Solar on a TinTop

[BBChunks]

Hi Guys,

Hoping you can help.

Has anyone come across a solar kit for a tin top. I'm aware Dodgey offers for AFT but I can't find anything suitable for mine.

Would really like to get something installed before the summer but am really struggling.

Any ideas or recommendations?

Thanks in advance

[Bob]

I would guess the same kit should fit?

Try a PM.

[BBChunks]

Hi Bob

Apparently not, I believe due to mounting and routing of cable??

[Bob]

Hmm, that's a nuisance.

Let's hope there is a way.

[dobby]

I'm going to be fitting a kit on my AFT soon and did a bit of research via google etc and this sort of solution by the vw mob maybe useful for tin top http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=290194


It's going to involve sikaflex and a hole etc though, I think dodgey does route cables through the tailgate if a the hole in the aft is a step too far

[Dodgey]

Hi guys. I actually do a Semi flex panel on my website (http://www.solarcampersolutions.co.uk). With a tin top it would just bond onto it with the supplied Sika.

To get the wire inside the van you are going to have to drill a hole in the roof. It's not as bad as it sounds. Remove the rear plastic ceiling trim then drill through the roof forwards a bit, so you can get access to the hole. Seal it up with a good grommet and sealant and it'll be neat and waterproof. I used to install mobile phone car kits back in the days when they were too big to lug around and we drilled through roofs all the time to install aerials.

Alternatively, you could shut the cable in the boot, but if you are going to Sika it to the roof, you are just as well to drill the hole. You can hide the hole under the panel if you like, but I'd have it going straight down from the panel into the roof, with a rubber grommet, and then sealed with silicone or more sikaflex.

I'm doing an install of one on a VW T5 in the next week (when it gets warm enough for the Sika to set!) and I'll post some photos - it's a pop top but the install is exactly the same.

[BBChunks]

Hi Dodgey,

Do you think the Bongo kit would work if I made up a frame/brackets that would attach to the guttering?

[Dodgey]

Well, the brackets are made to bolt into the roof bar mount holes on the AFT - the holes are exactly 1100mm apart - centre to centre. I'm not sure what the guttering looks like on a tin top.

[BBChunks]

Unless anyone can give detail, I'll take a photo and post it up

[helen&tony]

Hi
I have one of Dodgey's kits...still to fit, as I was a tad busy last year...I should think it's easy to slightly stiffen the frame, and mount it on some very neat cross-bars front and back, mounted to the gutter, and hingeable front and rear so that you can prop it up like having an AFT...thus getting a better angle for the sun. Quite easy to do. You can possibly use a fly-lead with a plug on it coming out of the panel at the rear of the roof right alongside the hinge area for the rear door, so any grommeted leads are well hidden, then you could remove the panel when not camping!
Cheers
Helen

[mikexgough]

A quick add to this.....for those who are either have a Solar Panel or dithering as to whether to go for it or not.....

Yesterday evening.... I checked my Bongo system... Compressor fridge running all day and Late winter Sunshine for the best part of the afternoon left me with a full Leisure battery and a full (via CBE solar split kit ) Starter battery.... and it's only March...
Works for me.... and Mines a 100w Kit from Dodgey... with the addition of a CBE split charger job in the engine bay, which when the LB is full...it pushes the otherwise wasted charge into the SB....