I have been asked to attach a small solar charger panel for trickle charger (maybe 6 inch square) thingy to a garage roof which has concrete type (not slate) roof tiles. I wont see the job until Saturday so cant be 100% sure about anything. Whats the best way to attach it, I first thought silicone but I doubt that would adhere to the tiles, Then I am thinking just slip the bracket (presumably it has one) under a tile.
Any other thoughts? Could I drill into the tiles and use a small screw?
A high tack PU glue will do it, but for the size of toy PV panel you are talking about it probably isn't even worth the effort of trying.
A 3'x1' PV panel at least stands a chance of being worthwhile.
Stainless steel " meccano" strip bent into a asymmetric U shape. feed the ends above and below a particular tile and attach the ends to the battens from the inside making small slots in the felt if fitted.
I got my strips from Navitron and used them to fit a solar thermal array last year
They look very flimsy, has the panel been through a storm yet?
Hum, I bought one with idea of it keeping the battery topped up on the standby genset. Was connected for maybe 6 months, when I came to use or maybe routine test the genset the battry was flat. After use I left the panel disconected, similar time interval, battery fine...
OK to be fair the panel is in a NW facing window but it's little light flashes... I guess the leakage through it when dark is not being made up by the small amount of lecky generated during the day.
Silicone will stick it or one of the building adhesives, but will leave silicone behind when it's removed. Stainless strip or even a decently galvanized bit if steel withe the panal attached and pushed up under a tile and hooked onto the batten will hold something that small.
Crap consumer ones from the likes of Maplin need a Shotky diode in series to prevent the battery charge leaking away through the low grade solar panel silicon during the night. A 1N581x ought to do it.
Yup and there really is no excuse for it the diode is a penny item.
Something that small will also be entirely useless.
Yes i was just wondering about such a puny panel. That sounds like the sort of cheap rubbish they used to sell with those plant turners for window sills. Brian
Does the building not have a mains supply?
Bill
From what I can gather the garage is 50 yards from the house and no elec supply.
The cost of the tube of glue will probably be greater than the total lifetime output of electricity of such a small panel. Quite a lot of the ones on garden lamps go bad after less than two years.
And without a series diode the low grade silicon of a cheap PV will probably ruin the battery it is supposed to be trickle charging.
It doesn't take much to keep a lead acid battery topped up. An average of just a mA or two will do it. As I found out, the problem with a PV panel is the leakage when dark, that can be greater than the gain when lit.
In that case carrying a 17Ah lead acid battery down there every now and then is probably a much more cost effective solution to whatever problem you are supposed to be trying to solve.
I bought one from Maplin some years ago. It generated enough output to light up the LED on it, but no more. It was sold as a 12V car battery charger. It might have been useful to counteract self-discharge of a stored battery, but no more.
Probably the same as the one I have, 5" wide 14" ish long?
In full sun it probably will charge a bit but really all they are is self discharge eliminators. The LED on mine flashes, when it's on there is very little on the output, the mark/space is around 1:1 so
50% of the very little produced is wasted... I must rescue it from the garage and "get at it". B-)
I'd not disturb the roof in any way. If it leaks at a later date for whatever reason you'll get the blame. Just glue it in place.
Thanks for the replies all. Yes it probably is a crappy charger but he already has bought it but cant work out how to fix it. I will get out there and probably find he has a window in the garage and he can just sit it on the window sill :-) He has a 1st class honours degree in mathematical physics but can hardly use a flippin screwdriver.
And doesn't know much about solar panels. The quoted output of this sort is usually a peak one. The average often close to zero. Maybe even a negative in practice.
I used 9 of them - and had no problems. we live opposite a open space at the top of a hill and the wind rattles the concrete tiles regularly in the winter and the panel (30 tubes) about 2.4 sq m has stayed put.
Maybe you are thinking of the PV panel type mountings which are considerably thicker and made from aluminium?
No, I'm thinking of the ~6 mm thick 30mm x 70mm aluminium sections holding my thermal panel.
It is adjustable for angle but I thought it was OTT.
Those sound much more like the sections on my PV array. The Thermal panel is much lighter. The heat exchanger is a single 35mm copper pipe with a litre or so of gycol mix plus 30 vacuum tubes. I think the total weight is around 100kg.
If yours is a flat plate panel and has the ability to be angled off the roof, it might need the strength in the wind?
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