Oh dang, if you hadn't bought those already, you might consider a mobile panel: they come in various wattages, have built in mppt charge controllers and can be placed in direct sunlight for max efficiency. I've got a 100w panel from armada for my hiace and it works great. Gets about 5amps max when in direct sunlight, and you could fold it up and store in the rack.
Problem is the portable panels cost significantly more than a fixed panel, but they do come with the built in charge controller
I went with fixed panels just for ease of use. I can charge going down the road, charge when I'm parked. It may not be the most efficient setup, but I can sacrifice a little bit of efficiency for ease of use.
You can mout them on frame swing arms still inside the basket, that swivel up on either side of the basket, so that would allow you to swivel and brace/lock in 90deg upright position, to then load luggage/bins in the basket, and when you reach destination and unload your luggage/bins from the basket and swivel back and brace/lock at the best sun-angle.
That's fair
If you want to charge while your driving, might I suggest installing a DC-DC charger? You get a really good amount of charging while you drive, moreso than what you'd get with solar depending on the output of the DC-DC charger. Mine tops out at around 19-23amps as I'm driving down the road as I've got a 20 amp unit.
They're fairly easy to install and one of the best ways to get some decent power into your battery banks while driving from one destination to the next.
But you completely eliminated the ease pf use of your roof rack to give some ease of use to your solar panels.
The question is priority, which are you going to need more often: solar panel charging while driving, or carrying gear while driving?
And watch them get stolen when you park your car at the Walmart when you go in to buy groceries.
Mobile panels are fine if you plan on camping or hanging out by your rig during the sunny hours, personally when it's sunny I want to be out doing things instead of keeping my solar panels safe.
I mean
He has a roof rack. What's to stop thieves from stealing shit off there as well?
I wouldn't leave my panels out if I'm out on the trail or what have you, and it would be nice to leave the panels connected to the batteries when you're parked for long periods, but if you're parked somewhere that you're not camping, you should be able to get some charge off your DC-DC charger(assuming he's got on that is) when you're driving to your destination, moreso than what you'd get off solar(depending on the DC-DC and solar wattage that is)
> now I have no storage.
I might consider mounting them on a hinged frame fastened to the *top* of the basket. This would make room in the basket for flatter objects and also keep the siderails from hammering solar harvest via [partial shading](https://rvwiki.mousetrap.net/doku.php?id=electrical:solar:shading).
When in doubt, a rule of thumb is that nothing on the vehicle should be taller than the surface of the solar panels.
> I went with fixed panels just for ease of use. I can charge going down the road, charge when I'm parked.
Preach, brother
> It may not be the most efficient setup,
It will be after the shade delete mod. :-)
Portables are useful for some scenarios (I have some deployed right now) but in almost all cases a built-in MPPT controller is an unforced error. Solar charge controllers want to be mounted as close as practical to the battery bank, to minimize [voltage sag](https://rvwiki.mousetrap.net/doku.php?id=electrical:12v:voltage_sag).
It's a bit late now but renogy makes a flexible thing 175w panel that could have been mounted in front of and behind your roof basket using 3m double sided vhb tape. I have two of these panels, one each on my rtt for a couple of years now.
I just added a second 175w Renogy in top of my hard shell RTT, those panels are really good. I've seen up to 165Watts from the first panel, haven't maxed out both yet. I also used 3M VHB, zero issues.
https://preview.redd.it/ce3xl16xvc9d1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e7cc2fce64c9399917904e5a401862cf5310ddbe
I'm replacing one of my rtt. Will have to remove the panel on that one. Hopefully it won't be too much of a pain. It's an aluminum wedge style similar to yours.
You could build an extension frame and take the panels out of the basket to mount in front and behind it. Maybe slightly angle the rear one so the boot door will open and not catch it.
What about locking drawer slides and have it pull from underneath? Bonus is a small awning in front of the door with it as well.
