Fixed minivan rooftop panel mount + variable mount

[lonewolf2koc]

I'm not sure about others but mounting two 120 W flexible solar panels (King Solar 120w) in a fixed rooftop position, I'm getting a low 3-5 A max per day. That's just too low for two 175 Ah AGM batts. The big advantage is that it's stealth and it's always charging automatically. I purchased two additional panels and noticed a huge charging current increase when panels are placed directly at the sun. A jump from 4A-14 A is huge. The big draw back is that the panels have to be placed outside. The car has to be parked south facing for best sunlight.

The only way to protect the two remaining panels placed in front of the windshield and another one on top of the car hood is putting a combo lock on it with. Not exactly stealth anymore but it's a bit more comforting to know that I can leave the minivan unattended and come back later in the evening to still see the panels there. Unfortunately this is not ideal for urban environment. It's only for suburban to wilderness where you won't likely run into people trying to steal it from you.

I don't see any solutions to this problem for minivan installation except putting it on a full-sized RV with a 45 degree mount and some kind of mechanism to adjust the panel based on the sun's location.

 

[Canine]

You are correct, the smaller flat mount flexible panels are pushing it to even handle one of your AGM's, not to mention 2 of them. You need more permanent solar. Any more room up top? Some posters have placed panels on the back or side of the van (back could be done easier using the bumper or frame hitch mount). Not very stealthy, but you have too much battery compared to your panels.

Only other option I can think of is a small Honda 1000 running a couple hours powering a battery charger to fully bring up your batteries, then let them draw down and in a few days go somewhere where you can genset them back again.

Its tough with the limited roof area of a minivan...

 

[lonewolf2koc]

Stealth is top in my list. Want to keep potential thieves away as much as possible by not bringing unwanted top attention. I'll be parking in various locations. On some days it'll be in a busy LA or NY city streets with wondering eyes virtually everywhere.. Other days it'll out in the national forest. This is where I can take out the additional panels.

The slim flexible panel fit the top roof nicely for minivan. Can't ask too much for wanting stealth. There is room for the top. I actually can fit a 100w panel if I move the two 120w panels to the back. Unfortunately after preliminary testings, I don't have any grip mount on top to hold it. If I leave that 100w panel, there is no way of securing it from high wind when driving on the fwy at 70-80 mph. Plus putting it to the front will cause unwanted attention as it'll be very obvious that there's something up there. The other two panels are securely fitted and is in the ideal secluded position of the minivan's preinstalled rooftop carrier left and right railings. This is where it's very hard to detect if there's anything on the top unless you look at it very closely or have a tall truck to view on the top of the minivan.

I've been idling the minivan and use the alternator to charge the AGM batts for 4+ years. It seems to take a big hit. Had to rebuilt an engine last couple years. I guess keeping the car's idling is adding lots of wear and tear to the engine overtime.

At ~$800 for a new Honda 1000i quiet generator, it's not cheap. But so is the cost of rebuilding an engine (about $1K). I didn't realize that they have a quiet generator. All of the past ones have been so noisy that I have to place it at least 300-500 ft away to reduce the noise. Obviously not stealthy.

You are correct, the smaller flat mount flexible panels are pushing it to even handle one of your AGM's, not to mention 2 of them. You need more permanent solar. Any more room up top? Some posters have placed panels on the back or side of the van (back could be done easier using the bumper or frame hitch mount). Not very stealthy, but you have too much battery compared to your panels.

Only other option I can think of is a small Honda 1000 running a couple hours powering a battery charger to fully bring up your batteries, then let them draw down and in a few days go somewhere where you can genset them back again.

Its tough with the limited roof area of a minivan...