Solar Panel, Foldable, Flexible

[snail powered]

While looking at Engle refrigerators I clicked on a link they had for solar panels.

http://www.powerfilmsolar.com/products/portable-remote

These are something very different than what people are mounting on the roofs. Not an inexpensive item but they do have some real potential for expanding the amount flat space on their rigs that they can mount panels on for the collecting of solar energy.

My thought would be for putting them on top of the awnings which will keep them out of harms way and bit harder for thieves to get at them. The 60 watt panel only weighs 5lbs. When you are ready to hit the road take the panel off the awning, fold it up and store it inside your rig. The slope of the awning could be used to advantage to increase solar gain.

There is are 10 thru 120 watt versions and units can be combined. they also have roll up panels but only in smaller sizes. It is the folding ones that go up to 120 watts

Designed for using in overcast weather conditions which is important to me.

Military tested for durability.

[zero]

While looking at Engle refrigerators I clicked on a link they had for solar panels.

http://www.powerfilmsolar.com/products/portable-remote

These are something very different than what people are mounting on the roofs. Not an inexpensive item but they do have some real potential for expanding the amount flat space on their rigs that they can mount panels on for the collecting of solar energy.

My thought would be for putting them on top of the awnings which will keep them out of harms way and bit harder for thieves to get at them. The 60 watt panel only weighs 5lbs. When you are ready to hit the road take the panel off the awning, fold it up and store it inside your rig. The slope of the awning could be used to advantage to increase solar gain.

There is are 10 thru 120 watt versions and units can be combined. they also have roll up panels but only in smaller sizes. It is the folding ones that go up to 120 watts

Designed for using in overcast weather conditions which is important to me.

Military tested for durability.

The idea of being light and portable is nice. Other features no-so-good in my opinion. Being tested for "military durability" means very little. I can name thousands of military tested items that are bad design and short-lived. The miitary Chevy Blazers and CUCVs with GM 6.2 diesels are a prime example.

Also the "designed for overcast weather" is also no great claim. All that means is that the panels have several blocking-diodes installed. Just about all modern solar panels have blocking diodes. It's pretty much an industry standard now.

I got looking around a little.

From what I saw - one of those Power Film "roll up" panels rated 120 watts costs $1700 !!! It is also quite large when extended. Much bigger then a conventional 120 watt panel.

$1700 for a Power-Film roll-up 120 watt panel that measures 55" X 87" and 6 lbs.

$190 for a standerd 120 watt panel with tempered glass - 26" X 48" and 25 lbs.

$138 for a 128 watt "Unisolar" roll-up that 15.5" X 216" and 17 lbs.

[snail powered]

The idea of being light and portable is nice. Other features no-so-good in my opinion. Being tested for "military durability" means very little. I can name thousands of military tested items that are bad design and short-lived. The miitary Chevy Blazers and CUCVs with GM 6.2 diesels are a prime example.

Also the "designed for overcast weather" is also no great claim. All that means is that the panels have several blocking-diodes installed. Just about all modern solar panels have blocking diodes. It's pretty much an industry standard now.

I got looking around a little.

From what I saw - one of those Power Film "roll up" panels rated 120 watts costs $1700 !!! It is also quite large when extended. Much bigger then a conventional 120 watt panel.

$1700 for a Power-Film roll-up 120 watt panel that measures 55" X 87" and 6 lbs.

$190 for a standerd 120 watt panel with tempered glass - 26" X 48" and 25 lbs.

$138 for a 128 watt "Unisolar" roll-up that 15.5" X 216" and 17 lbs.

My point was being able to add additional solar that would not fit on the roof of the rig. Solar that easy to store when underway and easy to set up when needed. None of the products you listed are capable of that. All of the people who have been following this forum are aware of the options you mentioned and their cost.

Like I said, the foldable panels are not inexpensive.....

