Solar Power!

I finally mounted the solar panel on the roof of the trailer.

The solar panel on the roof of my trailer. 

You can see my shortcut to getting the cables inside the trailer is simply going through the vent.

Doing this cleanly is going to be a pain and has been much of what has been slowing me down trying to find a clean alternative. There are lots of parts and solutions. Finding a clean way to make it secure and waterproof and easy to fabricate.

Simple angle iron mounting

For the panel mounting I simply used some angle iron into the side of the panel's box. With sheet metal screws down into the roof rafters. The mounting along the roof is all lined with silicon to avoid water intrusion. I'll cover the screw tops like the other screws in the roof. 

And the results after a few days of testing are that I can get about 44 Ah into the batteries from the solar panel. It maxes out at about 124-127W peak per day in the current configuration. There are trees to the east and it's mid winter so the sun is pretty low and my mounting is very close to flat. 

Even in the shade it can produce about 60W.