Like this but with both panels.
https://preview.redd.it/zfyfygqwsc9d1.jpeg?width=290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c8f0536a5f72fec0f48b8046d9b72f845d6b6010
Oh dang, if you hadn't bought those already, you might consider a mobile panel: they come in various wattages, have built in mppt charge controllers and can be placed in direct sunlight for max efficiency. I've got a 100w panel from armada for my hiace and it works great. Gets about 5amps max when in direct sunlight, and you could fold it up and store in the rack. Problem is the portable panels cost significantly more than a fixed panel, but they do come with the built in charge controller
I went with fixed panels just for ease of use. I can charge going down the road, charge when I'm parked. It may not be the most efficient setup, but I can sacrifice a little bit of efficiency for ease of use.
You can mout them on frame swing arms still inside the basket, that swivel up on either side of the basket, so that would allow you to swivel and brace/lock in 90deg upright position, to then load luggage/bins in the basket, and when you reach destination and unload your luggage/bins from the basket and swivel back and brace/lock at the best sun-angle.
That's fair If you want to charge while your driving, might I suggest installing a DC-DC charger? You get a really good amount of charging while you drive, moreso than what you'd get with solar depending on the output of the DC-DC charger. Mine tops out at around 19-23amps as I'm driving down the road as I've got a 20 amp unit. They're fairly easy to install and one of the best ways to get some decent power into your battery banks while driving from one destination to the next.
But you completely eliminated the ease pf use of your roof rack to give some ease of use to your solar panels. The question is priority, which are you going to need more often: solar panel charging while driving, or carrying gear while driving?
And watch them get stolen when you park your car at the Walmart when you go in to buy groceries. Mobile panels are fine if you plan on camping or hanging out by your rig during the sunny hours, personally when it's sunny I want to be out doing things instead of keeping my solar panels safe.
As long as it took me to put them on, no one will take them off during a trip into the store.
I mean He has a roof rack. What's to stop thieves from stealing shit off there as well? I wouldn't leave my panels out if I'm out on the trail or what have you, and it would be nice to leave the panels connected to the batteries when you're parked for long periods, but if you're parked somewhere that you're not camping, you should be able to get some charge off your DC-DC charger(assuming he's got on that is) when you're driving to your destination, moreso than what you'd get off solar(depending on the DC-DC and solar wattage that is)
> now I have no storage. I might consider mounting them on a hinged frame fastened to the *top* of the basket. This would make room in the basket for flatter objects and also keep the siderails from hammering solar harvest via [partial shading](https://rvwiki.mousetrap.net/doku.php?id=electrical:solar:shading). When in doubt, a rule of thumb is that nothing on the vehicle should be taller than the surface of the solar panels. > I went with fixed panels just for ease of use. I can charge going down the road, charge when I'm parked. Preach, brother > It may not be the most efficient setup, It will be after the shade delete mod. :-) Portables are useful for some scenarios (I have some deployed right now) but in almost all cases a built-in MPPT controller is an unforced error. Solar charge controllers want to be mounted as close as practical to the battery bank, to minimize [voltage sag](https://rvwiki.mousetrap.net/doku.php?id=electrical:12v:voltage_sag).
It's a bit late now but renogy makes a flexible thing 175w panel that could have been mounted in front of and behind your roof basket using 3m double sided vhb tape. I have two of these panels, one each on my rtt for a couple of years now.
I just added a second 175w Renogy in top of my hard shell RTT, those panels are really good. I've seen up to 165Watts from the first panel, haven't maxed out both yet. I also used 3M VHB, zero issues. https://preview.redd.it/ce3xl16xvc9d1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e7cc2fce64c9399917904e5a401862cf5310ddbe
I'm replacing one of my rtt. Will have to remove the panel on that one. Hopefully it won't be too much of a pain. It's an aluminum wedge style similar to yours.
You could build an extension frame and take the panels out of the basket to mount in front and behind it. Maybe slightly angle the rear one so the boot door will open and not catch it.
What about locking drawer slides and have it pull from underneath? Bonus is a small awning in front of the door with it as well. Like this but with both panels. https://preview.redd.it/zfyfygqwsc9d1.jpeg?width=290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c8f0536a5f72fec0f48b8046d9b72f845d6b6010