Getting the most solar out of my chevy express roof as possible

[gsnz]

Hi all! I have a plan for using as much of my chevy express' roof space as possible, and I want to know if you can find any faults in my plan/suggest alternate ways of solving this problem.

I have a Chevy Express. On the roof, I want room for a
1. Maxxair fan
2. Wood burner chimney
and then
3. Fill every last remaining inch with solar panels.

After looking at many different brands/dimensions of solar panels, I've come up with this optimistic arrangement for my roofs space:

Plans are great, but the reality is that the chevy express' roof isn't flat. Its curved, with the high point being in the center, and the outside edges are 3-4 inches lower than the center.
So my thought was that I could bolt/mount Unistrut rails as far out to the edges of the roof as possible, and then have cross horizontal rails to support the panels. I do have a few aspects of this idea that do concern me though.

Because the roof is not flat, I'd not only need spacers that are roughly 4 inches tall, but the bottoms must be cut at a slight angle to match the slant of the chevy express's roof. See cross section illustration:

As you can see in this cross section, the boxes are the unistrut rails on top of the rounded roof of the chevy van, leaving an awkward shaped gap that a traditional cylindrical-shaped spacer wouldn't be sufficient to fill.

So my thought would be I would need to get a spacer and cut the bottom of the spacer so that it fits the angle of the roof, so something like this:

So the pink object is a spacer with the bottom cut to accommodate the slanted roof angle, if that makes sense.

So before I embark on this quest to create a low profile platform for mounting solar on my awkward rounded roof I'd like your opinions on this approach. I have questions like:
1. Can you see any obvious issues with cutting custom spacers like the pink object for the sloped van roof?
2. Does anybody even know where I could buy spacers that are big and strong enough for my use case (> 3 inches long, and strong enough to support the weight of beefy unistrut rails + panels)
3. Are there better ways of achieving maximum roof space use on a chevy express? Have any of you solved this problem in a better way?

I'm curious to hear about how you've dealt with similar problems with awkward round roofs like the chevy express. Thanks for reading my post, I appreciate any experiences I can learn from on this topic.

 

[bullfrog !]

I would look at a rack tall enough to clear the the roof vent and double stack panels with slides so you could slide them out when parked. I spend more time parked than traveling and because clouds and weather in general are a factor I just use a propane powered generator when necessary so a few fixed panels work for me.

 

[tx2sturgis]

I respect the DIY approach but if it were me I'd just order a set of ladder racks, something similar to this:

https://www.etrailer.com/Ladder-Rac...n/2005/3371501310-3.html?VehicleID=2005100324

 

[gsnz]

I would look at a rack tall enough to clear the the roof vent and double stack panels with slides so you could slide them out when parked. I spend more time parked than traveling and because clouds and weather in general are a factor I just use a propane powered generator when necessary so a few fixed panels work for me.

Nice! Yea id be down for a propane approach for sure, especially if it frees up space inside and outside the van.

Yea i currently have a roof rack that is one big unit, and doesnt clear my desired vent fan, so i may go with one of those modular ladder racks for my needs. No drilling sounds awesome.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[gsnz]

I respect the DIY approach but if it were me I'd just order a set of ladder racks, something similar to this:

https://www.etrailer.com/Ladder-Rac...n/2005/3371501310-3.html?VehicleID=2005100324

View attachment 34104

Aha! So now i know what to call these racks! Thank you. And you know what? I prefer simpler drill-less solutions, so i think your suggested ladder rack solution is great because i get the flexibility of being able to shift things around to clear my fan hood, and also maximize space, as my drilling approach could only get so close to the welding point edge on the roof. If i drilled like I had planned id need a nut to secure the bolt in place, and there is no room to get a nut threaded through corner ribs if i had drilled that close to the edge.

Ladder racks! Okay, im gonna go search for ladder racks with square crossbars that are as close to the roof as possible, and i think i can make this work. Thanks again! I hate drilling into my van if i dont have to.

 

[jonyjoe303]

For the roof vents I just took the cover off and the solar panels will prevent water from coming in. If you already have roof racks, I would just use those, unless they are flat on the roof they should easily go over any roof vent (minus the cover).
On my astrovan I prefer using one large panel versus a bunch of smaller panels. I got a 365 watt panel that has served me well for the past 3 years (maxes out at 27 amps), enough to keep my 500 ah of lithium fully charged to 100 percent every day. I had a 120 watt panel installed when I first went solar, it was installed sideways and it was sticking out over the edges which was an eyesore to me. The 365 watt panel fits nicely over the roof, none protruding over the edges. I didnt have any roof racks so I had to install 4 L-brackets to mount the panel.

 

[jasper]

What bullfrog said above. Round ladder rack bars allow for tilting. Slides underneath allow for removing and finding sun.

 

[rruff]

Another thought on placement, is to find panels that are half as wide as your roof when positioned lengthwise (~38"?). They could be placed closer to your roof, then.

Also it you want to maximize your solar, put some on the sides as well... hinged at the top with an adjustable support that lets tilt them up.

 

[gsnz]

What bullfrog said above. Round ladder rack bars allow for tilting. Slides underneath allow for removing and finding sun.

