Quote:
Originally Posted by outopawn
Well I found a good deal on a Kyocera 130w Solar panel today and have a few questions on installation. My plans are to mount the panel sideways. I have the Thule rails that only run from the rear of the PH to about half way up the front. I was going to attach the rear of the panel to aluminum angle iron and bolt that to the front of the Thule rack. The panel needs to be raise about 1" to clear the attached junction box. My plans were to pentrate the PH outside the canvas for the front two hold downs. The front of the panel will be raise by rubber spacers. Does anybody know where I can find these spacers.
Questions
1. Where do I penetrate the PH to run the wire from the panel?
Inside thte canvas?
2. Is there some type of waterproof weatherhead the everybody uses?
3. Do I connect the postive wire from the controller directly to the common terminal on the battery separator and the negative to the closest ground point.
Any help would be much appreciated
Thanks Steve
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Steve,
Here is some more of what I did. Keep in mind that I never claim it to be the right way.
I have a couple of concerns regarding your mounting. Sounds like you will only have two attachment points on the front of your bracket to the roof. Since you have to drill anyway, have you considered just mounting the panel independent of the thule rack. There may also be issues with items on the thule rack and the close proximity of the panel. If you can get the panel far enough forward of the rack there is a lesser chance of the items on the rack shading the panel which significantly reduces its efficiency.
My roof has "ribs" running lengthwise. Make sure you check your panel on the roof first, you may get lucky and have the box fall into a low point of the roof and thereby skip spacers. If you use 2" angle and mount independent of the rack you can raise the panel as high as necessary for clearance.
I did not have pre-wired solar either. I ended up drilling a hole in the front left of my top inside the canvas. If you do it this way make sure you drill on top of one of the ribs to avoid standing water. I used a electric panel "grommet" from Home Depot through the roof. I also used lots of the butyl rubber stuff. The plug sportsmobile uses is a much better option, but I was too lazy to get one. Look in my album to see what the under side of the pop top looks like. Not a fun job taking that apart by the way.
The controller should have instructions for wiring. Mine is wired directly to my aux battery.
A good source for rubber spacers may be the older style engine mounts. I've cut these up before for spacers. Check your local auto parts guy.
Good luck.