How to Install Solar Panels on Your Roof Top Tent 

Cheer mate, I appreciate the kind words 😎👍

I understand completely mate, that’s why I gave everyone and easy way out😂. Thanks for your kind words Frank, I very much appreciate it 😎👍

It is indeed much more of a mess than the 3M tape, that’s for sure but the panels were never going to blow off🤣. Thanks for watching mate, I sincerely appreciate it 😎👍

Good stuff mate, enjoy the install and the learning journey. Of course, unsubscribe whenever it suits you mate, it’s all good. Cheers👍😎

Thanks Greg, that is very kind of you to say. Have a great weekend mate, cheers😎👍

That’s awesome feedback mate, thank you so much for taking the time to share. I guess the upside of no sponsorship is no BS content. The down side is that I will be eating 2 minute noodles for the rest of my days. Good thing I like noodles. Have a great weekend mate, cheers😎👍

Thanks Steve, you are very kind to reach out and share your thoughts. I appreciate that very much. Have an amazing weekend mate, cheers😎👍

Cheers mate😎👍

Thanks Peter, that is very kind of you to take the time out of your day to share. Have a great weekend mate, and keep the shiny side up😎👍

Good stuff Phil, I am glad you found some value in the production. Have a great weekend mate, cheers😎👍

My pleasure Barry, I’m glad that it was useful mate. Keep the shiny side up Barry👍😎

Thanks for the kind words Rod, I sincerely appreciate it. I love that jacket of mine, bought it in Alice Springs years ago and been back since and could not find it again. Glad you are on the journey with me, I trust you will enjoy your stay. Cheers😎👍

My pleasure mate, thanks for commenting 😎👍

Well said Craig, I too remember those 25 watt panels that did not fold down, were impossible to pack, and weighed a bloody tonne🤣. As you say however, whatever it takes to keep the beer cold. Thanks for watching and commenting mate, I sincerely appreciate it. Have a fantastic weekend 😎👍

Cool, thanks for sharing 👍😎

Good stuff Brian, thanks for the feedback 😎👍

Thanks George, you are very kind in taking the time out of your day to share. Have a great weekend mate😎👍

My pleasure Doug, thanks for your kind words. Have an amazing weekend mate, cheers😎👍

That’s great real world feedback mate, and you are dead right…opening and closing amplifies the duty cycle significantly. If I am camping somewhere where I am going to stay for a long time (a week at a mates property for example), I’ll do exactly what you did, bring an esky to put the drinks in. Thanks for sharing mate, I sincerely appreciate it 😎👍

@@JafffaAdventures mate if you bring beer when you are camping, you can camp at our property!

Lol, excellent 😂😎

Thanks Joe, it’s very kind of you to say. Cheers 😎👍

Nothing wrong with that mate, nothing at all. Thanks for watching and commenting Steve, I sincerely appreciate it. Have a great weekend mate 😎👍

Thanks for the kind words Ray, I sincerely appreciate it. I thought the same thing when I saw the Akubra. Not sure how I feel about the comparison but I do love the hat😂. Have a great weekend mate😎👍

@@JafffaAdventures I use an Alinta as well along with a million others Looks great and a good way to test your panels Cheers Ray

Akubra

Go the Aussie products!!❤️

Good to see there is another spreadsheet geek out there, thanks for protecting my ego😉. I’m no solar expert but I’ll give it my best shot. As you noted, I was forced to wire in parallel due to the voltage limit of my inverter. However, let’s assume I did not have that limitation. In this case I still would have wired in parallel and panel failure that I experienced is the exact reason why. When wiring in series, if one panel dies you have an open circuit and the entire array stops working. When I was a kid I can remember sitting on the floor trying to get the old strings of Christmas lights working. When one light burnt out, the whole string died and you had to find that one burned out bulb to get the string to light up again. Likewise, if I had my array wired in series my entire array would have stopped working when that one panel died and my only option to get going again would have been to rewire the array in parallel. I’m not sure what the pros associated with wiring in series would be, but that one con I mentioned is big enough for me to wire in parallel every time. Great question, thanks mate😎👍

@@JafffaAdventures I too was thinking about the same question. As I'm looking to add another panel to my existing fixed solar on my roof rack, and this helped me decided which method is best for me to join them. Thanks Terry. At the moment, I think the wire I am using on my existing solar is way overkill (ie. too large), what size wire are you using for your setup (from your solar to your relay/battery)?

My pleasure mate, I am glad this old man still has a bit of useful information in there somewhere! Of course the further away your array is from your battery, the larger the gauge wire needed to prevent voltage drop. As you may know I have my tent wired to my battery under the bonnet so the total length is probably 4-5 meters as the route is not direct. I'm using twin core AWG 7 which is 10mm sq and rated to 80amps. If I can physically fit the wire where I want to route it I usually err on the larger side. I don't think you can have a wire that's too big (within reason of course) and if you already have the wire in situ I would just use that. I trust this helps mate, have a great weekend (and long weekend if your are in SE Qld!!).

Thanks mate, I am glad you found it useful. I don’t have a recommendation for an installation expert, I do everything myself and don’t use anyone. Cheers😎👍

That is really good to know Errol, thanks for sharing the information. I still have the panel on the scrap heap so I’ll dig it out and give that a crack. How would I identify the diode in question mate? Thanks Errol, really appreciate you watching mate. Cheers😎👍

Solar panels produce DC voltage. Thanks for watching 😎👍

It’s an app from Victron and it reads a signal from the BVM712. If you check out their website you should find all the info you need. Thanks for watching mate 👍😎

Excellent question Matthew. The Bundutop comes prewired for solar with the connected Andersen plugs on the top and bottom clamshell. In their infinite wisdom they chose to run these at the back of the tent in my situation. Now I could have rotated the tent 180 degrees then they would be at the front left, but so would the up/down buttons and that is just too inconvenient for me. To combat any voltage drop I did run big-ass wires from the panels to the BCDC. I have about 0.3v drop over that run so not too bad. Thanks for asking mate, good to share the knowledge around. Cheers😎👍

Cool😎