But with many things like this when new they cost 5 times more than they will a few years later on. The 60 watt foldable is selling for a little over $700.00. I won't be buying it anytime soon They are selling a 15 watt flexible panel at the marine store for $100 dollars, now that is even a worse deal but they sell lots of them.

what is interesting is that they do exist. Of course there is also the technology around for printing your own solar photo cells and there is paint for making photo cells but I have yet to see either of those things go commercial even though they were developed a number of years ago in various labs. But there is a recent development in the printable/paintable cells that give much higher output. But there are toxicity issues in the manufacturing so that will have to be overcome. Personally I can't see increasing one kind of pollution just to eliminate another. http://www.gizmag.com/printable-liquid-solar-cells/22314/ . But one of these days in the far future you will be able to paint a motorhome and have the whole thing act as a solar producing unit.

[zero]

Calling those panels "not inexpensive" is a bit of an understatement. $14 per watt - versus many other types priced at $1.50 per watt and sometimes less then 40 cents per watt.

Like I said - the idea of portability is great. The price pretty much negates any long-term cost-effective gains as I see it. And there is nothing noteworthy about claims many sellers make about "shade tolerance." They ALL have shade tolerance if equipped with blocking diodes and most of any type come with them now adays. 10-20 years ago, things were different and many did NOT have the diodes.

If someone really desires portability - I suspect you could take a 128 watt Unisolar and cut it in half or maybe even into three pieces for easily stored roll-up panels for $130 total. Less then 1/10th the price of Power Film roll-up. If cut in half you'd have a 64 watt panel that would roll up to a small 16" wide roll. When extended it would be 16" X 9 feet long. Cost for one would be around $70.

And yes - most people that have followed this particular thread are already aware of what has already been mentioned. But I suppose that ARE a few new people coming here once in awhile. Last I checked, digital "ink" is free and no harm done with a little redundancy.

Also note - I have not checked the wire schematics of the 128 watt roll-up Unisolars. All solar panels are just a bunch of solar cells wired together in series and parallel circuits with blocking diodes placed here and there. If you cut one in half, you need to know how to rewire the cut ends to produce the needed current and voltage. I suspect it is not all that difficult to do although it's something I've explored myself.

[snail powered]

Calling those panels "not inexpensive" is a bit of an understatement. $14 per watt - versus many other types priced at $1.50 per watt and sometimes less then 40 cents per watt.

Like I said - the idea of portability is great. The price pretty much negates any long-term cost-effective gains as I see it. And there is nothing noteworthy about claims many sellers make about "shade tolerance." They ALL have shade tolerance if equipped with blocking diodes and most of any type come with them now adays. 10-20 years ago, things were different and many did NOT have the diodes.

If someone really desires portability - I suspect you could take a 128 watt Unisolar and cut it in half or maybe even into three pieces for easily stored roll-up panels for $130 total. Less then 1/10th the price of Power Film roll-up. If cut in half you'd have a 64 watt panel that would roll up to a small 16" wide roll. When extended it would be 16" X 9 feet long. Cost for one would be around $70.

And yes - most people that have followed this particular thread are already aware of what has already been mentioned. But I suppose that ARE a few new people coming here once in awhile. Last I checked, digital "ink" is free and no harm done with a little redundancy.

Also note - I have not checked the wire schematics of the 128 watt roll-up Unisolars. All solar panels are just a bunch of solar cells wired together in series and parallel circuits with blocking diodes placed here and there. If you cut one in half, you need to know how to rewire the cut ends to produce the needed current and voltage. I suspect it is not all that difficult to do although it's something I've explored myself.

Not a bad idea to cut one in half, but fitting in something in a storage compartment that can't be tightly rolled is going to be a challenge. But I could cut one into thirds with wires between the sections and store that flat under the rear dinette seat boards in a shallow tray compartment. I had already planned on raising up the height of the dinette seats by a few inches to gain more storage space over the water tank. Every inch counts!

Thanks for the idea of sectioning the flexible panels! A bit of velcro on the back of them and on the awning and we might be onto a easy way of adding more affordable solar besides what can fit up on the roof.