https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq5kA9qrzZW/
Here is my long winded caption from instagram that I've edited for this skoolie forum:
(I talk a lot about Gripping, which I should specify is craft/department in the film industry that deals with rigging lights and cameras to various cranes/vehicles, etc.. It's been my profession for the past 12 years...literally building cool rigs that offer versatile functions and maximum adjustability. I was a department head on many films and TV shows where I had to design these rigs myself using this very standard equipment I use in this design - so I always had it in me to want to go above and beyond with the roof rack rig, as it was so similar to the many car rigs I've done over the years that had to be solid and stable for smooth camera movements and safety for actors and crew members involved, while still allowing manipulation for any circumstances).
Anyway, just wanted to share this crazy adventure I embarked on, and am ultimately happy with. Curious what others might think We're new to the skoolie world, still in the beginning stages, but wanted to make some friends on here. Follow our instagram page if ya'd like!
2400 watt Telescoping Solar Wings on a 22’ Roof deck with two fans and a skylight.
I had at first designed a much more complex sliding solar panel rig on SketchUp that was to be done out of steel tubing and ball bearings. From the very beginning we knew we were going to attempt an impossible feat - fitting (6) 400 watt panels on the roof, with space for a deck, two fans, a skylight, and a future chimney flue for the wood stove. This is not something I had seen done before on a bus our size (there is about 22 feet of workable space on top and (6) 400w solar panels are about 6.5’ x 3.5’ each). The initial idea of the ability to slide them came from the fact that the skylight and the fans had to fit up there too. The fans were 4” high when closed and 9” high when opened. The first draft had the solar panels hovering 5” above the fans, meaning you had to slide them out to use the fans. The second draft accommodated the fans being opened without having to adjust the panels at all, meaning they had to sit a whopping 10” above the bus itself…ridiculous. In the end, as you can see, the panels ended up fitting snug up next to the fans with very little wiggle room, and about 1/2” to spare before they would protrude past the width of the vehicle itself (in transit mode). In the end the sliding mechanism accommodates deck space and a 0 to 90 radius of tiltability (invented a word?), which was a serendipitous bonus. However, before the end result the design went through multiple versions of craziness and puzzling concerns and many times we both questioned ourselves…is this insane? is this worth it?
Our goal with this bus from the very beginning, was to build the most self sufficient, off grid/no-grid apocalypse vehicle that could withstand fuel shortages, a financial collapse, and run almost entirely off natural energy (the sun) and cost us ZERO dollars to live in. 2400 watts of solar will give us almost an entirely electric bus (with a few LP backups - dynamic) offering an endless amount of time off grid, as long as the sun shines. The only thing we plan to pay for is diesel to get from here to there.The dilemma was that we were basically at a stand still with any further progress as this was the only next step that could be done.. My fabricator was not ready to take the project on right away, which created a road block. I realized I was going to have to do this all myself with no welding shop or equipment available to me. This would turn out to be a blessing in disguise as everything would soon become much more simplified because of that. I started to toy around with the idea of doing it all out of Unistrut, which I love and used almost entirely to build out my last truck (a 32 foot trailer that is basically a mobile work station for film industry "GRIPS" - my profession). The problem that I kept running into was the initial squaring of the foundational parallels that run the length of the bus. Working with the curve of the bus is no joke when all your materials are square. Then one night I had an epiphany - The parallels needed to be round to level it off, not square (Work with the curve, not against it) There is a reason why Grips (in the film industry) use round pipe instead of square - it’s much more adaptable! The dots started to connect and I realized I would build this entire roof rack out of the materials that I know so well and had worked with day in and day out for the past decade of my life - Speedrail.