Hey thanks for these photos. In the first photo where you can clearly see the stack of panels, I see that your panel is fixed to the round ladder beams with a U shaped rod bracket. Do you know the proper name for this rod bracket? I keep finding flat versions of this type of bracket on google, but not the rod ones.

 

[gsnz]

Another thought on placement, is to find panels that are half as wide as your roof when positioned lengthwise (~38"?). They could be placed closer to your roof, then.

Also it you want to maximize your solar, put some on the sides as well... hinged at the top with an adjustable support that lets tilt them up.

Thanks! I never considered a setup where I could unfold some panels that would extend past the footprint of my roof for maximized solar. I think I'll keep my first iteration simple as I'm new and get the basics down, but once I get more elaborate with my power needs, I'll starting thinking about solar setups where I can unfold them like this.

 

[maki2]

^^^ hopefully you will find you can manage with less power than you expect to need. It really is not as hard as you might think to downsize your electric consumption to match what you produce.

 

[rruff]

Thanks! I never considered a setup where I could unfold some panels that would extend past the footprint of my roof for maximized solar. I think I'll keep my first iteration simple as I'm new and get the basics down, but once I get more elaborate with my power needs, I'll starting thinking about solar setups where I can unfold them like this.

You might have misunderstood, as nothing folds. The ones on the roof are completely fixed... now that I've looked at a van, they'd probably need to be a bit narrower to fit side by side (30-35") but you could reduce the height of the edges above the roof by a lot.

The ones on the sides have a hinge at their top edge, that mounts to the van... or maybe a bracket attached to the gutter rail. This is so you can tilt them up when the sun is overhead, although in the evening and early morning it would be best to leave them down if the sides are facing east-west. They also provide shade and keep sun from shining in the side windows.

Ha, just realized that van people tend to use their sides doors a lot, so it would be annoying to mess with panels covering that side... but you could put them on the other side.

 

[rruff]

^^^ hopefully you will find you can manage with less power than you expect to need. It really is not as hard as you might think to downsize your electric consumption to match what you produce.

So true... but it's also true that the consumption tends to grow to consume what is available...

 

[gsnz]

You might have misunderstood, as nothing folds. The ones on the roof are completely fixed... now that I've looked at a van, they'd probably need to be a bit narrower to fit side by side (30-35") but you could reduce the height of the edges above the roof by a lot.

The ones on the sides have a hinge at their top edge, that mounts to the van... or maybe a bracket attached to the gutter rail. This is so you can tilt them up when the sun is overhead, although in the evening and early morning it would be best to leave them down if the sides are facing east-west. They also provide shade and keep sun from shining in the side windows.

Ha, just realized that van people tend to use their sides doors a lot, so it would be annoying to mess with panels covering that side... but you could put them on the other side.

This is a good idea. When my consumption needs increase, I'll consider this. Right now, I'm looking to maintain as low of a profile as possible, possibly keeping to the length/width footprint of the chevy for now.

 

[RonDean]

I've gone the other direction. My trailer has flexible roof panels that you would have to climb a ladder to see and a few smaller portable panels I can sit up on the ground when the situation make that feasible. As Rruff pointed out, a lower consumption is also a way in increase available power. I am now in the process of going from the trailer to a van and have decided to go totally portable along with installing a DC to DC charger to pick up power from when I am moving. Bob recently reviewed a couple of different 200w portable panels and I decided to go with the Allpowers panels. I am also upgrading my house batteries. It's not that I feel the need to be stealthy that often, but with this setup I think I am as unnoticeable as possible.

 

[vandeta]

I know I'm late to the party. Currently I have 8 100 watt panels on the roof of my Savana 1500. Also have room for my roof fan, 52" light bar and flat mounted starlink antenna up there. Yes roof is full but it does all fit. Over the winter season I will be building a new rack for purposes of cosmetics. The panels were installed while camping with no access to supplies except what came with.

 

[gsnz]

I know I'm late to the party. Currently I have 8 100 watt panels on the roof of my Savana 1500. Also have room for my roof fan, 52" light bar and flat mounted starlink antenna up there. Yes roof is full but it does all fit. Over the winter season I will be building a new rack for purposes of cosmetics. The panels were installed while camping with no access to supplies except what came with.

That sounds like a great setup! I was considering doing 4x200 renogy solar panels. What brand of 100 watt panels do you have? Could I see pictures of your setup? Also, is starlink pretty reliable? Does the weather affect your internet reception?

 

[vandeta]

They are renogy panels. Been mounted and working for over year and a half now.

 

[jasper]

Hey thanks for these photos. In the first photo where you can clearly see the stack of panels, I see that your panel is fixed to the round ladder beams with a U shaped rod bracket. Do you know the proper name for this rod bracket? I keep finding flat versions of this type of bracket on google, but not the rod ones.

U-bolts. I drilled holes through the solar panel frame, installed the flat bar that comes with the u-bolt on top. Seven years ago. The holders for sliding out the lower panel were U-shaped scrap aluminum patio door sections.

https://www.google.com/search?q=u+b...512j0i512l6.3521j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

[gsnz]

They are renogy panels. Been mounted and working for over year and a half now.

Your express is awesome!!! Total mobile command center . Love that big light on the front. What a dream.