Just bought a Reimo Poptop - Solar panel?!

[CALLAKN]

Hello!

I've just pulled trigger on a all singing all dancing Reimo pop top, and thought whilst its in, ill get them to fit a solar panel and run the flex to the CTEK. (I know when I did the 12v system, its all set up ready for a solar, just never ran the cable to the roof at the time!!)

Any of you lovely folk have a pleasant experience with any particular solar panel on your Reimo roofs??!

Plan to buy it myself, and just ask them to fit it.

All the best

Callum

 

[Salty Spuds]

Hello!

I've just pulled trigger on a all singing all dancing Reimo pop top, and thought whilst its in, ill get them to fit a solar panel and run the flex to the CTEK. (I know when I did the 12v system, its all set up ready for a solar, just never ran the cable to the roof at the time!!)

Any of you lovely folk have a pleasant experience with any particular solar panel on your Reimo roofs??!

Plan to buy it myself, and just ask them to fit it.

All the best

Callum

I'm on my 3rd solar panel on my Reimo Easyfit. The first one was the factory fitted option by Reimo, this was an un-branded chinese POS that lasted 18 months. The second one was a Carbest supplied by Reimo as a warranty replacement for the original one. That lasted a couple of years, both of these were flexible & had been fitted either in the factory, or in accordance with manufacturer's spec. When they fitted the second one, I got them to stick a piece of vinyl wrap to the roof & stick the panel to the wrap, this was to make removal of the panel easier in the future should it fail, it did! Anyway, I'm now on my 3rd panel & have given up on flexible panels & fitted a rigid one from PV Logic. Happy so far & I think it looks smart even though I say so myself. The black strips down the side of the panel are the remains of the vinyl wrap that covered where the original factory fitted panel sat.

Mono High Density Solar Panels - PV Logic | Solar Technology

Our quality Mono High Density solar panels in our PV Logic range deliver premium performance for off-grid living; perfect for boats, caravans & motorhomes.

www.solartechnology.co.uk

 

[Dellmassive]

loving the Vinyl

 

[CALLAKN]

thank you for the detailed reply.

 

[Peatey]

Here's my 250w panel fitted to a Reimo roof, panels from photonic Universe originally had a cheap 100w panel and it failed so went singing and dancing and everything's been good for the last 2 years

 

[t0mb0]

Here's my 250w panel fitted to a Reimo roof, panels from photonic Universe originally had a cheap 100w panel and it failed so went singing and dancing and everything's been good for the last 2 years


View attachment 152512

I’ve got the rear junction box version of that Photonics Universe 250w panel on our Reimo Easyfit for getting on five years now and have had no issues. Having said that, failures are possible with all panels so if I was doing it again I would use the vinyl wrap trick as getting ours off to replace would be a bit of a nightmare.

 

[CALLAKN]

Brilliant stuff, @Dellmassive has pointed me in the direction of photonic universe I believe so that's a bonus. my CTEK only takes 150W panel due to its voltage max being 23v.

Unless I buy a MTTP

 

[Salty Spuds]

Brilliant stuff, @Dellmassive has pointed me in the direction of photonic universe I believe so that's a bonus. my CTEK only takes 150W panel due to its voltage max being 23v.

Unless I buy a MTTP

Personally I’d put a Victron MPPT controller on there. The Ctek is pretty basic & limited. I’d go for a decent size panel & compatible controller.

 

[AJCConversions]

We have fitted many solars on reimo roofs.
Here's a pic of a cut out for a 250w panel with underside junction box from P U.
Takes a bit of skill to router out but not touch the headlining material!
We also always leave a few mm air gap to allow heat escape.
Plenty more pictures of them fitted on our Facebook page.

