Aero friendly flexible Unisolar panels are now getting affordable

[skyking]

Agreed, Ryland.
I kicked around the idea of these panels over the top of my trailer design, then nixed that because of the unfavorable angle of incidence. Then I thought about a deployable monocrystalline panel, complete with tracking.
Then I looked at the EU1000i generator I paid $400 for, and realized I was beating a dead horse. The money is just not there for what you get. I could get gas for that honda for decades and still not spend as much as a 200 watt panel and hardware.
The handy place for a solar panel and a car/truck is to maintain a battery on a rig that does not get used much and is parked at a remote location without power.

[Ryland]

Originally Posted by skyking

Then I looked at the EU1000i generator I paid $400 for, and realized I was beating a dead horse. The money is just not there for what you get. I could get gas for that honda for decades and still not spend as much as a 200 watt panel and hardware.

That generator is going to cost you around $0.40 to $0.50 per hour to run, so after buying the solar panel, charge controller, deep cycle battery and small inverter you'd have spent enough to run your generator for about two hours per day for a year and for anyone who wanted to buy that same generator new today it would cost them $800, so right there the solar set up is cheaper without factoring in the cost of gas.

If you were installing this on your house and wanted a grid tied inverter then getting panels with micro inverters that get wired right in to your house electrical system would be the way to go, $2 per watt and your only extra costs would be wire, disconnect switch and hard ware to put it on your roof, then you let it generate electricity for the rest of your life without any other added costs and if the old 10 year warranty that the panels my parents bought 30 years ago and moved twice (are still putting out more then their rated output) say anything about the current 25 year warranty then your solar panels might outlast your grand kids... and people want to put them on the roof of their car?

[skyking]

I ran our refrigerator and freezer a few times a day through two power outages with that generator, so you are talking an apples to grapefruit comparison. I saved $400 in meat in the freezer with it.
I use the trailer 10 times a year, and use a generator no more than an hour a day on about half the days.
So, at about a gallon (maybe two) of gas a year I don't see buying any solar panels there.

[Ryland]

Originally Posted by skyking

I ran our refrigerator and freezer a few times a day through two power outages with that generator, so you are talking an apples to grapefruit comparison. I saved $400 in meat in the freezer with it.
I use the trailer 10 times a year, and use a generator no more than an hour a day on about half the days.

Right, but if you were using the electricity every day then the fuel use would quickly add up and the solar panels produce electricity every day.

I've used the spare batteries for my electric car for remote power and figure I can power my fridge for or freezer for about 3 days per charge without noise and recharge them off solar.
But it really comes down to what best fits your needs, if you want to offset your electrical use every day, year round for the rest of your life then solar for sure is the way to go, but there are times where a gas generator does make more sense, but I wouldn't want to rely on that gas generator for my electricity every day.

[skyking]

Me neither. For an off grid genset it has to be diesel, for me anyway. I am very interested in solar but my current location is prohibitive. Too many tall trees
If I get to move to my dream place it will have no obstructions to solar heat or power.

[turbothrush]

Thanks for all the info guys. Did not know about the high failure rate on the panels. Good to know for sure

Here was my thinking.. I am building a light weight self contained truck camper and am trying to incorporate as many aero features as possible.The project is just for fun really and does not need to make any economic sense whatsoever . I already have the small honda gen but just wanted to add the solar option so we can camp in more places.

I noticed these panels are now much cheaper than in the past so I thought I would mention it. That was my main point in the original post but I guess it it came across differently. I agree they certainly would not suit everyone for sure.

Originally Posted by Ryland

... and people want to put them on the roof of their car?

Your absolutely right . More suited to an rv in certain cases than a car. I will change first post to reflect that.

[skyking]

your thinking is fine
Sorry if I seemed like a downer, I had just looked at those panels, hashed it out round and circles, and came to that conclusion. All on a trailer I have not even started :P
You, OTOH, are well on the way. That was also great info on the failure rates. This has been such a great resource, just the other day I was warned away from a hybrid that had bad transmission history.
Cheers.

[Ryland]

Most PV panels don't fail, there are panels that have been in the field for over 60 years now that are still working perfectly, but they are all mono crystal panels, the poly crystal panels are also good, it's the thin film panels that break down in sunlight... the fact that they are flexible is also a draw back because electrical connections don't like to flex, so light hail can dent the thin film and break an electrical connection.
Crystalline panels tend to be laminated behind safety glass (like a car windshield) so they hold up much better.

If you are going to install them on an RV or other type of trailer then having a grid intertie option might be a good idea, that way when the trailer is parked at home you can plug it in to the house and back feed to the house, or if you have a garage or shed that you want electricity to use it to power that building, they are going to be producing electricity whenever it's sunny out so why not put them to use? also a rack that can have the angle adjusted will help a great deal in boosting your output while parked.

[turbothrush]

Originally Posted by skyking

your thinking is fine
Sorry if I seemed like a downer, I had just looked at those panels, hashed it out round and circles, and came to that conclusion. All on a trailer I have not even started :P
You, OTOH, are well on the way. That was also great info on the failure rates. This has been such a great resource, just the other day I was warned away from a hybrid that had bad transmission history.
Cheers.

Oh , not a downer at all ! and I agree about this being a great resource. I would be cool to see your trailer design sometime . The ideas are half the fun IMO.