Flexible or non flexible - panel advise needed... 3 questions

[Nigel Crompton]

Correct they seem to have a short lifespan of around 3-4 years people I have spoken to have had 2 sets of panels each only lasting 4years at a time better off with rigid panels.

Renogy flexible panels have a 5 year warranty. I'm 73 now, they'll outlast me ...

 

[Nigel Crompton]

But will you be able to manage in one to two years when they pack up. May be a bit more agro now now to fit ridged panels but they are fit and forget.

They will be bolted to fabricated mounting points bonded to the roof, and 5 year warranty with Ronogy

 

[Nigel Crompton]

No problem Nigel....but please be aware that here on fun there there are members who are more knowledgeable than most...this does not include me I must add...I have recently asked technical advice about my pending lithium swap....and without such information, I could have made mistakes that were both critical and costly...

This will be my sixth solar install (boats, campers) when these Varta Silver batteries pack up it'll be another 2 lead-acid for me.....

 

[EdRedBird]

Two more questions
1: weight differnce is it substantial? Two on Tour ?
2: regardlees wether I go for fixed or the polycarb method....
I'd like to connect this to my roofbars rather than drilling holes.... just in case I ever decide to make them tilting rotate them , change size
and what is the risk of turning my transit into a deltaplane or more likely tear the panels of the roof if they have too much distance from the roof (though they would be sitting behind the beacon lights

 

[Two on Tour]

1: weight differnce is it substantial? @Two on Tour ?

I have 2 x 80watt semi-flexible, and I save a total of about 9kg over 2 x rigid version of the same wattage

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[Folkranger]

Looks like the jury's out and rigid's winning. For my two penn'orth, I've had both without problem. The current flexible one fitted by previous boat-building owner has been on 5+ years and is a joy to clean. Bearing in mind, cleaning the roof is the worst job out so this is a big plus for me.

If you go for rigid I would suggest they are hinged at one end to allow them to swivel up for cleaning.

 

[TheBig1]

When mounting with a substantial air gap, it is always wise to add a leading edge deflector. The same as fiamma make the for skylights. A simple angled aluminium plate works well too. This removes the upward lift that will happen when driving at speed. the same air current then passes across the top surface

 

[Louis P]

I've an elddis factory fitted solar panel which is flexible bonded to the pop top of the PVC. there is no deflector in front of it and is it likely to overheat? What would I best do with it? add the postcarb panel underneath it and a deflector and put it back or just wait till it fails and ask for a new one under warranty?

 

[Otter Spotter]

We have a couple of rigid panels on our van and when I wanted to fit some more panels on the rear of our van roof I needed to consider the extra weight on our rear axle over-hang loading our rear axle, so I went for semi-flexibles to save weight.
Being aware of failures of semi-flexibles due to overheating when bonded to a roof with no air gap for cooling and along with the expansion and contracting of the panels causing conductor joints to fail, I went for mounting my semi-flexible on lightweight multiwall polycarbonate roofing sheet which gives stiffness to the panel and also allows airflow to dissipate heat away from the panels.
They have been up there for 3 years or so now and neither has failed, so either I'm just lucky or my mounting method is keeping them alive.
If weight was not a consideration, then I would have gone for rigid panels rather than the semi-flexibles.

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Just a thought, I love the idea of the poly board and can you confirm that the sandwich is facing open end front to rear of van to enable max airflow ?

 

[Two on Tour]

Just a thought, I love the idea of the poly board and can you confirm that the sandwich is facing open end front to rear of van to enable max airflow ?

Yup, you got it one.

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