Solar panel mounting - tv bracket.

[towpathrider]

I'm planning on mounting a couple of solar panels on roof boxes, and while im familiar with the common 45 degree tilting mounts, i've been thinking about the possibility of mounting panels using widely available tv wall mounts. Does anyone have any experience with these?

 

the main (possible) benefits I can see are that

1. These mounts are cheaply and widely available

2. They enable panning and tiltling

3. panels can be easily raised and tilted, and then lowered back down for cruising.

4. Many mounts include cable routing.

 

the main issues i can see are

1. These are designed to be used horizontally not vertically, and so might not hold a panel up without some kind of prop to prevent it collapsing

2. During high winds additional attachment may be required

3. Additional bracketing on the back of the panel may be required to fit the two together

4. Indoor wall mounts probably aren't very weather proof.

 

just wanted to see what people think before i consider giving it a go.

 

these are what i'm talking about: http://www.amazon.co.uk/VonHaus-Designer-Habitat-Cantilever-Bracket/dp/B00DQT8XBA/ref=pd_sim_sbs_ce_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=0JC8063ZNQ04HPD23TKS

 

there are loads of different designs available.

[Neil Coker]

Can't really speak from any experience on narrowboats but based on yachts, which I do have experience in, the practicalities and benefits involved in having a configurable solar panel rarely outweigh the "faff about" factor and provide yet another thing to go wrong or be maintained. I've generally kept to the KISS principle on boats as the less work to do the better (being a lazy beggar!) A point to consider is that television mounts are specifically made for use in conditioned environments protected from the elements. I would think there would be potential challenges in keeping the mechanisms operating smoothly when exposed to the elements.

[magnetman]

I haven't used a static tv mount but I did make a tracker with a motorised satellite dish mount and it worked a treat

 

Gives you a polar aligned tracker ie it swings in an arc which fairly well approximates the movement of the sun, and only requires adjustment (manual or powered) in one plane rather than continuously needing to adjust the tilt and pan angles

 

All a bit aggrevational if you are moving under low bridges a lot as the mounts tend to take up a bit of space and make it difficult to lie the panels flat.

[Ssscrudddy]

Actually mounting it to the roof could be difficult, stresses & strains. Land based pole mounted PVs want the pole in a huge concrete block. Once the wind is blowing the forces can be rather large.

Eg I used magnetic feet for my solar panels. Each magnet can hold 36kg of weight vertically on its own, so 4 of these = 144kg. Dropping 1 of the magnets on the roof it was almost impossible to get it off again. I had to put a bolt in the magnet to give me some leverage to pry it off the roof. But now the panels are on them, they can be easily pulled off, basically due the the lever effect.

My LCD TV is on 1 of these mounts, & it swings about, there is nothing to actually stop it from moving.

Whilst looking for mounting solutions I came across these at M&R Controls look for Tilt & Turn



This also looked quite promising, but doesnt turn



When my own solar panels turned up, after seeing the size of them, I immediately gave up on the idea of rotating them as well, & just opted for tilt only.





& tilted (ignore the wood, it was just to hold the panel up whilst I attached a strut between the foot & the panel). I needed access to the pumpout hole

[OldGoat]

 

 

 

 

 

That's a very nice pumpout head - the like of which I've not seen before (not the leesan type), any idea who supplies them?

[Ssscrudddy]

No idea, but it's the pumpout machine in an EA marina, on the Nene at Northampton

[Noah T]

Hi Ssscrudddy, I like those solar panel mounts that you have put together.

 

Where did you get the magnetic feet & other bits?

[magnetman]

edit to add this was a reply to Ssscrudddy not Noah T - cross posted

 

-

 

I anchored the verical pole for my homemade tracker using a 1.25 bsp flange bolted to the roof with a 1 ft long piece of bsp water pipe screwed into the flange. the scaffold pole vertical slotted over the bsp pipe so it could be lifted off easily. This was then fixed in position with machine screws.

