Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 05-21-2021, 12:17 PM   #1
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: Ohio
Posts: 137
Year: 2003
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: All American
Engine: Cummins 8.3
Length and width of your panels

I'm thinking out different configurations for our roof and I've seen a lot of different designs. Can you tell me what the length, width, and watt of your panels are?

If I'm able I want to run a narrow cat walk down the center of my bus from front to back with the panels long ways on ether side. Initially I was picturing the walkway being 24" wide which would leave me roughly 3' on ether side for panels. I plan to elevate the inner mounting point and lower the outer mounting point so the panels are sitting at more of a natural angle then set up some kind of brace I could use to prop up the outside point of the panels if I'm sitting for long periods of time. That way I can park the bus east to west or vice versa and get as much work out of both sets of panels.

aswallie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-21-2021, 12:32 PM   #2
Bus Nut
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Cerrillos, NM
Posts: 393
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Amtran
Chassis: Front Engine
Engine: DT466E
Rated Cap: 72
I have odd shaped panels (62x41) but I kinda did the same. Haven’t ever used the catwalk and kinda wish I tucked them in closer now, but it’s pretty narrow up there so hard to walk anyway.

If you get narrower panels I think it’s a good plan but if they’re 40” wide I think I would leave less room in the middle and keep them a little more out of the wind.
rffffffff is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-21-2021, 12:44 PM   #3
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: Ohio
Posts: 137
Year: 2003
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: All American
Engine: Cummins 8.3
Quote:
Originally Posted by rffffffff View Post
I have odd shaped panels (62x41) but I kinda did the same. Haven’t ever used the catwalk and kinda wish I tucked them in closer now, but it’s pretty narrow up there so hard to walk anyway.

If you get narrower panels I think it’s a good plan but if they’re 40” wide I think I would leave less room in the middle and keep them a little more out of the wind.
How big did you make your walkway? I won't be buying the panels until later down the line but I'll be at a point where I'll need to frame the general layout before spray foam. Until I find information discouraging me I'll be putting four rows of unistrut across the top of my bus running front to back. I expect the inner of the middle two will be walkway, then both sets of struts will be the mounting points for the panels. This seems to be the best "catch all" design I can run with for now that'll give me the most options when it comes time to do the solar.
aswallie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-21-2021, 01:04 PM   #4
Bus Nut
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Cerrillos, NM
Posts: 393
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Amtran
Chassis: Front Engine
Engine: DT466E
Rated Cap: 72
I left roughly 8 inches between. I just peeked up there to see. The panels extend to about 2” maybe from the outer edge of the bus on both sides. Checking the math, If they’re 41 that’s 82+4+8 = 94” which seems like a good estimate of the width of the bus, but I haven’t measured it.

I love the idea of the unistrut, I wish I did that before I installed my ceiling, but I think 24” catwalk is too much. Poke around at solar panels before you do but I *think* 39” is the standard width for panels, the easiest ones to get at least, so maybe factor that in or look for skinnier ones if you think you need it.

Solar where I was (NY) is **** so the roof real estate matters more, if you’re in NM or AZ then I think you can get away with less coverage depending on your usage, but if you’re gonna run ac or anything heavy I would close the gap and get as much solar crammed up there as you can.
rffffffff is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-21-2021, 01:10 PM   #5
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: Ohio
Posts: 137
Year: 2003
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: All American
Engine: Cummins 8.3
I can't imagine the sun in Ohio will treat me much better, but I don't anticipate needing it as much back east, we're going to try and install a second alternator just for house batteries. I'll use your numbers and poke at what's available now and see where I land. I wanted to do a "cargo storage area"(roof deck for those not with my insurance company) from the front emergency hatch forward and pretty much solar from there back with a skylight above the shower and toilet which would be across the isle from each other.
aswallie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-21-2021, 01:24 PM   #6
Bus Nut
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Cerrillos, NM
Posts: 393
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Amtran
Chassis: Front Engine
Engine: DT466E
Rated Cap: 72
That’s close to what I planned but didn’t finish. Haha. I found myself wanting to be on the roof less and less for some reason, maybe the strong sun here, so the roof deck became low priority, but I like the concept and envisioned it how you plan.

