Any owners/members living near Taunton?

greenfintry · Apr 20, 2015

I posted earlier with an offer of a bottle of whisky.... seems like lots of folk have looked, but no one in Somerset..... Happy to negotiate an alternative to a single malt ! This is the post I put down earlier today

I am looking for a member who lives in the Somerset area for a favour. I am looking to fit a solar PV unit to the top of my facelift T5 as per Briwy's recent postings. I am not so handy, but have found an installer in Taunton who does these regularly...... but I am in Stirling! He is happy to fabricate a removable panel frame so that I can still take my Cali along for the roof rot repair that is pending.... but could be a couple of years away....

So, he needs a chance to measure up a T5 with the roof tracks to get all the dimensions right etc. He would cut a deal with anyone who wants to install this set up, and this would then allow him to send the kit up to me to install! So, as an added incentive, even if you do not want to install the PV kit, anyone willing to take their Cali along to Taunton I am happy to hand over a bottle of our local single malt (either Glengoyne or Deanston for those in the know....). I am going to Cali's on the farm, so could hand over there etc

Please private message me so I can give you the chap's details etc.

Cheers Martin!

snowy55 · Apr 20, 2015

Don't get me wrong, but not wanting to state the obvious but Taunton is less then 30 miles away from CotF.

greenfintry · Apr 20, 2015

Yes But best laid plans..... The installer is away on holiday those 2 weeks, and also I would like to have solar power ahead of the prior weekend as at F1 Grand Prix but with no hook up....... So had thought that would be a good test, and any problems I could drop in to Taunton.. but not working out like that... Anyone near by that could help.. would be gratefully appreciated!

snowy55 · Apr 20, 2015

That's bad luck, I would go for you but I am based near Leicester, good luck with the search and let us know how you get on and show us the finished product. I fancy installing a solar panel but I don't like any of the wire routing solutions I have seen so far.
We are also going to CotF so we may well meet up.

rich-s · Apr 20, 2015

Don't pick up my Cali till Thursday, and I'm based in Weymouth. Pass by Taunton once every few weeks. If nobody else comes forward in the next week or so, let me know and I'll oblige. :thumb

greenfintry · Apr 20, 2015

Thanks for the offer, I will keep an eye on the thread

Cheers

sidepod · Apr 21, 2015

Well I can tick one box. I go through or to Taunton three or four times a week.
I don't have a T5 though so a slight flaw to the plan.

Happy to help in any way if I can.

S.

Sparky1804 · Apr 25, 2015

Martin,

I live in Bristol and could help.

Not sure when the chap is open? But could call in.

PM me with details.

Rgds. Mark

Laurence102 · Apr 26, 2015

Martin,

Add me to the list. I live in Nailsea about 40mins North of Taunton.

Laurence

greenfintry · Apr 26, 2015

Thanks for the offer Lawrence, I will PM you if I need to take you up on the offer. It is worth adding that if you are thinking of fitting a solar PV system the chap is offering a deal for the guinea pig/prototype owner. This does not sound at all risky as the systems are his bread and butter, all that is being trialled is the use of the roof tracks and fitting for the T5 as he wants to develop a kit for our market..

Roger Donoghue · May 31, 2015

Hi Guys, thanks to the help from Michael Jones for allowing me to measure up his T5, and Martin for orgainsing everything, I now have T5 California removable flat panel kits in production. Martin is going to install his in about a week and a half and give me feedback. After that, they will appear on my website:

http://www.solarcampersolutions.co.uk

The panel is 100 Watts and has low profile aluminium angle borders - lower than the height of the connector block on top of the solar panel! - the max height the panel adds is 18mm, but will be less in practice as that's the height of the panel's cable box/junction box and that resides to one side of the roof which is lower than the centre. Probably 10mm in the real world.

The aluminium borders are backed with foam to stop any roof scratching.

The cables are joined with waterproof plugs so you can just shut the solar cable in the rear door rubber (perfectly fine) and then plug it into your solar charger/regulator inside. If you unplug it (ne reason to) when driving you just leave teh cable shut in the boot.

There is nothing to stop you drilling and passing the cable through the roof but most people are holding out for warrantly repairs on their roofs so I doubt you'd want to.

The panel is not cut or drilled in any way. In the future, if you decided to install the panel on another roof, you could remove the aluminium borders with a long thin blade, leaving the panels undamaged.

markh · Jun 5, 2015

Just wondered if this system is likely to work with roof bars? I guess you could put them both forward of the solar panel but this would make them rather close together.

Can one set of roof bar feet be positioned between the two aluminium cross-struts that support the panel? It will depend I assume on whether the panel length is not so long that it covers the roof tracks.

Thanks
Mark

Roger Donoghue · Jun 5, 2015

Hi - your second idea is the best - have a roof bar, then the panel, then another bar afterwards.

The panel doesn't take up the entire length. The panel takes up 70 cm. The rails are 170 cm long. So less than half is used for the solar panel.

markh · Jun 5, 2015

Hi Roger

Thanks for your reply. My second idea was actually to position the rear bar actually in between the two struts supporting the panel. I am assuming that there are two aluminium sections that go across the roof and that the solar panel is mounted to these. I was thinking of putting the panel as far back as possible and then attaching the feet of the rear roof rack bar in between the aluminium sections. This won't work if the panel extends past the roof-track width or you are using some other mounting system that doesn't involve two separate cross-struts.

Your idea of putting the rear bars behind the panel would obviously work but it would mean having the panel quite far forward. I was trying to avoid whatever was on the rack (e.g. surfboard etc.) from obscuring the panel too much.

Roger Donoghue · Jun 5, 2015

Hi - correct again. You could put a bar mount between the panel struts - the panel doesn't reach the channel.

markh · Jun 5, 2015

Great - I look forward seeing it for real on your website.

Any ideas of cost yet?

Roger Donoghue · Jun 12, 2015

Here you go!

http://solarcampersolutions.co.uk/index.php/vw-t5-california-drill-free-kit

I've got one panel in stock and delivery will be around 3 days. Once I get an idea of demand, turnaround will be next day. After the 1st kit is gone there will be around a 2 week lead time for the next kits.