Speedrail is some film industry slang for a universal standard size of aluminum pipe and fittings (1.66OD) that film industry Grips carry to be able to do all kinds of rigs on set - from building entire grids on a stage to rigging 60lb cameras off the side of a moving vehicle. Hollander fittings are used to easily connect them together in any direction with the turn of a wrench (much like the way you see scaffolding in the city put together). Lighting rigs are incredibly easy to do with these adjustable fittings, allowing things to slide and tilt in any direction needed. I’ve built countless rigs that require maximum adjustability of light panels off the top of vehicles that look strikingly similar to what I’ve created with the solar panels (which its why it’s so silly I never thought of Speedrail in the first place). The most important two things that Speedrail offered was that it’s aluminum (1/3 the weight of steel, better for gas mileage, and completely weather resistant and corrosion free) and that it’s entirely modular. Yes it would be a project to change up the rig that we’ve built an entire deck around, but it’s absolutely do-able if needed. Everything comes a part with a single 3/16 hex wrench. This is also the tool that is used to secure our sliding solar panels while in transit, as well as release them from the “broken cross” fitting which allows them to tilt up. As i’ve mentioned mentioned in the video, I have yet to decide the best kickstand mechanism to hold them in place at any angle (to move with the Sun’s direct rays) but it will likely be an adjustable Hollander flange that screws into the floor and attaches to a “Tee” on the pipe. On film sets, Grips use Schedule 40 pipe for rigging. I used a slightly thicker wall of Schedule 80, which I think is what made possible throwing out the whole idea of Outriggers that we were going to originally build down the side of the bus for extra support for the panels when “winged out.” As we continued to build, test, build, test…everything became simpler and simpler. It was just like being on set, but this time having three weeks to do a rig instead of a few hours. This is also why everything turned out to be so clean in the end. Grips are used to doing complex rigs, playing with physics and finding the most ergonomic solution to putting a camera or a light anywhere in any location with the ability to move in any direction. The difference here was what we call “picture safe.” “Picture safe” is never something that needs to happen with rigs, as they are always “off camera.” I can say that I’ve never had to do a rig that needed to look aesthetically pleasing, and this was the major challenge. Everything had to function properly, but also be a usable deck space. I found that using 2x10’s, instead of standard 5/4 deck board would allow us to lay in between the perpendicular cross pipes that the Panels slide on and almost perfectly meet flush with the height of the pipe without getting in the way of the sliding mechanism — creating an even deck surface with recessed pipe/track system. I had to route out almost every other board where the Flanges wrapped around the foundational steel parallels. There are two 25’ steel pipes that run the length of the bus, about 50” OC. These are attached to the roof with Flanges that are thru-bolted down through the hat channels. On top of the parallels, is (6) cross pipes, two per panel. Each panel has two pipes strategically mounted on the inside and the outside of the steel pipes at the precise distance to lock into “In” or “Out” position as it hits the Cross fitting on the slide, acting as a stopper.In transit mode, everything fits within the width of the vehicle. The 2x10 planks are mounted to the pipe with a very specific U-bolt that was imposible to find (thank jesus for McMaster). The lumber is pressure treated so it will be several months before we can stain it. We can easily take the wood off because of the U bolts, but we might just stain it up there anyway! The bus is actually 22 feet long, but our parallels run 3 feet off the back, as they will turn into the base for our deck extension/overhang off the Back deck( But THAT is for another time!). All in all, it was a **** of rig and a crazy problem solving quest equipped with all the headaches and all the fulfillment. Nothing about this was easy and I would not recommend anyone to attempt to achieve this similarly (or if you must I can explain a million ways that you could do it better and more efficiently that I would have done in hindsight…but that’s literally what Gripping is in a nutshell - rigging, re-rigging, and ultimately finding out there was a simpler way to do it from the beginning).
Here is my long winded caption from instagram that I've edited for this skoolie forum:
(I talk a lot about Gripping, which I should specify is craft/department in the film industry that deals with rigging lights and cameras to various cranes/vehicles, etc.. It's been my profession for the past 12 years...literally building cool rigs that offer versatile functions and maximum adjustability. I was a department head on many films and TV shows where I had to design these rigs myself using this very standard equipment I use in this design - so I always had it in me to want to go above and beyond with the roof rack rig, as it was so similar to the many car rigs I've done over the years that had to be solid and stable for smooth camera movements and safety for actors and crew members involved, while still allowing manipulation for any circumstances).
Anyway, just wanted to share this crazy adventure I embarked on, and am ultimately happy with. Curious what others might think We're new to the skoolie world, still in the beginning stages, but wanted to make some friends on here. Follow our instagram page if ya'd like!
2400 watt Telescoping Solar Wings on a 22’ Roof deck with two fans and a skylight.
I had at first designed a much more complex sliding solar panel rig on SketchUp that was to be done out of steel tubing and ball bearings. From the very beginning we knew we were going to attempt an impossible feat - fitting (6) 400 watt panels on the roof, with space for a deck, two fans, a skylight, and a future chimney flue for the wood stove. This is not something I had seen done before on a bus our size (there is about 22 feet of workable space on top and (6) 400w solar panels are about 6.5’ x 3.5’ each). The initial idea of the ability to slide them came from the fact that the skylight and the fans had to fit up there too. The fans were 4” high when closed and 9” high when opened. The first draft had the solar panels hovering 5” above the fans, meaning you had to slide them out to use the fans. The second draft accommodated the fans being opened without having to adjust the panels at all, meaning they had to sit a whopping 10” above the bus itself…ridiculous. In the end, as you can see, the panels ended up fitting snug up next to the fans with very little wiggle room, and about 1/2” to spare before they would protrude past the width of the vehicle itself (in transit mode). In the end the sliding mechanism accommodates deck space and a 0 to 90 radius of tiltability (invented a word?), which was a serendipitous bonus. However, before the end result the design went through multiple versions of craziness and puzzling concerns and many times we both questioned ourselves…is this insane? is this worth it?