I put a vent fan where one of the original hatches is and my toilet vent comes out under the panels so it doesn’t get a ton of rain in there and always wanted to use the original bus window glass for eyebrow windows in the curve of the roof peeking out under the panels but I never did that either. I think it would be a really great option instead of a skylight if I can make them not leak and leave room for max solar.
rffffffff is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-21-2021, 01:39 PM   #7
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: Ohio
Posts: 137
Year: 2003
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: All American
Engine: Cummins 8.3
I don't anticipate using the roof deck more than a hand full of times a year. I look at it like having a sun roof in a car, you may rarely use it but when the weather is perfect and you open it you're glad it's there. Maybe star gazing or watching sunsets and fireworks but probably not much else.

I want to keep the front hatch that I'm replacing with one I'll build, probably two max air fans, and I'm not sure what I'll do with the rear hatch. My wife wants a sky light back there but I'm not sure if I'll get it built how we'd like. I know I really want that skylight over the shower since I'll be deleting windows for weatherproofing and I love the idea of getting plastic to match the curve of the roof.

I'm not sure how I want to vent our toilet but I was initially think down.
aswallie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-21-2021, 01:52 PM   #8
Bus Nut
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Cerrillos, NM
Posts: 393
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Amtran
Chassis: Front Engine
Engine: DT466E
Rated Cap: 72
I originally had my toilet vented out the side of the bus and it was awful. Go up. It’s the only way to get the stink away from the bus. If you go down you’ll have mystery odor when the wind blows funny, it’ll be a **** show. Haha.
rffffffff is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-21-2021, 02:10 PM   #9
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: Ohio
Posts: 137
Year: 2003
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: All American
Engine: Cummins 8.3
Great information, thanks for the advice.

This past winter I noticed that when we got a lot of snow or came up almost level with the body skirt, I actually cleaned away drift from the exhaust of my coolant heater for how high it got. It put the idea in my head that being able to vent from underbody to roof might be very helpful in preventing CO2 build up. I only have a very basic idea of a PVC pipe ether running through inside or running it around outside some how... I'm still working on it. I wanted to put a fan at the top to create a negative draft to pull everything up. I'm thinking if I put a tee in with a backflow damper and/or a smaller fan on the toilet vent I could tie them both together to minimize roof penetration. If only I could figure out a similar solution for the fresh tank.
aswallie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-21-2021, 03:49 PM   #10
Bus Nut
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Cerrillos, NM
Posts: 393
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Amtran
Chassis: Front Engine
Engine: DT466E
Rated Cap: 72
I have less snow here but I do smell the diesel when the heater turns on and off at times so I think a high vent for the heater is a good plan too. The water vent, however, is fine to even be inside. I have mine peeking over the bathtub edge so if I overflow it goes down the drain. I think that should ultimately be mounted near where the fill port is in case I want to back flow cleaner or something into the tanks periodically to keep them safe from legionnaires disease or whatever else might grow.
rffffffff is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-21-2021, 05:21 PM   #11
Bus Crazy
 
somewhereinusa's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Andrews,Indiana
Posts: 2,430
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: AARE
Engine: 3116 Cat 250hp
Rated Cap: Just the two of us.
I have 6 65x39 255w panels mounted crossways.
somewhereinusa is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-21-2021, 06:16 PM   #12
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 2,831
Year: 2007
Coachwork: Thomas Built
Chassis: Minotour
Engine: Chevy Express 3500 6.6l
Mine are 42x20 mounted lengthwise. Instead of trying to get complicated to squeeze every available watt, you might consider mounting flat and adding a couple more. If you have a long bus a walkway is a good thing to have so you can more easily clean them.
Danjo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-21-2021, 06:27 PM   #13
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: Ohio
Posts: 137
Year: 2003
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: All American
Engine: Cummins 8.3
Quote:
Originally Posted by Danjo View Post
Mine are 42x20 mounted lengthwise. Instead of trying to get complicated to squeeze every available watt, you might consider mounting flat and adding a couple more. If you have a long bus a walkway is a good thing to have so you can more easily clean them.
I'm not sure I understand what you're meaning by flat mounting them to gain more. Perhaps I'm not explaining myself well enough? If I hold the inner mount point higher and the outer mount point lower it sets the panel on an angle similar to the curve of the bus roof. If I mounted them all flat in line the outer edges would extend beyond the side of the bus.
aswallie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-21-2021, 06:54 PM   #14
Bus Nut
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Cerrillos, NM
Posts: 393
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Amtran
Chassis: Front Engine
Engine: DT466E
Rated Cap: 72
Quote:
Originally Posted by aswallie View Post
I'm not sure I understand what you're meaning by flat mounting them to gain more. Perhaps I'm not explaining myself well enough? If I hold the inner mount point higher and the outer mount point lower it sets the panel on an angle similar to the curve of the bus roof. If I mounted them all flat in line the outer edges would extend beyond the side of the bus.

