I am running a similar setup with 100w of solar and got the smaller 55Ah Battle Born Battery. The battery is extremely impressive and is ten fold better than anything I have used to date. I have found the 55ah and 100w of solar to be sufficient and have had the fridge run for weeks on end without coming close to shutting down. The battery seems to take a charge faster than anything I’ve used, could be the LIFEPO4 chemistry.
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Are you using that in all temperature ranges or is that just in moderate temps?
So I get a chance to setup up my solar again on a new unit. I can’t seem to find the build on here where the user used a solar cable gland. I have one now on my camper, but it came with screws. This new one doesn’t. What would be the best way to fasten the gland to the roof without screws?
First thought is to use 1/4” 3M VHB, as I’m using 1” 3M VHB to mount the renogy 100W panel. Both of which I thought I would RTV around the edges for additional seal and hold. Thoughts?
Cheers,
WG
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I cut 4 strips of vhb tape and made a perfect square perimeter of the foot of my gland. Then I covered over the edges once it was mounted with externabond tape. So far so good. Survived the bomb cyclone here on the west coast earlier this week without a drop inside
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Trying to figure this out myself.
So far, I did as suggested. Used 1/4” VHB tape and RTV for the gland and 1” VHB with RTV around the seams for the panel. It seems to be holding up, but I definitely have my concerns.
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Mine has held up so far pretty good. I went thru all my cables and put the sheaths on them that protect them from uv.
I’m finding my fridge ( iceco jl42 ) with half capacity inside of primarily soda water cans will stay at 34*F constant and draw from my goal zero 1000x overnight ( roughly 12 hours without sunlight) 25% -30% of my battery. My truck is in the sun in the am around 8, and the battery will be at full capacity by lunchtime(noon or so) . The 2 x 100w renogy flexible panels are a nice addition to my camper, stoked to have it. When i dont need the fridge, i just unplug the fridge from the goal zero and that’s it, super simple.
Temps in socal have been in the low 90s mid day, when parked into the sun i dont really feel like its any hotter inside than without the panels on the roof.it actually gives me a nicer shaded area since light doesn’t penetrate the panels, so depending non how far back you mount them, i have mine on the back 2/3s. I get darker shade in the most used area of the camper.
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I plan on running my panels to a bluetti ac200max with a built in MPPT. This should be sufficient for what I need. I’m also running dual batteries so eventually I may have a switch upstream from the bluetti to switch between the 2. By the way. Renogy and BougeRv are both having Black Friday pricing today still.
You bet, it’s totally separate from the truck. Not too interested in going down the rabbit hole of dual batteries, isolators, etc.
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Has anyone found a roof gasket that is just barely big enough for cables? I have limited garage clearance and had hoped to do a gasket but the renology one is ~1.5 inch tall which isn’t going to work. I only need the truck in the garage when I work on it (only level surface) and already have to air down or have it loaded to fit 
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I went a different route on my setup. Used flanged SAE plugs to pass the wires through. Panels are held on with VHB tape. 1" at the front, 1/2" the rest of the perimeter and a couple strips in the middle.
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Yes! This is exactly what I need to do. Thanks for sharing. Where did you source the port through the panel? I also hadn’t realized cables could run through that rear support tube, ha, so thanks for that
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Using those tubes cleaned up my setup tremendously. You can stuff quite a bit through them too. I use the driver rear tube as well, for a small lighting harness.
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For those of you running the flexible panels glued to the roof, any failures or issues over time with those? I’ve read online that those panels don’t tend to have that long of a life span, especially in places that get a lot of sun and high temps (like Utah, where I live).
I considered this, but ultimately went with a rv waterproof gland and drilled a hole in my roof top on front passenger side. Ran all my lines along the side to there, then in the gland, and the bend happens inside on the right of the pad, then down the slot between the first and second section. It’s just big enough to fit a 8 gauge covered in a sheath, as well as my gecko LED 20 ga wire going down.
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I’m running 2 x 100w renogy flexible solar panels on my camper here in so cal. So far, its been great. I get when uncovered sunlight, 180w to my goal zero. When its full is the issue probably, because the panel wont convert the heat to electricity, since it has nowhere to go, so the panel will just cook essentially.
I had a 100w flex panel conformed to the roof on my old Tacoma and I live in Vegas (~115° summers with a black roof). It was still pumping out full power when I sold it last year. I would imagine it’s still kicking. This pic is from the install, Jan 28, 2017.
Also, flex panels lose life the more you play with them. The cells crack if you bend too far/often. If they are mounted, it’s no different than a rigid panel.
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That is really good to hear, thank you!
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