*Need Advice* Truck Solar etc.

[TraveLyn]

Hi


I am getting ready to outfit my truck,  I am wanting solar capabilities as I will be towing a 17' trailer, as I have no room for solar on the trailer. The plan is to put solar on the pickup plus gives me options to camp out of the truck solo. No one in this area does solar.  I have a hi top fiberglass 30 inch shell. Lots of mixed information in this area locally plus in my research.  I have thought about a lumber rack over my truck, but told this would cause unnecessary wind drag or millage loss.... ? True??   I  thought about bolting it on top of the fiberglass or mounting over the cab. When I ask about this locally the info I have gotten is wind vibration will crack the fiberglass-can't be done?? My goal is to get the parts I need then as I travel I can find solar installers. I know many of you here have done a wide variety of setups and now that my health is improving I am ready for this challenge. Any helpful ideas, advice, suggestions are welcome. 
Also attached is a picture of the truck I am working on, I am still learning how to post here hopefully the picture went through. If not it is a 1996 Ford Extended Cab F250 Diesel, with canopy.

 

[1977dodge]

Hi


I am getting ready to outfit my truck,  I am wanting solar capabilities as I will be towing a 17' trailer, as I have no room for solar on the trailer. The plan is to put solar on the pickup plus gives me options to camp out of the truck solo. No one in this area does solar.  I have a hi top fiberglass 30 inch shell. Lots of mixed information in this area locally plus in my research.  I have thought about a lumber rack over my truck, but told this would cause unnecessary wind drag or millage loss.... ? True??   I  thought about bolting it on top of the fiberglass or mounting over the cab. When I ask about this locally the info I have gotten is wind vibration will crack the fiberglass-can't be done?? My goal is to get the parts I need then as I travel I can find solar installers. I know many of you here have done a wide variety of setups and now that my health is improving I am ready for this challenge. Any helpful ideas, advice, suggestions are welcome. 
Also attached is a picture of the truck I am working on, I am still learning how to post here hopefully the picture went through. If not it is a 1996 Ford Extended Cab F250 Diesel, with canopy.




I have a Dodge Dakota 2006 with a canopy on top of bed it has a raised rear section on it and i mounted a 100 watt renogy panel on the sloping area of canopy 
I just aligned the panel on the canopy square and mounted it with 4 brackets and nuts bolts and washers then applied caulking where i drilled the holes 
having just moved from Seattle to Arizona the mileage did not change it averaged 17 mpg average speed was 60-65 mph
its quite easy just take your time and measure your mounting points a couple times before drilling 
Good Luck 

 

[TraveLyn]

Thank you for your reply. I talked to a guy who does welding today about making an angle iron rack to mount to the top of the canopy that I could put a piece of plywood on, then later the solar panels. i wonder if this could be done and hold up, would it be too tall?? I have read about this on this forum. I'm not sure how much solar I will have room for yet. I have been reading everything I can but my brain kinds of glazes over with the technical stuff.

 

[AuricTech]

One option to consider is using bendable solar panels, such as these Renogy 100W panels (there are similar panels from other brands, including AFP Power).  That way, you could use adhesives to mount the panels directly to the roof of your shell.  The downside to that is that, once the panels are on, they're not coming off (on the bright side, that does make stealing the panels problematic...   ).

ETA: I would put questions about the actual design of your system on the Electrical subforum.

 

[MikeRuth]

Thank you for your reply.  I talked to a guy who does welding today about making an angle iron rack to mount to the top of the canopy that I could put a piece of plywood on, then later the solar panels. i wonder if this could be done and hold up, would it be too tall??  I have read about this on this forum.  I'm not sure how much solar I will have room for yet.  I have been reading everything I can but my brain kinds of glazes over with the technical stuff.

If you were to go with a custom made rack, then you won't need to put the added weight of plywood up, just have the builder make mounts for the panels. 

I have two panels that are bolted together down the middle and then both as a unit are bolted to the rack at each corner. It's solid and I'm comfortable nothing is going to break. 

 

[AuricTech]

Another problem with mounting the panels on plywood is that the plywood would act as insulation, keeping the panels too hot and reducing their efficiency.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I've seen ladder racks that mount between the truck and the cap, the verticals go up just outside the cap, I'm sure something like that would be cheaper than having someone create something custom for you.

Regards
John

 

[masterplumber]

I have a ladder/lumber/pipe rack on my truck. It mounts to the bed, and the legs go up the outside of the topper, so no weight it on the topper. It is made by Kargo Master and I've had it for many years, and on many trucks, including one just like yours except with a 460 instead of a diesel. I also had it on a diesel crew cab version of your truck. I know a lot of people with vans report a small mileage drop with a rack. On my trucks I haven't noticed much of a difference. I can effect mileage much more with my driving habits than a rack does. That said, if all you ever want to have up top is you solar panels, I would just use some z brackets that you can find at a good hardware store. Bolt them through the top sealing with silicone, and then bolt the panels to them. Much lighter and cleaner looking. Another option, that would be very strong and alow you to potentially change or add panels, would be to run a length of unistrut the length of the flat section on each edge of the top, again, bolting all the way through. We did this on a topper for my son to make a quick cheap rack. It worked really well. To complete the rack we ran 1" electrical conduit crossways attaching them to the unistut with clamps made for that purpose. They also make nuts that slide into the channel that you could use to attach the solar panels with. This would allow air to circulate to keep the panels cooler, but also keep them lower profile. And you can change or add panels as the needs change.

