New Solar - Better Than The Old Solar - PART 2

Old Installation.

    Welcome to Part 2 of the new and improved Solar Panel install. (Click here for Part 1!) At this point, we have the prototypes temporarily mounted on the roof, with painter's tape. This was fine for static testing, Not so much for driving down the road! Since the old aluminum backed panels were adhered to the roof with a 3M product that wasn't really designed to come off, this was going to be a bit of a job. Not impossible, but not all that easy to do.

Hopefully, I won't have to do this ever again!

First One Removed!

We began with the rearmost panel. Since it was close to the ladder and the edge of the RV, we could access two sides and have an easier time trying to separate it from the roof. Sure we would. This 3M paralastic adhesive is a tenacious product. I figured I could use a thin length of wire with handles on either end to slice through the adhesive a little bit at a time. Nope. All that did was break the wire. So, we tried thicker wire....nope. We did manage to get one of the corners started....only about 1/2". Next up was a thin aluminum strip about 1" wide. Nope. Needless to say I was getting a bit frustrated.

A Bit Dirty, But In Good Shape.

 Then a brainstorm! How about using a big putty knife? Thin, flexible and strong. I could wiggle it under the corner and begin slicing through the old adhesive a little bit at a time. It worked! It was slow and difficult, but after about an hour of struggle, we were able to lift off the old panel and see the roof once again!

There was a considerable amount of old adhesive residue left on the roof, but it scrapes off pretty easily. After that we'll use some alcohol to clean the whatever is left.

Old Junction Box For Re-Use

You'll notice I've left all of the wiring and the junction boxes intact. Junction boxes are where the Solar panels' themselves attach to the the wiring going to the charger. For this type of install these get adhered either to the top of the panel or the roof. The prototypes have enough extra material on the edge, so I will be mounting them there. Preparation of the surface will be critical to the longevity of the install. When I installed the last set of panels, we meticulously cleaned the surfaces before applying the adhesive. Later on in this series of articles we'll go over that again. Of course, at that point, I'll be almost finished!

Last week, I installed 2 of the prototype panels on top of the old Aluminum backed ones. Just to test the efficiency and whether they would perform in a similar way. Well, after a week of testing I am happy to report these two are putting out slightly MORE power! There were a couple of mechanical problems...the wires that connect the junction boxes to the solar panel were on the wrong side, that we would have to change, but for a temporary test all was fine. I just used some alligator clips and wire to span the distance from the junction box to the panels output wires. To keep everything dry I put it all in some zip lock bags.

Not Pretty, But Functional!

I wouldn't recommend driving this way....

The successful test was a bright spot this week. I knew we were on the right track and that all this would end up being a better, lighter system that would give me more power to work with.

Next, I called the manufacturer. We're in pretty much constant contact on this project, as they are very interested in the RV marketplace. It's really nice that they are in the U.S. and only a few minutes away from my home base. We went over the small issues with wiring placement and made some dimensional changes. He promised me 3 new prototypes, better than the old ones next week.

Once they arrive, I will have removed the old panels, cleaned off the adhesives and prepped the roof surface and setup the wiring to accept them. We'll tape them up on the roof again for a few days to take power and efficiency readings before I make it all permanent. Needless to say, I am getting excited! Tune in next week for the tests and next steps!

Be Seeing You...Down The Road,

Rich "The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com

P.S. This is my 100th Article!! Yay!!

New Solar - Better Than The Old Solar - PART 1

    A few years ago, I set out to design, build and install a complete solar charging system on my RV. The goal was to be 100% power self-sufficient. Given the very limited space on my roof, I knew I had to seek out a solution that was better than typical aluminum framed, glass faced solar panels. You can read all about the design, sourcing and install of that system here. After almost 3 years that systems' panels have catastrophically failed. Over the time the system operational, it worked exceptionally well! My new system will work better and not be susceptible to the same problems as the old one. Here's why:

Amazingly Thin!

While the original system worked well, the semi-flexible solar panels were sourced from a factory in China. They had great specs and a reasonable price (if you take out the rather huge shipping costs!) They were similar to regular glass faced panels, but were a sandwich of aluminum and a special plastic instead of the glass. They weighed ALOT less than traditional solar panels. 7-8 lbs. vs 20-35 lbs! And the best part? They could be adhered to the roof with a special adhesive that I sourced from 3M. No holes drilled in the roof. They were only 3mm thick and flexible enough to be able to follow the gentle curves of the roof. After almost 3 years they showed NO signs of coming off or even a single gap around the edges.

The Problem:

While they are semi-flexible and worked well, there was a flaw in the design. The anodized aluminum the panel was based on slowly began to corrode. Inside the panel the aluminum was starting to touch the internal connecting wires between each solar cell. Once this happened, the entire panel was one gigantic electrical short. This means it was effectively dead. No power. I had some very expensive roof coverings on my RV and was no longer even partially self sufficient.

