SOLAR installation support on pop roof 2009 E350 SM

[FatLady]

SOLAR Installation support on Pop Roof - 2009 E350 SM
HI team - I NEED HELP

I would need some support adding solar to my E350 Sportsmobil with pop roof. I was looking at 2 of the 115 W ZAMP panels with a 30 ah controller.
I have no electrical THUMb so to say and would love any input from you guys on what the best way would be to:
1. attach 2 panel to roof with potential allowing to stand them up and angle
2. were and how to run the cables to allow the pop roof to function and not to be in the way
3. were cables need to run to in order to maintain the batterie correctly and how to attache or involve the inverter ( I have a prosine inverter and a brand new AMGD4 deep cycle housebatterie under the car)
4. any advise in the LA - south bay area who could support me on that mission if I can't figure it out myslelf

any input welcome thanks team

Sue and the Fat Lady

 

[bigriver-SMB]

I highly recommend you consider a folding portable solar panel which can be moved into the sun when you're parked in the shade and aimed to get maximum solar charge. We have 120 watt panel on our roof and have added a 120 w foldable panel to the system. We get almost twice as much charging from the portable panel, compared to the roof top, for the above mentioned reasons. This would eliminate the mounting and weight issues on the top. You will still need a good charge controller and battery monitor as you would with any system. Here's a link to the portable panel we are using - there are a bunch of them to choose from however.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0817V8N5P?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

 

[Twoxentrix]

You may find some good info & ideas here:
https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/forums/f20/auxiliary-portable-folding-solar-panels-23929.html

https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/forums/f20/portable-solar-panel-advise-28189.html
If you use the search function, you'll encounter more threads dealing with the same.

As far as roof mount brackets that angle, I think you'd be better off with suitcase panels since climbing up and down to position the panels would IMHO be cumbersome...especially when you have your top "up".
there are however brackets made that accomplish this, again a google search is your friend here.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=adjustable+bracket+for+roof+solar&ref=nb_sb_noss

 

[Scalf77]

Being that it looks like you have Yakima or Thule Tracks already installed on your Pop Top, I would look at a single panel that goes across the two tracks. BougeRV 5BB 180 Watts Mono Solar Panel makes a panel that is 58.27 inches long, so it fits nicely across the tracks, and doesn’t hang over much really hang over the roof.

The newer 200-watt panels such as GS-STAR-200W is just a couple of inches longer 61.42 inches and a little bit wider, so if you don’t mind a little overhang, it maximizes the footprint. You can find. I found Replacement Anchor Plate "A" for Yakima LandingPad 1 (QTY anchors make it easy to mount brackets to the Tracks.

For wiring from the Poptop down to the controller generally you have two existing paths that exist already, front driver side, and rear passenger side.

You may need to upsize the flexible conduit, but it is very doable. I would then go under the canvas and outside inside roof panel and bring the wires through the roof with a “Solar Entry Gland” of your choice. I always fuse before coming through the roof and generally use MC4 inline fuse holders.

After that you will need to bring the solar cable to the input of your controller. This is where you could add an auxiliary solar port such as this Powerwerx PanelPole. I generally use these #32990 Sealed Multiple Wire Connector, One 12-10GA to Two 12-10GA to take the two 10 awg wires into one 10 awg wire for the input of your solar comptroller. The key is to match the operating voltage of your roof mount panels and your portable panels.

The output of the controller will be fused per manufacturer instructions and then attach to your existing electrical system. Sportsmobile is not big on busbars, so you will need to find existing Positive and Ground connections. The ground bar (usually on the wheel well) would work. You could attach to the bar connections on the Prosine, although this usually isn’t my preference, in any case the wire lugs will need to match to the lugs you are attaching to. Don’t put any more than 4 cables on the same connection point. Takes some pictures of the existing setup and I am sure you will get some recommended attachment points.

While none of this is terribly hard, there are a collection of tools that are needed to perform this task. There are usually no battery disconnect switches, so the choice is to work on stuff hot or disconnect the battery.

-greg