100W Renogy Flexible solar panel mount for Overlanding - DIY / How To
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ก.ค. 2021
- I mount a 100W Flexible Renogy Solar Panel to my Rhino Rack Pioneer Platform to go on the roof of my Jeep Gladiator.
Renogy Store - use checkout code "TRCM" for 10% discount!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
bit.ly/3i2UWt8
Support my work on Patreon for exclusive behind the scenes content, early access and more:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/ theroadchoseme
The Camera Gear I use:
-------------------------------------
amzn.to/2TcdBXo
Stay in touch:
--------------------------
❱ Instagram - / theroadchoseme
❱ Facebook - / theroadchoseme
Books I've published about my expeditions around the world:
--------------------------------------
❱ The Road Chose Me Volume 2: Three years and 54,000 miles around Africa
375 pages of misadventures, stories, characters, politics and more from driving all the way around Africa!
amzn.to/3pnVKu6
❱ 999 Days Around Africa: The Road Chose Me
75 page full-color photography book from each of the 35 countries I visited in Africa
amzn.to/2H93IUH
❱ The Road Chose Me Volume 1: Two years and 40,000 miles from Alaska to Argentina
265 pages of adventure, inspiration and antics from driving the length of the Pan-American highway
amzn.to/2vfCYvn
❱ Overland Travel Essentials: West Africa: Myths, Misconceptions and Misnomers
Everything you need to know to undertake your own Overland Expedition in West Africa
amzn.to/2veyQMt
❱ Work Less to Live Your Dreams: A practical guide to saving money and living your dreams
The tips, tricks, ideas and perspectives I've learned to save the money I need to live the life I want
amzn.to/2OD6UtA
#JeepGladiator #RenogyEmpowered #rhinorack - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
I was thinking the same thing for mine. You gave me some good ideas.
Alu"minium"........😂😅😂
Glad to hear your leaving room for surfboards! I've been given a hard time by other overlanders for carrying so much stuff (surfboards, kayak, spearfishing gear...) but when we're sitting on a beautiful, warm beach for a week you know they're all taking turns borrowing my toys and wishing they had brought their own 🤙
I’ve used the same panel on my JKU and teardrop for a few years and can attest to the quality and durability. For mounting on the Jeep I opted for industrial strength Velcro reinforced with zip ties through the eyelets. This way I can move it around to catch better sun or if I need the load space I can pull it off and stow it while driving. Great video!
Absolutely love the video so far(11 minutes into it) but maybe on the bits where your talking just turn the music down a tad bit.
I agree with you it's sometimes a bit difficult to hear (non native English here)
Thanks, I'll make sure I do a better mix from now on!
Here’s a vote for NO spa music at all 🤷
@@TheRoadChoseMe mix it down to zero, please
Really appreciate your build vidéos Dan. As a French Canadian, I totally understand your “Aluminium” prononciation 😂. Great job. If you ever need more power, you could have a slide out panel on top or below this one, so 1 panel is productive while driving, and 2 when parked and you slide it out. Cheers mate. Looking forward to your battery and electrical Install.
I wish I could like this twice. Thanks Dan.
I was just researching about a similar one. Great work on it. Looks super cool.
Great install , succes with the build, greetings from the Netherlands
Install looks good.
It always cracks me up how Aussies say "aluminum". Great video. Like the new Renogy panel.
In British/OZ/NZ English it’s spelled alumin*i*um.
It's only spelt Aluminum in North America. The rest of the English speaking world spells it Aluminium.
Hey Dan,
loving the build series! Though you have already mounted the panel, an idea I had for rack mounted panels was to have it slide out from under the rack. I built a slide that was fixed to the U/S of the rack. When my rack is fully loaded and I pull up somewhere for a quick overnighter or for lunch etc, I can slide it out and catch some sun without fully unloading the rack!
Awesome mate thanks for the regular videos, these videos helps a lot to keep our sanity in this LOCk down.
Glad you like them!
@@TheRoadChoseMe no doubt man u have given step by step guide to build gladiator, whoever will be looking into this will have lots of ideas.
Great video mate.👍
Nice solar panels. Must get some. Cheers keep in the god work. 🍻
I have the Renogy DcDc 30 amp charger with MPPT running in a Jeep TJ. It works great. That panel looks like what I need to go with it. I've been watching you for a while now figuring out the best way to outfit things. Great videos. The only complaint I have as an Industrial Trades Technician Trainer is the open toed shoes. 😀 I cringe every time. It's an automatic response.
Offsetting the vertical and horizontal screws would have fixed the issue of them interfering with each other.
That's the panel I want!
Good video, but here's another vote for no music. Dan, one of the reasons I support you on Patreon is how down to earth and realistic your videos are. I appreciate that you're trying to raise the production value, but in this case the music competes with your words, and makes the video feel like another one of the "lifestyle brand" "vanlife" TH-cam channels. You've got really good spoken content and you don't need to water down your speaking with music.
