressor placement on an extended rear bumper bar, for example.
Get rid of that aircon unit, if you're intent on spending long periods off grid anything up top which isn't solar is a waste of precious rooftop real estate. I fitted 665w of panels on my motorhome around the existing skylights, two 245w panels in parallel flat on the roof to one Victron 100/50 and a separate 175w panel on a remote controlled tilt mechanism using a linear actuator to a Victron 75/15. Been off grid for between 3 and 7 months in Spain, Portugal and Morocco the past 4 winters with extensive use of the gaming laptop, induction hob, mains kettle, power tools and charging the eBike battery. 460Ah Fogstar Lithium leisure battery has been a game changer the past few years.
I would agree if the AC was broken / barely working - but someone made sure to maintain it for over 40 years - everything still works!
Combine that with the thin form factor + heating functionality.. It will be kept. I am actually looking for a shroud replacement because that is the only thing that has been beaten over the years. :D
@@pierre.reimertz If you're intent on staying on campsites to power your AC then what's the point of fitting a load of solar?
@@WoollyWanderers off the grid would be nice but not a requirement for me. Some occasional AC charging / urban living is probably what I’d want in the long run
I've seen flexible panels on narrow boats. They could be fitted direct to the roof, around the obstacles. 12 or 24 volt. Less aerodynamic in 70mph winds. 🤞
If an auto (or marine) electrician started fitting solar panels on a house you would probably get upset about it, so why would (when you clearly have zero knowledge of campervans) start on this job?
If an auto (or marine) electrician started fitting solar panels on a house it would probably be in contravention of building regulations as they wouldn't be deemed "competent".
Yep I would of gone for Flexable panels that can be sicaflexd down fully..cables would be surface mounted by design and massivley minimise the weight....your 130v over 3 panels would be ok but overrated for the 100v 50amp victron so the 18v flexible would give a more flexible solution in a series parallel design (excuse the pun)...
Stainless allen bolts screwing into Rivnuts drilled into the ally roof. You sparks need an engineer.
This video is OY inspired...keep that type of genre.
Seriously not monotone content...
Keep it up.
Allow you lucrative team more screen time aswel
I know from experience it is harder to retro install solar panels onto a finished vehicle than it is to install them on a fresh build because before any of the interior finishings are fitted you are able to map out all the roof structural supports to be able to fasten all the rails to over having a stab in the dark and failing and then having to try and remove all the finished panelling from the roof unless you have previously done the same vehicle before and got all the measurements where the rails are to be mounted to and even then you don't know if anyone has been in there previous to you and run wiring where your going to be drilling, I try to keep away from retro fitting them.
Totally agree-retrofitting is tough without knowing what’s behind the panels. Fresh builds are so much easier to work with. Thanks for sharing your experience!
Hey, I hope you also have all about practical electricity lessons or course for those who want to learn electrical stuff so we can be good as well. -so we don't have to go the university route and teach just what matters in daily life. thank you!
The MPPT can’t take those 3 panels
What MPPT charger did you use
Flat panels would have been better and not domestic panels that way you would have got a bigger surface to bond too 18:06 😮
Well done for pausing and not making a mess 😁There will be a way to make this work with the constraints on the camper as they are. It will just take more modelling, grey matter, time, experience and expertise to come up with the best solution. TH-camrs, Ladi & Margaret hinged their panels using a frame and actuators to get the best angle for optimum solar harvesting ☀😎👍🏼
Thanks so much! Appreciate the encouragement. Sounds like there's definitely a way forward-I’ll keep exploring options and getting creative with it! I'll have to check out Ladi & Margaret's setup.
Remove the AC and fit a new one to the rear better efficiency and that would free up more space for solar and I would probably use Flexible Solar Panels and set up a fold out set as well for when stationary
Jag bor hyfsat nära om du behöver hjälp (Reading). Har verktyg och parkering där du kan stå och mecka :)
Oh dear, out of your depth
I mean, we did say this, haha. With a bit more time and planning it probably would have been more possible
Call me 😂😂😂😂 i will sort that install.
Done narrowboats, campers , farms off grid 😊
ya I really not a fan of 12v systems, I hope to do a 36v or 48v system in my 5th wheel
there are panels made just for that application I was trying to figure out how it was gonna work :)
...P.S. according to the "new" regulations for Camper vans, RVs, Trailers each PV-Panel has to be fuesed separately e.g. with a standard car fuse in a junction box with the correct Amps as close as possible to where the cables are coming in😉
Great info!
Did you get Kia? Was gonna screw businesses? I know you moved before then but well done for moving ‘cause I think if I was a business I would’ve gone out of Britain as well.
Well at least this was a learning experience.
It defiantly was
Well done on pulling of the campervan conversion.
You must be gutted
I was a bit but I wasn't willing to make a mess of it
...💭 Why are all "the others" using standard alu mounting rails 40x40mm over the whole length... well there's a lot of good reasons.
The other thing is that the screws need to go completely through the roof and from the inside it takes a thick huge washer or something that the screws are not toren through the roof... Sikaflex is just for sealing
...well and the distance is the distance of the mounting holes of the PV-Panels and these also have to be reinforced e.g. with an 3x28mm thick aluminum bar...
(Hexhead screw, bar, washer, lock washer, flange lock nut.. wow and this is working on both sides 😮)
I really don't understand why people always want to redevelope everything 🤷♂️ ... You'll just would need to open the eyes😂
And appart of that just using two panels instead of three and the existing "Victron Setup" will work...
Make this a side line. Hire a trained campervan installer who can then train up your guys
14:10 burn sick burn.
Hyper idea Camp Panneau Solar Sure Van
Good video
Appreciate it!
Stick to what you know
Will do
Thought this was an April fools video. So many safety and engineering issues not being considered.
24-48 hours
Kul med en svensk på kanalen🇸🇪
Hej hej!
Cowboy alert cowboy alert
What went wrong? It's very simple you did not whatch any of Will Prosse TH-cam videos on solar and RV solar or used his webpage and forum either.
An all in one converter from EG4 and any decent brand LFP batteries would work great. Even a couple of used Tesla packs would work if you know how to do the correct settings in the app.
The 100 refers to max amps the solar controller can accept.
😂👍
No the 100 is 100V max and the 50 is 50amps max on battery side
@@artisanelectrics it's almost as bad as your converted EV Van where you purchased a 30kwh petrol van converted to EV when you could have bought a 75kwh OEM van. Then complained about the range. Very surprising seeing as you already owned a Tesla Model 3 at the time.
@@thomasdesloovere4200 at least someone read the manual 👍
Yeah, the initial solar charger was installed with the 100v / 50A, mainly because I did not think I would be possible to fit more than 100V worth of solar (but 1350w would have been crazy-nice.).
Another limitation was solar combined with our DC/DC charger at 50A - almost at the full capacity our Victron Inverter / Charger at 120A. But in retrospect, Maybe I should have bough a 70A Solar Charger just in case?
Ironically, our Alternator is only rated at 35A right now, so we can only squeeze out ~17.5A safely.. So I guess we're looking for a new alternator too. 🫠
Did the job cost him £30k?
👀
We can help! PM us 😊
Why didn’t you research before you started and waste a day.
Sticking that lot to the roof is plain dangerous. Not a good look for the company Jordon.
first :D
👊
@ funny enough I live in Sweden and have helped some friends with the electrical in their camper van.
But this hopefully is finished by now because here we have no had short pants for a while 😅