Building a new solar panel setup for the road

Yesterday’s project was building a new solar panel set up for the jeep. Normally I have two 100W panels on the roof which gives us just enough power to run all computers, video equipment, and the satellite dish while we’re on the road, (see third photo) but because we’re bringing boats up top this time, I had to change things up.

Various companies do make a folding solar suitcase that isn’t any more expensive than what I just built but my problem with it is that it’s heavy, and it folds with the glass to the outside which makes it prone to getting broken even with a case. There are also very light weight folding options but they sit very low to the ground and it would be difficult to keep them configured in high winds. Also, you don’t always have the option to run them in series which is a must for me to reduce voltage drop when using extension cords.

So I decided to get two of the newer flexible Renogy panels, and mount them on some quarter inch marine ply I had sitting around. Various spacers are glued on for the hinges and fastening, and the whole thing is set up so it can fold onto itself without the electrical connections, damaging the opposite panel. With the plywood on the outside and the panels in flexible, this should be tough enough for months of desert camping. I’ll be using a small MC4 extension to connect the panels in series on the backside.

A couple star knobs, threaded into T nuts lets me mount simple legs for optimum sun angle, and the eye screws create tie down and stake down points which is 100% necessary in places where the wind can reach 50 miles an hour.

The extra wide spacer blocks on the outside allow this to bridge across my roof underneath the racks for transport, and also they’re super convenient for catching the edge of a folding step stool or even the roof rack if we don’t have boats up top.

I’m hoping for a sunny day before we leave so I can verify that these have the same output as my rigid panels.