Mobile Home at the RPC workshop/office

1) Amorphous Cannon/UniSolar type: These solar panels will continue to produce significant power if a portion of the panel is shaded by tree cover. They do perform a bit better than the other type in extremely hot conditions. They are not covered in glass and are considered to be very robust. However, they are very large in size. A 64W amorphous panel is larger than a 120W Kyocera polycrystalline panel! Another disadvantage is that their 'dull' surface tends to collect dust and they are somewhat difficult to clean. They have a 20 year warranty.

2) Kyocera panels: This type of polycrystalline panel comes with a 25 year warranty and they take up half the area of an equivalent wattage UniSolar panel. However, all poly and monocrystalline panels suffer a very substantial loss of power if a portion of the panel is shaded by some tree leaves.

This partial shading 'problem' is not the same as cloudy weather or filtered light (in which case there is not much difference in performance between the two types).

The other decision to make is whether or not to permanently mount the solar panel on the roof. The advantage is that it is 'out of the way', very resistant to theft and can charge your battery while you are on the road.

Fitting Solar Panels to a Mobile Home

The big disadvantage is that it means you need to park your vehicle in full sun (which you might prefer not to do when touring the Outback in mid summer).

The second option which can suit if you only have one or two solar panels is to have them on a 10 - 20 metre lead. You can then park under a shady tree and mount your panels in the sun. This means that you need to have somewhere to stash your solar panel while you are on the road. Perhaps the big disadvantage is that the solar panel can be prone to theft if you want to leave your vehicle unattended. This may or may not be an issue depending on your lifestyle and the type of place where you camp.