Our goal with this bus from the very beginning, was to build the most self sufficient, off grid/no-grid apocalypse vehicle that could withstand fuel shortages, a financial collapse, and run almost entirely off natural energy (the sun) and cost us ZERO dollars to live in. 2400 watts of solar will give us almost an entirely electric bus (with a few LP backups - dynamic) offering an endless amount of time off grid, as long as the sun shines. The only thing we plan to pay for is diesel to get from here to there.The dilemma was that we were basically at a stand still with any further progress as this was the only next step that could be done.. My fabricator was not ready to take the project on right away, which created a road block. I realized I was going to have to do this all myself with no welding shop or equipment available to me. This would turn out to be a blessing in disguise as everything would soon become much more simplified because of that. I started to toy around with the idea of doing it all out of Unistrut, which I love and used almost entirely to build out my last truck (a 32 foot trailer that is basically a mobile work station for film industry "GRIPS" - my profession). The problem that I kept running into was the initial squaring of the foundational parallels that run the length of the bus. Working with the curve of the bus is no joke when all your materials are square. Then one night I had an epiphany - The parallels needed to be round to level it off, not square (Work with the curve, not against it) There is a reason why Grips (in the film industry) use round pipe instead of square - it’s much more adaptable! The dots started to connect and I realized I would build this entire roof rack out of the materials that I know so well and had worked with day in and day out for the past decade of my life - Speedrail.
Speedrail is some film industry slang for a universal standard size of aluminum pipe and fittings (1.66OD) that film industry Grips carry to be able to do all kinds of rigs on set - from building entire grids on a stage to rigging 60lb cameras off the side of a moving vehicle. Hollander fittings are used to easily connect them together in any direction with the turn of a wrench (much like the way you see scaffolding in the city put together). Lighting rigs are incredibly easy to do with these adjustable fittings, allowing things to slide and tilt in any direction needed. I’ve built countless rigs that require maximum adjustability of light panels off the top of vehicles that look strikingly similar to what I’ve created with the solar panels (which its why it’s so silly I never thought of Speedrail in the first place). The most important two things that Speedrail offered was that it’s aluminum (1/3 the weight of steel, better for gas mileage, and completely weather resistant and corrosion free) and that it’s entirely modular. Yes it would be a project to change up the rig that we’ve built an entire deck around, but it’s absolutely do-able if needed. Everything comes a part with a single 3/16 hex wrench. This is also the tool that is used to secure our sliding solar panels while in transit, as well as release them from the “broken cross” fitting which allows them to tilt up. As i’ve mentioned mentioned in the video, I have yet to decide the best kickstand mechanism to hold them in place at any angle (to move with the Sun’s direct rays) but it will likely be an adjustable Hollander flange that screws into the floor and attaches to a “Tee” on the pipe. On film sets, Grips use Schedule 40 pipe for rigging. I used a slightly thicker wall of Schedule 80, which I think is what made possible throwing out the whole idea of Outriggers that we were going to originally build down the side of the bus for extra support for the panels when “winged out.” As we continued to build, test, build, test…everything became simpler and simpler. It was just like being on set, but this time having three weeks to do a rig instead of a few hours. This is also why everything turned out to be so clean in the end. Grips are used to doing complex rigs, playing with physics and finding the most ergonomic solution to putting a camera or a light anywhere in any location with the ability to move in any direction. The difference here was what we call “picture safe.” “Picture safe” is never something that needs to happen with rigs, as they are always “off camera.” I can say that I’ve never had to do a rig that needed to look aesthetically pleasing, and this was the major challenge. Everything had to function properly, but also be a usable deck space. I found that using 2x10’s, instead of standard 5/4 deck board would allow us to lay in between the perpendicular cross pipes that the Panels slide on and almost perfectly meet flush with the height of the pipe without getting in the way of the sliding mechanism — creating an even deck surface with recessed pipe/track system. I had to route out almost every other board where the Flanges wrapped around the foundational steel parallels. There are two 25’ steel pipes that run the length of the bus, about 50” OC. These are attached to the roof with Flanges that are thru-bolted down through the hat channels. On top of the parallels, is (6) cross pipes, two per panel. Each panel has two pipes strategically mounted on the inside and the outside of the steel pipes at the precise distance to lock into “In” or “Out” position as it hits the Cross fitting on the slide, acting as a stopper.In transit mode, everything fits within the width of the vehicle. The 2x10 planks are mounted to the pipe with a very specific U-bolt that was imposible to find (thank jesus for McMaster). The lumber is pressure treated so it will be several months before we can stain it. We can easily take the wood off because of the U bolts, but we might just stain it up there anyway! The bus is actually 22 feet long, but our parallels run 3 feet off the back, as they will turn into the base for our deck extension/overhang off the Back deck( But THAT is for another time!). All in all, it was a **** of rig and a crazy problem solving quest equipped with all the headaches and all the fulfillment. Nothing about this was easy and I would not recommend anyone to attempt to achieve this similarly (or if you must I can explain a million ways that you could do it better and more efficiently that I would have done in hindsight…but that’s literally what Gripping is in a nutshell - rigging, re-rigging, and ultimately finding out there was a simpler way to do it from the beginning).