Back to the drawing board;

MPPT Controller (Left) Fuse Panel (Back) 

Everything else in the system was still functioning perfectly. No complaints about the charging controller, the wiring, the fuses and fuse panels at all. But without the solar panels supplying electricity, the whole system was down. I began to look into finding another manufacturer to create a better solar panel, one that wouldn't short out internally and that spoke English! After several false starts (see this article for a possible, why). I found one only a few miles from my home base. They actually manufacture solar panels in great quantities for large projects. I wish I had known they existed before!! After explaining the problem to them and showing the old panels to the boss, they began to figure out a better solution.

New Semi-Flexible Prototype

Ditch the Aluminum:

After a couple of weeks they came up with a solution. I know it sounds simple, but it really isn't! They figured, rightly so, that removing the aluminum from the sandwich would solve the problem at its' most basic level. Now they had to figure out how to do that while maintaining the strength of the solar panel itself. Since it will be glued tight to the roof of the RV, it can be a bit more flexible before it is installed. They experimented with a bunch of different materials for the sandwich until they had a set of working prototypes ready. To say that I was excited to see them was an understatement!

Upon arriving at the factory, I was first treated to a tour. REALLY, high tech... just the way you'd imagine a solar technology factory to be. They showed me all the test pieces they had made. Including all the failures. I had no idea what went into manufacturing a quality solar panel. I do now! The "finished" prototypes were beautiful. Thin, flexible and light. They power and efficiency testing they had done showed they would produce more power than the old China sourced aluminum failed ones and take up a bit less space. Score!

We transported them back to my home base to be installed (temporarily, no adhesive) on the roof to do some testing. The main difference is these are a lower voltage than the old panels. The old ones were 36V nominal. These are 24V nominal. I wanted to fully test their outputs through the MPPT controller before we decided to keep the design. Also, the third panel had a different measurement and number of cells, I would pick this one up later on for testing.
We just used some painters blue tape to attach them to the roof over the existing panels. This would work for power testing, but I knew we'd have to remove the old ones before the permanent install.

Since the 3M paralastic adhesive is incredibly strong and "stretchy," I KNEW the removal was going to be really difficult. Likely I would be destroying the (admittedly already dead) aluminum backed panels during the process. There was also the question as to whether the new backing material would be compatible with the adhesive.

Tune in next week for a report on our progress. We'll have a week or so of testing with the first two panels, taken delivery of the third and removed the old aluminum ones. So far everything seems to be on track. As most of you already know, Murphy was an optimist!

Be Seeing You...Down The Road,

Rich "The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com

***See the Original Article:  SOLAR PART 1

*See Part - 1
**See Part -2
***See Part - 3
****See Part - 4
*****See Part - 5
******See Part - 6

Get Into Those "Nooks & Crannies!" - A Cleaner With Fuzzy "Fingers."

    Well, it's here... the end of the season. While I may get a precious few more trips in before I have to winterize and cover my RV for the cold season, I usually use some of this cooler weather to finish the detailing of the inside. No matter how hard I try, or how often I dust... there's still accumulation of dirt and dust in the nooks & crannies of the RV. Usually a P.I.T.A. to get to, this little gadget will make you smile every time you need to reach a spot that seems utterly inaccessible! Well, here's a way to get to those places.


Seemed simple enough, a little pouch you put a finger or two in and use the fuzzy, dangly bits to get in there and clean. I'll admit, I was a bit skeptical with the descriptions I was seeing on marketing materials attached to gadgets. Especially given last weeks' Bacon & Egg debacle.

However I was pleasantly surprised this time. A really inexpensive gizmo that takes up very little storage space, yet can clean a myriad of things!

What's not to like?

The reality here is that it actually works quite well. The little fuzzy fingers do get into spots you'd normally miss if you were using a paper towel or a regular duster. They are soft enough to deform around and get into little crevices in and around the RV interior. The main problem I have with this: it showed just how poorly I had been cleaning my RV. The amount of gunk and dust being pulled out from these tiny spaces was incredible!

I am NOT a clean freak. Far from it! But it was like seeing a seedy motel room under black light for the first time. Nasty. This is a lesson to keep up on the cleaning periodically.

The only caveat about this little miracle worker? You have to have small fingers. Big folks will have to be happy with a single digit. Not a big deal, but you should know before you buy.

It IS machine washable, so getting the dirt OFF of it is pretty simple. I've washed it a couple of times now and it springs back to health each time.

For a couple of dollars, this is a keeper. I'll wager there are quite a few additional uses for this thing. Like cleaning the dust off my driving instruments before I leave.

I've been learning that things you can buy, that SEEM like the greatest thing since sliced bread aren't always what they seem. And more often than not, don't perform as advertised. This little beastie does. AND it will likely have a few more uses as soon as my imagination kicks in over the long dull winter.

Be Seeing You...Down The Road,

Rich "The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com