Thanks for the feedback! A lot of people have said that same thing, so I'll be very careful in the future to not put music over the speaking!
I'm getting the optical illusion of dots dancing around in the junctions of those solar panels as you're holding them up in the beginning of your video
I've got identical panels on my Troopy. I was told they are made out of the same material as they make aircraft windows!
I wish the videos were longer and more detailed. I really enjoy them.
Loving your videos on the Aussie lap prep. I'm trying to finish my Troopy so I can hit the road when Melbourne lockdown ends. I love your 'less is more' approach. Just FYI I purchased some of the Renology stuff, great deals ATM, but the TRCM code doesn't work on the labour day sale items. no biggie, just FYI 😀
I got the 175w at 6.2 Lbs, enough power even when it’s cloudy
I mounted the same panel on my roof rack on my taco, I just drilled 5/16 holes and put grommets in , then put 1/4 carrage bolts in the rack and then its mounted.
Great video! Very cool build. I'm curious if you thought about mounting the solar panel on the hood?
As I am sure you are aware the panels become significantly less efficient as they heat up and being black this happen pretty quickly so cooling could be important, have you considered bonding it to poly carbonate hollow sheet used on green houses (they have rectangular channel running the length of the pannel with a flat surface top and bottom) and bolting that to the rack, if the hollow channels run the length of the car as you drive cooling air will run along the underside of the panel. If you park facing Ito prevailing wind the panel would be cooled when stationary) It would be light and increase rigidity of the panel.
Hey, thats what I did with my two 100w flexi panels. Strengthens the panel and channels air underneath (hopefully) cooling them.
@@utahjohnnymontana3373 good to get some confirmation that the theory works, thanks. My theory came from an idea for a deep sea sailing vessel with the diesel motor replaced with electric and a house battery pack. Using the prop as a generator whilst under sail and a wind turbine on top of mast. I hoped I could cover the deck and walk on the panels with the poly carbonate but not sure what the repeated foot traffic would do the poly crystalline pv panels.👍👍👍👍
Why do you have music competing with your words?
10:35 yeah, I was thinking double sided tape, too
Amazing work, just a quotation, if you take out the rack corner is there enough space to run the solar panel cables through the rack ?
Your music is a bit too loud and distracting, especially noticing this around 8m mark.
Have you thought about running some light wire/string across the middle of the panel so that it won't bow out/suction off the rack?
Hey Dan wondering why you didn't go down the solar blanket option instead so you can park in the cooler shade ? Cheers
Dan - are you going to do a video on the house electrical system? You had 200w of panels last time and 100w this time - what really changed? Can you share your load demands and storage? Are you running a fridge? And to share with you; Use SEM 39143 trim paint (I use it - read the 1000+ reviews on Amazon) - it is a direct match (texture and tone) to what is used in OEM and most manufacturers 'black' trim.
Absolutely David, I will make videos about the whole house system, and down the road about how it performs too.
Just for other folk who might follow your fitting method - I notice the Renogy website states that you’ll void the warranty if you drill the panels - perhaps worry people knowing that?
Hope you painted the bolt head too, to keep it monotone
Ok you went option easy, black screws
I wonder if these would be effective for a van conversion.
I love my CIGS flexible panel. I could literally drill a hole through cells and the in tact cells would still work. That's not true of other flexible or glass panels. I did have this same panel on my last camper. Worked great, but I wish the cables came out facing one another. No everyone's flexible panels are like this
Are you gunna install wind deflector?maybe that could help to protect solar panel,it wouldn't lift and you get better fuel economy?just a thought..
Hey Dan, love watching this build-out of your Gladiator. Just wondering what did you do with your other jeep.........Cheers...Steve
It's in storage in Canada until I return. I'm working on a suitably epic forever home for her...
Awesome 😎👍 I'm getting started with solar on my 2016 Jeep Jk. I have a Redarc bcdc1225d charger with two Renogy 100w solar panels,two Duracell 92ah deep cell batteries. We shall see how it all works out on our next overland trip. The people at Redarc says that setup should work perfectly fine.
Woah! What do you need 180Ah of battery for?? that's massive.
I figured better to have more storage than not enough. We went on a week overland vacation with the fridge going whole time on one 82 ah battery that was before the new setup. The battery only lasted 3 days. The food did stay cold in the fridge. We had the meat in there and the fridge was completely packed we had it set for freeze. Plus I figure if we ever lose power in the house we can just use the jeep 😄👍
It's a small fridge. We also had a small trucker fans going to have air circulation, phone chargers too
Wow, that's wild! In Africa I had 200W of solar and just 50Ah of batteries and it was plenty enough!
I guess I over did it🤣
You’re not worried about what the sun does to those flexible panels? Weight it a concern for sure. But I hate spending money on something that may give out after a year or two.
