PV Panels On Vehicle Roof

 I am quite interested in the idea of mounting
photovoltaic panels on the roof of a van (e.g. standard
Volkswagon Vanagon, Toyota HiAce, etc.)

I am guessing that the best choice would be flexible
panels designed for marine/boating installations.  And
that the panel would be best mounted directly on the
roof surface (as opposed to on raised brackets.)

Does anybody have any info on estimating how much
wattage of panels could fit onto a van roof?  And
generally how to use this small space most efficiently?

Any recommendations for manufacturers/models?

BTW, the specific power requirements are vague at the
moment.  Hopefully panel and battery capacity for, say,
four hours of laptop computer use per day, with one
autonomous (zero-sunshine) day reserve.

Any references, Web sites, personal experiences?

Thanks...

--
Guide To DIY Living
http://www.self-reliance.co.nz
(Work in progress)

 

Flush-fitting, low-profile.


Depends on where you are, and what the weather is like.

Daily insolation onto a horizontal panel is about 30MJ per day
around here this time of year when it's not cloudy. Expect to get
about 10% of that from the PV cells.

If you budget for about a third of that, you'll not be disappointed
too often. i.e. 1 MJ per square metre of horizontal PV array.


The best reference i have is a book on my shelf. Not much use to
you... try this one:
    http://www.solarserver.de/wissen/photovoltaik-e.html

Google for "daily insolation"


Oh... you're in NZ.... better budget on 0.5MJ/day per square metre.
:-)
--
/"\ Bernd Felsche - Innovative Reckoning, Perth, Western Australia
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As for use, an article in Home Power magazine some years back covered a
person who put a solar panel on the roof of their car and disconnected
the alternator, which resulted in considerable fuel economy improvement.
Did end up reconnecting the alternator in the depths of winter, however,
IIRC.

--
Cats, Coffee, Chocolate...vices to live by

 

Cool. I wonder how many watts the panel made.


Maybe he needed a reflective wall above the north edge.

Nick

 

nicksanspam@ece.villanova.edu wrote:


If you can fit a square yard (apx equivalent square meter) of panels on
the car's roof, figure on around 100 watts.