 

[TraveLyn]

Thank You all! this is what I needed from people who understand what I was thinking and had experiences doing. I looked at cargo/lumber racks but the ones I found only went up to 30" and with the crown I need 1-2" over that to allow for air flow. I like the idea of not having it stand up any higher than necessary.

Masterplumber: I'll look up unistruts and see if I can figure something out. I definitely don't want it to leak as I camp in the back most of the time.
When you did your sons set-up would tf have been solid enough to tilt the panels? Would having the solar panels make the canopy hotter? That was something I read somewhere which is why I was thinking of the plywood. I would rather have it as simple and cost effective as possible and still be solid.

(I'll try to get this posted without losing it again--I am so not very teckie)

 

[ttpadilla]

How much solar are you planning to have? If just 100w, why not get the solar suitcase? That way you don't have to go through the hassle of mounting, and you can park in the shade, and stick the panel out in the sun. If you want more than 100w, never mind.

 

[TraveLyn]

N4T. I thought about the suitcase solar but I thought getting the suitcase out and putting up would get old after awhile and any time I leave the trailor I would have to put it away or risk losing it. I'm still reading on solar and thinking maybe 200-250 would work if I have room on the pickup top. I don't really want to buy and pack a generator and gas if I can figure this out. It funny I called an rv dealer today about 70 miles north of me and they gave me an estimate of $1800 to put a 95 watt panel on the top of my travel trailer. Since I have been coming to this site I know I should be able to figure something out less expensive!

 

[ttpadilla]

Yeah, if you're in and out a lot, it would get old packing it up. I'm planning to get at least one more panel, and will have that one permanently mounted on the roof. Good luck, and definitely pay WAY less than $1800!!

 

[TraveLyn]

Definitely! Good luck on your travels.

 

[akrvbob]

The best advice I can give you is stop asking your "friends" and RV places for advice! You are getting great advice here!
Bob

 

[masterplumber]

The rack we built on my son's topper would be more than strong enough. I also built a similar one on my old Four Wheel Popup camper. It was still light enough to not be a problem lifting the top. But with the top down I hauled everything form pipe and lumber, to a canoe. As for sealing the roof, as long as you use 100% silicone you shouldn't have any problem. I usually fill the bolt hole before putting the bolt thru, and leave a little extra on top that squishes around when you tighten the bolts. That way there are no gaps. The beauty of using the unistut, is once it's mounted, you can rearrange what is attached to it as needs change, without affecting the seal at the roof. Some big box stores stock it, but if not in your area you can usually find it at plumbing and electrical supply houses. It was originally developed to hang pipe in industrial applications. But it is very versatile and there are all kinds of brackets designed to work with it.

 

[TraveLyn]

Bob: My thoughts as well.
Masterplumber: I looked online at unistrut parts, I get the general idea not sure exactly how to use yet. When I figure out the size of panel (s) then I can look for parts. There is a Home Depot about 80 miles away, no plumbing parts place here. Did you mount the unistrut front to back on the topper or side to side then adjust for the panel?

 

[MikeRuth]

Bob: My thoughts as well.
Masterplumber: I looked online at unistrut parts, I get the general idea not sure exactly how to use yet.  When I figure out the size of panel (s) then I can look for parts.  There is a Home Depot about 80 miles away, no plumbing parts place here.  Did you mount the unistrut front to back on the topper or side to side then adjust for the panel?

He mean the unistrut mounts length wise (front to back) along the smooth section of the topper. Then they used Electrical conduit(EMT) to make the cross sections from side to side. 

The unistrut will let you change the distance between the cross bars easily at anytime. 

Something to this effect

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

OK, so you're going to use a pick up truck with cap to pull a 17' trailer, and put the solar panel(s) on the pick up.  Where will the batteries be?  In the pickup truck or the trailer?  I'm guessing the truck, otherwise the batteries would get no power when they are separated.  Given any thought to how much power the trailer will need when you're using it, and how you're going to get it from the batteries in the truck back to the trailer?

If I were doing this, I'd be looking at some fairly heavy welding cable with Anderson Powerpole connectors on each end. Given the current price of copper, that would be a non-trivial amount of $$s.

Regards
John

 

[masterplumber]

Mike's picture shows it accurately. Except I'd make sure they are both on the flat surface so the conduit doesn't have to arch over the roof. That is 7/8" unistut. They also make a taller 1 5/8" version, and a double back to back version. The clamps slide into the channel on each side of the pipe, and then bolt together. You have to buy the clamps specific to the size and type of pipe you use. Or, depending upon spacing, you can mount the panels directly to the unistrut using special nuts designed to slide into the channel. I don't think I have any close up pictures of the 2 different racks I built this way, but I'll comb the archives tomorrow and look.

 

[Seraphim]

N4T.  I thought about the suitcase solar but I thought getting the suitcase out and putting up would get old after awhile and any time I leave the trailor I would have to put it away or risk losing it.  I'm still reading on solar and thinking maybe 200-250 would work if I have room on the pickup top.  I don't really want to buy and pack a generator and gas if I can figure this out.  It funny I called an rv dealer today about 70 miles north of me and they gave me an estimate of $1800 to put a 95 watt panel on the top of my travel trailer.  Since I have been coming to this site I know I should be able to figure something out less expensive!

I put 400 watts with a mppt controller on my truck camper for half the amount.  It's not difficult. Check out Renogy...

I also documented our solar install here. I'll see if I can find the link to it.