 

I do have 5mm cabin plating.

 

It only had one 75w panel on it. I think it would be ok with 2 but the wind effect could get extremely dodgy with more than about one square metre raised a metre off the deck at an angle.

Actually mounting it to the roof could be difficult, stresses & strains. Land based pole mounted PVs want the pole in a huge concrete block. Once the wind is blowing the forces can be rather large.

Edited November 23, 2014 by magnetman

[Ssscrudddy]

 

Hi Ssscrudddy, I like those solar panel mounts that you have put together.

 

Where did you get the magnetic feet & other bits?

 

The brackets on the panels came from Bimble Solar (as did the panels)

http://www.bimblesolar.com/extras/mounting/aluminium-mounts

 

The L shaped legs are corner braces from Screwfix, 76.5mm in length, which was just enough to clear my centrally mounted mushroom vents

http://www.screwfix.com/p/corner-braces-zinc-plated-76-5-x-76-5-x-16-5mm-pack-of-10/12488

 

The magnetic feet are from First4magnets, 36kg pull. I reckon if you want them to stay in place in windy conditions whilst tilted they probably should be stronger.

first4magnets.com Neodymium http://www.first4magnets.com/pot-clamping-magnets-c43/32mm-dia-x-18mm-tall-x-m6-thread-n42-neodymium-pot-magnet-36-4kg-pull-p3743

 

 

 

[Noah T]

Thanks Ssscrudddy, that's really helpful. The idea of using magnets for sticking the panels to the roof is truly inspired .

 

Yes, I am a bit worried about keeping the panels on the roof when it gets windy, so I've ordered some magnets with 65kg pull- hopefully they'll do the job!

[matty40s]

The brackets on the panels came from Bimble Solar (as did the panels)

http://www.bimblesolar.com/extras/mounting/aluminium-mounts

 

The L shaped legs are corner braces from Screwfix, 76.5mm in length, which was just enough to clear my centrally mounted mushroom vents

http://www.screwfix.com/p/corner-braces-zinc-plated-76-5-x-76-5-x-16-5mm-pack-of-10/12488

 

The magnetic feet are from First4magnets, 36kg pull. I reckon if you want them to stay in place in windy conditions whilst tilted they probably should be stronger.

first4magnets.com Neodymium http://www.first4magnets.com/pot-clamping-magnets-c43/32mm-dia-x-18mm-tall-x-m6-thread-n42-neodymium-pot-magnet-36-4kg-pull-p3743

 

 

 

 

 

Never mind the technical stuff , are they working??

[Ssscrudddy]

I was getting about 0.5A Saturday & Sunday, stupid grey rainy sky.

Yesterday I decided to tilt them all seeing as it was really sunny, so I had to start sawing some angle iron to make the struts, managed to hacksaw my finger in the same spot as I tried to slice it off with a razor blade earlier when I was shaving & dropped then caught it! I managed to bend the L shaped legs on 1 of the panels because I hadnt loosened the bolts when I tried tilting it. By the time I'd finished the sun was behind a tree shading all the panels before it went down. I did get around 7 amps out of them at some point.

Funnily enough I did my usual thing of forgetting to put my electric on, I had turned it off yesterday around noon to see how it went. Normally (pre-solar) I reckon I'm good for about 12 hours without worrying about what electric I use, after that I need to put some electric in. I can go for longer if I'm careful. 24 hours max. Well I only noticed this morning that I hadnt turned my electric back on yesterday, & I've been using everything including PC from inverter, & at 9.30 (which is when I noticed) I was still on 12.3V, so I guess yes they're working.
Thanks for wiring them up, nice job.

Edited November 25, 2014 by Ssscrudddy

[towpathrider]

Some interesting ideas here - found these guys who make different mounts:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/amberelect/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25

 

though not sure they will fit larger 250w panels. Ideally i'd like to find a two way tilting mount that can be quickly laid flat. Maybe i'm asking too much!