I like this idea but only if you’re going to be able to lift them up from the outside too,
And have the inner mount hinged so you can get them all facing the same direction when parked.

I found that I really make an effort to park facing East in my bus and if the northern panels were tilted north they’d be useless. You’ll only get half sun when really it matters (winter)

I would estimate that two flat panels are going to give more power than one slightly tilted and one tilted away, especially in winter.
rffffffff is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-21-2021, 07:01 PM   #15
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: Ohio
Posts: 137
Year: 2003
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: All American
Engine: Cummins 8.3
If I need to lift them by hand I will but I've been trying to think up a way to use my bus air system to raise them all the same amount at the same time but yes, part of the plan was to have the slant of the outside driver side to inside center match the same angle as the inside to outside passenger panel when facing east.
aswallie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-21-2021, 07:15 PM   #16
Bus Nut
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Cerrillos, NM
Posts: 393
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Amtran
Chassis: Front Engine
Engine: DT466E
Rated Cap: 72
Quote:
Originally Posted by aswallie View Post
If I need to lift them by hand I will but I've been trying to think up a way to use my bus air system to raise them all the same amount at the same time but yes, part of the plan was to have the slant of the outside driver side to inside center match the same angle as the inside to outside passenger panel when facing east.

That’s great. Pneumatic linear actuators are probably easy to find but you’re gonna pay a bit for them, and I kinda think you’ll need some sort of latch anyway to prevent them from flying away when you’re driving. Wind is a bitch. And I think they’re not easily metered for length, just full in or full out. Could work, especially if the valve has them forced down, not just ‘released’.

I could see a shaft that goes down the outside of the bus that’s bolted the the panels that latches to the side of the bus in two or three positions. Probably two for each panel. It would be the easiest to use I think, but it’ll have to be done pretty well to help keep them stable at 70mph.
rffffffff is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-21-2021, 07:21 PM   #17
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: Ohio
Posts: 137
Year: 2003
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: All American
Engine: Cummins 8.3
You're staring to think along the lines I was, I figure keeping pressure on them all the time because if air pressure drops to zero while I'm driving I've got bigger problems on my hands. I also thought that one air piston for two hydrochloric pistons (like the ones people put under their bed to aid lifting their frame) to help hold the weight in one poison or the other to cut down on weight, hardware, and help deal with shock of bumps. Again, still very early in the planning stages so I'm kicking around all kinds of ideas. Even if I need to get up on a ladder or lift them from the cat walk in some way I'm okay with that too since I'll only really need to if we're staying for a couple of days.
aswallie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-21-2021, 07:59 PM   #18
Bus Nut
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Cerrillos, NM
Posts: 393
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Amtran
Chassis: Front Engine
Engine: DT466E
Rated Cap: 72
Now I’m gonna Google latching pneumatic actuators or something like that. I wonder if they make them, or if they’re affordable, where they lock if no air is applied. They must.
rffffffff is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-2021, 09:14 PM   #19
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 34
Windy Nation makes 12V actuators for lifting solar arrays. It is 16" stroke linear actuator with 225 lb max lift. It has integrated max min limit switches. This can be controlled via 12V wireless remote controller from ecoworthy. Both available from Amazon. There is a great discussion by Snow and Curt called "1080 Watt Remote Tilting Vanlife Solar Explained - Van Build Tech Talk".
Brian S is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-2021, 09:25 PM   #20
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: Ohio
Posts: 137
Year: 2003
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: All American
Engine: Cummins 8.3
That sounds like it's just what I was looking for! Thank you!
aswallie is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:07 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.