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Old 01-10-2022, 06:32 AM   #1
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Thoughts on hinged solar panel mounts

Good morning everyone. My wife and I are headed to Quartzsite solar in a couple of weeks for solar on our roof. When scheduling our appointment the tech gave us an option of tilting the panels using hinged mounts.
What is everyone's thoughts on this and does anyone here do this. We are planning to put as many 190 watt panels as possible on the roof except leaving access for the a/c units. I am thinking it would be a real pain to get up there and actually tilt the panels. I am not sure of the percentage gain but I am sure it would make quite a difference in the winter. Thoughts??
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Old 01-10-2022, 07:13 AM   #2
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You would have to always park in the proper orientation to the sun to make it work while tilting. Otherwise tilting could reduce the sun's angle and reduce solar output.

Doesn't make sense to me. Even if you only use the tilting feature when you are parked correctly to the sun, that is likely to happen only 25% of the time.

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Old 01-10-2022, 09:19 AM   #3
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I am hoping some members that have installed panels with hinged bases will tell us how they work in real life....
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Old 01-10-2022, 09:32 AM   #4
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Solar panels used to be much less efficient and much more expensive. Getting every last bit of power they could deliver was vital. Tilting to face the sun does that. Some installations even tried tracking the sun's movement.

Today with lower cost, higher efficiency, and better electronic it is easier to fix a large array in place and install more.

For long periods stationary, adjusting angle to face average seasonal sun angle may make sense. For moving every few days it makes less sense.

It also depends on the "tilt" system design. How easy is it to adjust?

However, tilting to face the sun will improve output. It makes operating the system more complicated. It makes more sense when deploying a single panel on the ground and stowing for travel.
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Old 01-10-2022, 09:45 AM   #5
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Real hinged panel owner here.

I decided to go with hinged panel mounts because once installed they are always there to use or not. I wanted the option for winter boondocking. We've been full timing for a year and a half and I've only tilted them up a few times. I noticed it made a measurable difference when the sun is at a low angle. It was last winter and if my memory serves me correctly, I gained about 30%.

It's important to note that I have 600 watts of panels which have worked well for me, but if I had more, I might not have been as likely to tilt the panels, especially if I was getting enough charge with them flat.

Yes, it can be a little bit of a hassle going up on the roof and tilting them, but the times I've done it, we've been boondocking for a week and it isn't a whole lot more work than setting up the BBQ grill, chairs and table. Obviously just getting up on the roof and working on anything carries risk. Also having them tilted up means you have to be aware of wind speeds. I think one of those times it was getting pretty windy so I lowered them part way down.

I did the install myself so it didn't add much to the installation costs and it gave me the option to tilt if I want to, so I'm glad I did. Of course, even in my situation what I'd lose by not having the ability to tilt could easily, and more safely, be made up with a little generator time.

Hope this helps.
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Old 01-10-2022, 10:45 AM   #6
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I have a 28' C with six 100watt panels. All are flat-mounted.

I bought kits for tilting the panels. I went up top and looked at all of the work that those would entail - installing them, setting them up with proper tilt once I parked, always parking facing the right way - and I returned them.

I'm in Arizona right now. A few days away from the winter solstice - a bright sunny day - my 600 watts of flat-mount panels were putting out 440 watts. On a perfectly clear mid-summer day in Minnesota with just-cleaned panels, I get maybe 550. If I wanted that 550 year-round, it would be much simpler and easier for me to mount one more panel than it would be to tilt all of my panels.
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Old 01-10-2022, 11:13 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by astrnmrtom View Post
Real hinged panel owner here.



I decided to go with hinged panel mounts because once installed they are always there to use or not. I wanted the option for winter boondocking. We've been full timing for a year and a half and I've only tilted them up a few times. I noticed it made a measurable difference when the sun is at a low angle. It was last winter and if my memory serves me correctly, I gained about 30%.

It's important to note that I have 600 watts of panels which have worked well for me, but if I had more, I might not have been as likely to tilt the panels, especially if I was getting enough charge with them flat.

Yes, it can be a little bit of a hassle going up on the roof and tilting them, but the times I've done it, we've been boondocking for a week and it isn't a whole lot more work than setting up the BBQ grill, chairs and table. Obviously just getting up on the roof and working on anything carries risk. Also having them tilted up means you have to be aware of wind speeds. I think one of those times it was getting pretty windy so I lowered them part way down.

I did the install myself so it didn't add much to the installation costs and it gave me the option to tilt if I want to, so I'm glad I did. Of course, even in my situation what I'd lose by not having the ability to tilt could easily, and more safely, be made up with a little generator time.

Hope this helps.
Thank you for your insight, would you go through the effort of tilting the panels if you did another system?
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Old 01-10-2022, 11:16 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobby F View Post
I have a 28' C with six 100watt panels. All are flat-mounted.

