Where to mount a solar pannel

[EAB]

I have a Tahoe 5th wheel toy hauler that is pre wired for a solar pannel. Since I already have a solar pannel I figure I might as well put it on. The wires are supposed to come up under the A/C cover and I thought I heard that you could mount a solar pannel (about 14x16) on the A/C cover. Does this sound correct? Has anyone done it this way?

[EAB]

I have a Tahoe 5th wheel toy hauler that is pre wired for a solar pannel. Since I already have a solar pannel I figure I might as well put it on. The wires are supposed to come up under the A/C cover and I thought I heard that you could mount a solar pannel (about 14x16) on the A/C cover. Does this sound correct? Has anyone done it this way?

[Hoverbug]

EAB welcome to the forum. A lot of good yacking around here. As for the solar panel, I have not done it my self but have seen it mounted on the ac cowling. Seems logical as other that an antenna it is the highest spot on the roof. The panels are not heavy so that should'nt be a problem. If you feel it necessary you could reinforce the inside of the cowling. Keep us posted on the progress. Happy Trails!! Dave

[FatDog]

EAB
the AC cowling seems just a bit rickety to me, but like Hoverbug says you could maybe reinforce it.
But i would have thought that mounting the panel to the roof just outside of the AC panel's shadow would be the sure fire way to not lose the panel. If you have ever sat in the 5'r as someone drove it down the road, there is a lot of bouncing going on back there. I'd personally mount that panel to a rack bolted to the roof's structure. That way you can add on panels upon need as well.

You in AZ, and us here in SoCal, don't really need to be worried about mounting the solar panel at moveable angles to allow you to adjust them to follow the sun. We don't really have that problem here like northern states do. A flat mounted rack would keep us sun states in the 'charge zone' plenty of hours.

[Hoverbug]

Of course it all depends on the size of the panel. I guess I was thinking of one I had on a sailboat. It was maybe 10"X20" and weighed less than a pound. I only used it as a continous trickel on two 12volts.

[FatDog]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Of course it all depends on the size of the panel. I guess I was thinking of one I had on a sailboat. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

actually thats a good point ... i've been considering putting a battery-tender sized solar onto my rig for a while now. With a regulator to make sure the batts don't fry, which is probably the same setup you had on your sailboat.
And then the the ol'
"whatever is good small, must be fantastic when big"
syndrome hits me and I start thinking about the ramifications of just simply adding some more panels to the system.
Merely just keeping the batteries charged then becomes boondocking for a weekend with no generator which becomes ... almost having to register as a power provider with the SEC.

slow down there mike .... going back to just having a small, simple single panel to keep the house batteries charged, is really the goal i also could use.