 

[JOG]

Here's my 250w panel fitted to a Reimo roof, panels from photonic Universe originally had a cheap 100w panel and it failed so went singing and dancing and everything's been good for the last 2 years


View attachment 152512

That is neat

 

[JOG]

We have fitted many solars on reimo roofs.
Here's a pic of a cut out for a 250w panel with underside junction box from P U.
Takes a bit of skill to router out but not touch the headlining material!
We also always leave a few mm air gap to allow heat escape.
Plenty more pictures of them fitted on our Facebook page.

View attachment 152578

Surgical precision! The fitter obviously does bomb disposal or heart surgery at the weekend!!!

 

[t0mb0]

We have fitted many solars on reimo roofs.
Here's a pic of a cut out for a 250w panel with underside junction box from P U.
Takes a bit of skill to router out but not touch the headlining material!
We also always leave a few mm air gap to allow heat escape.
Plenty more pictures of them fitted on our Facebook page.

View attachment 152578

That’s basically how our 250w panel went in. Some of the newer ones have a small circular back fitting so you can just use a hole saw rather than have to cut a work of art. Not sure if these go up to 250w though.

 

[CALLAKN]

yeah I don't fancy having a hole that big in the pop top! I was thinking more 20mm circular lol

 

[AJCConversions]

That’s basically how our 250w panel went in. Some of the newer ones have a small circular back fitting so you can just use a hole saw rather than have to cut a work of art. Not sure if these go up to 250w though.

Yes the bigger panels are still the same unfortunately. We did the new 350w the other month and it was more of a square type box but still was a pain as I needed to make a new jig to cut out.
Did you manage to use a holesaw for the smaller panel without catching headlining material? We still router these out and just put a hole in material same size as the wire.

 

[t0mb0]

Yes the bigger panels are still the same unfortunately. We did the new 350w the other month and it was more of a square type box but still was a pain as I needed to make a new jig to cut out.
Did you manage to use a holesaw for the smaller panel without catching headlining material? We still router these out and just put a hole in material same size as the wire.

I’ve got a similar cutout as your picture - same 250w panel. I don’t have one of the newer circular type, I just noticed them on the photonics universe site.

 

[moomin-j]

I can definitely recommend AJC Conversions - a few photos of my 250w panel, fitted on a Reimo pop top roof 3 years ago & still working fine...






Try them - you won't be disappointed - AJC Conversions LTD

 

[Bigsidavies]

Brilliant stuff, @Dellmassive has pointed me in the direction of photonic universe I believe so that's a bonus. my CTEK only takes 150W panel due to its voltage max being 23v.

Unless I buy a MTTP

I’ve been looking recently as I have the CTEK and some panels have a lower max voltage even on their higher wattage panels.
I think Renogy was one.

175 Watt Monocrystalline Solar Panel

The 175 Watt 12 Volt Monocrystalline Solar Panels are the key components to any solar power system. Each panel is quality tested to ensure safety and longevity.

uk.renogy.com

That shows open circuit voltage of 21.6v.

 

[CALLAKN]

I’ve been looking recently as I have the CTEK and some panels have a lower max voltage even on their higher wattage panels.
I think Renogy was one.

175 Watt Monocrystalline Solar Panel

The 175 Watt 12 Volt Monocrystalline Solar Panels are the key components to any solar power system. Each panel is quality tested to ensure safety and longevity.

uk.renogy.com

That shows open circuit voltage of 21.6v.

Im after stealth flat panels, so semi flex panels that you can't see from ground level! But thank you though

 

[Bigsidavies]

Im after stealth flat panels, so semi flex panels that you can't see from ground level! But thank you though

Aah my mistake, I had it in my head that you were the person who had 2 flexi failures and wanted a solid.

 

[Davidh]

I know it's not on a pop top but I went with a 160w photonic universe panel for my van and its worked great so far. Really stealthy and can't be seen from the ground. I fitted a ctek too at the start of my conversion but ended up adding a victron mppt as the ctek wouldn't handle the 160w panel. They're not that expensive and I like the Bluetooth app for seeing how much the panel is generating.