I bought kits for tilting the panels. I went up top and looked at all of the work that those would entail - installing them, setting them up with proper tilt once I parked, always parking facing the right way - and I returned them.

I'm in Arizona right now. A few days away from the winter solstice - a bright sunny day - my 600 watts of flat-mount panels were putting out 440 watts. On a perfectly clear mid-summer day in Minnesota with just-cleaned panels, I get maybe 550. If I wanted that 550 year-round, it would be much simpler and easier for me to mount one more panel than it would be to tilt all of my panels.
That's great information, thank you sir...From what I hear so far I think I will keep with the flat install plan..
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Old 01-13-2022, 09:49 AM   #9
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Another option without going on roof would be to have one moveable panel for ground use with simple tilt frame. Move it around from shade or whatever. I built one with 25 feet of cable and it works great.
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Old 01-13-2022, 04:57 PM   #10
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I have 4x200W panels I mounted myself. I used unistrut and the tilting mounts. We haven't done any long stays, so the panels stay flat all the time. If we were going to boondock for a week, I might tilt them. Or just run the genset. I am going to install two more panels and I will use the tilting mounts on them as well. Better to have it and not need it than the other way around.
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Old 01-13-2022, 06:22 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by C Beedle View Post
Thank you for your insight, would you go through the effort of tilting the panels if you did another system?
Not so sure. Although to be perfectly honest, I might, just because when doing a project and doing the labor myself, I frequently look at at is as a "why not" decision, especially if the cost difference is fairly small. I wish I could give a more definite answer. I do feel I got the value out of my brackets because I have the option to tilt them.

I didn't install my system all at once, so I started off with less watts, and a tilt bracket was cheaper than another panel.

At first, my system just needed to extend my batteries for a few days while stargazing at a yearly conference. I camped by myself, slept most of the day and was up at night outside with my scope, which made for very minimal power needs. The tilt bracket helped a little for my once a year boondocking. When it was time to expand my system I mounted the new panels on tilt brackets to match.

It doesn't take me long at all to tilt up my four panels. Maybe 15 minutes. However, like I said in my previous post, I've only tilted them a few times in the last year and a half. I could have just as easily, fired up the generator for a short run to make up for the lost output. If you asked my wife if they were worth it, she'd say NO, cause we hardly ever use them. Me? it only added $160 to the total cost of my whole system, so I'm glad I did it because once the check is written, it's done, and always available whether I use them once or ten times a year.
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Old 01-22-2022, 10:44 PM   #12
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I had planned to use tilt mounts, but decided against it.

1) Add 30% more panel capacity
2) No need to climb on roof to setup or to store for travel. I was concerned if there was bad weather, wind, rain, etc when getting ready to leave of the added danger being on the roof.
3) No chance of a panel flopping around in transit.
4) Had to build custom mounts for just the flat mount, did not want to add complexity of a tilt system.
5) I used large commercial sized panels (about 49 x 78"), lots of surface area.
6) I have two panels length wise with the roof and one cross wise, more complicated tilt system needed.

In the end after four years of use, the flat system provides 100% of all 12 volt power we use. We seldom stay any place for more than a few days and I do not want the added setup/takedown effort every few days to get my maximum output. Cost of the extra panel was minor. I would probably never use a tilt system the future.
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Old 02-15-2022, 06:29 AM   #13
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Well we got back from out trip a few days ago, got 1500 watts of solar flat mounted on the roof. We were in Quartzsite and the most I saw our of the panels was 930 watts. Which turned out to be about 55 amps at 12 volts.

Which turned out to be just fine, we ended up running the gen about an hour each morning to warm up the floors and keep the wife happy. It was pretty cold in Quartzsite!

By most afternoons the batteries were back to 95-100 percent, so far am very happy.:thumb

Thanks for everyones input!!
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Old 02-15-2022, 10:17 AM   #14
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Well we got back from out trip a few days ago, got 1500 watts of solar flat mounted on the roof. We were in Quartzsite and the most I saw our of the panels was 930 watts. Which turned out to be about 55 amps at 12 volts.

Which turned out to be just fine, we ended up running the gen about an hour each morning to warm up the floors and keep the wife happy. It was pretty cold in Quartzsite!

By most afternoons the batteries were back to 95-100 percent, so far am very happy.:thumb

Thanks for everyones input!!

Just curious and wanting to keep up to date on solar costs, would you mind sharing with us the details of your system and what the overall cost was with installation?


And what (approximately) would have been the added cost to allow tilting capability?


I agree with the above comments....the task/effort of tilting seems like a pain and therefore won't likely happen very often (and you would need to be parked the correct direction which won't always be possible). If you are not limited by roof space, add an extra panel or two and skip the hassle of tilting.



Solar is awesome on RVs (...and a bit addictive).


Thanks!
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