These are super, super tough now, I'm confident it will be plenty strong enough. I'll do a update videos during the trip to keep you updating how all my systems are working / holding up
Dan, have you ever posted the GoPro footage from the Marienburg Chimpanzee Sanctuary that you mention in your book? I would love to see the footage when the chimp stole your GoPro.
For sure! Here's the whole experience: th-cam.com/video/Mfdo3s8tPUk/w-d-xo.html
And here's the sneaky little guy that stole my GoPro: th-cam.com/video/IFC4X3_6zG0/w-d-xo.html
@@TheRoadChoseMe
Cool ! Thanks Dan!
I’m literally sitting here reading your book vol2 for the second time, as this pops up!!👍
That's awesome! .. there are videos for basically every country / experience, so there should be a matching one for all the major stories in Vol 2 :)
Nice job. But again, a hand miter box. Primitive craftsmanship. Hahaha.
I mounted a 100w panel on my Gladiator. Different panel and different rack, but wind was getting under the panel and causing a lot of buffeting/noise. I took it off until I can figure out a way to divert the wind. You mentioned that concern in your video, but I'm wondering if became a problem for you?
In a year right around Australia it never made a sound or moved a millimeter. I'm very happy with how it worked out.
Dan, does your new gladiator have the standard Jeep pipe roll bar system?
Yep. It's 99.9% identical to the North American spec, once you account for the steering on the other side.
Hi Dan, I've been torn between installing dual batteries or choosing a smart battery power back. I'm worried about voiding any future warranty claims with my new Rubicon if I do have any electrical problems later on. Interested to hear your thoughts, there are some interesting power packs out there, but worried about the performance of their DC-DC charging capabilities. Have you done any research on these, or should I just wait for your next video?
Hey David, I just installed what I think is the best dual battery setup possible, doesn't touch anything factory so no worries with the warranty. I'm editing the video now, it will come out on Thursday I think!
love your videos but what happened with the mad music this time :-)?
What was the point of the flexible panel vs rigid? Just trying to understand your panel choice.
The flex panel is lighter at first, but you added a frame to it so that offset some , if not all, of that weight savings (100w rigid panel is 15lbs). How much does your flex panel weight now?
Furthermore, a rigid panel would have saved you all of this work.
Thanks
Lighter. Even with the frame I'm easily ahead, and every little bit adds up!
I made the exact same points. The weight difference, if any, is totally negligible 🤷
@Solo Overland - In my experience, after well over 100k miles through 55 countries around the world, there is no such thing as a negligible weight difference. Weight is THE issue building a "regular" 4x4 to live out of.
@@TheRoadChoseMe Agreed! Weight is enemy #1. Less (useless) gear, more capability/reliability/mileage.
You want air flow or a heat sink under the panel. Heat is the enemy of solar cells, so you want to keep the panel as cold as possible. You certainly don't want to have the the panel pressed to a hot metal surface, it will adversely impact power produced.
A year or so on, how did this panel hold up? Did you lose efficiency over the year?
Flawless. I'm about to buy more for my new vehicle, the 200W ones.
why didnt you just buy the hard panel?
@@kotimoto he added hardware to secure the panel. Weight difference is totally insignificant. He just make more work for himself 🤷
Haha! My comment got deleted 🤔
Here it is: weight of flexible panel + aluminum parts + screws and other hardware + paint = approx. weight of a solid panel. So this choice is baffling, and we’re not even taking into account the wasted time… But to each their own 🤷
Hey man, I didn't delete any comments.. maybe it had a bad word and TH-cam got rid of it?
You're right, they're approximately the same, but from what I've learned driving around the world, every 5-10lbs makes a difference, especially when it's up that high.
Also this setup keeps the vehicle lower, and will be better for gas mileage.
Of course, I'm doing what I think is best for my needs and my vehicle. I'm not saying mine is the ultimate or that everyone should blindly copy me. Everyone needs to make their own choices. I've done rigid panels for well over 100,000 miles through almost 40 countries. They were great. I'm aiming to improve.
It seems a little odd to me that you would cover half of the roof rack with a solar panel. That's a lot of money spent on a roof rack you can only use half of now.
For my needs, it absolutely perfect. My goal isn't to put lots of stuff on the rack because that's too heavy. Just a few select things that will bring me a lot of happiness!
I, ain't gonna comment on regarding your vehicle, your mods, setup, dad's garage(you know what I meant) cause the road chose me never reply, feedback whatsoever. Sometime reply your subscribers if you are really a light minded off-road enthusias as you claimed.
What would you like me to say?
Dan replies to comments quite often, in fact! You must be thinking of Chris from Venture 4WD, who NEVER does… 🤷
@@TheRoadChoseMe being polite to your viewer and subscriber is not a bad thing nor a hard thing to do.
@@solooverland3666 in fact I'm not thinking of Chris. I, don't even know him.