Mounting roof fans under solar panels?

[happiergnome]

Brainstorming prior to even owning a van. Working through the mountain of learning and understanding solar / inverter / batteries etc i noticed most pictures show solar around the fans and i was curious what the downsides are of mounting a traditional fantastic or max fan with no cover on it and then mounting solar over it to a ladder rack.  

Just thinking it through here. Obviously driving fast in the rain could cause moisture to come through but I'm talking about mounting the solar directly over the fan. What are the downsides / upsides that my zero experience is missing?

 

[Almost There]

Only downside is that you might not get as much breeze through the opening as you would without the solar panels there.

Leave the cover on though, there will be times when you do want it closed....it's not just to prevent rain from coming in. Closed it stops a breeze and cuts down on heat loss when it's cooler outside. It means having the ladder rack at least 6" above the van roof to allow the vent cover to open fully.

 

[tx2sturgis]

First thought would be rain entering during a cold, rainy, windy, stormy night...water splashing off the roof under those panels WILL find that opening.

Next concern would be keeping heat inside during cold outdoor temps, of course you could use some kind of thermal cover inside.

Along with that would be loss of cool air when running the A/C during travel on the road...again, an inside cover would help.

I installed a small, round, 6" Ventline fan in my truck cap and it only sticks up about 4 inches when opened. It doesn't move as much air as a 14" fan, but it seems adequate for a small interior volume and more than enough ventilation at night.

And, there are some new low-profile 14" fans you might want to consider.

 

[Trebor English]

Blowing on the bottom of the solar panel would cool it off.  They produce more when cooler.

 

[GotSmart]

My personal objection would be the panels being raised up enough to catch the wind. 

Nothing like a sail to catch the sideways breeze from a semi going past. 

I have seen it done by many different people.

 

[B and C]

Bob (forum owner) had his vents on his trailer under the panels. He had vent covers over the vents too. He didn't talk about any downsides.

 

[happiergnome]

And, there are some new low-profile 14" fans you might want to consider.

I went on q Google search and couldn't find anything that doesn't look like a normal flip up hinge?  Something that slides open would be great, manual slide would be even better?

 

[safarivan]

you could make it work on a van but I decided against it for a couple of reasons. have to mount the panels higher and this makes them less stealthy. the panels get hot and using the vent fan to pull air inward on hot days would not be optimal if you wanted to do that.

I dont see any reason its not doable though and if panel mount height is not an issue for you, it might work pretty good.

 

[tx2sturgis]

I went on q Google search and couldn't find anything that doesn't look like a normal flip up hinge?  Something that slides open would be great, manual slide would be even better?

Take a look at this one:


http://www.fantasticvent.com/fan-tastic-vent-s-retail-ez-breeze-fan.html

 

[Canine]

I mounted my fan on the wall up against the ceiling. That left more room for solar and fewer chances of leaks.

 

[jonyjoe303]

I have my vortex roof vent/fan mounted right under the 240 watt panel. I even took off the vent cover, it been like that almost 5 years, never had any rain water come into the van.

The vent is permanently covered on the inside with foam insulation. Its still operational but I found that I never use it. My advice is don't install a roof vent any cooling it provides is minimal at best. I have 3 roof vent and they are all closed.

Side vents work just as well. And with side vents you dont have to open windows. 

You can always install a smaller 9 inch roof vent (I have 2 install) away from where you will put the panel. You can add your own fan to these vents to ventilate. 

9 inch vent

side vents