savannals

Last Thursday, the fellow at the vinyl wraps shop let me know that he could get the van wrapped early if we could drop it off on Friday. We could! Which means the wrapping started a week and a half earlier than we expected! It also meant that we didn't have the van last weekend.

We did have nice weather, some solar panels, and some bits to make a mounting frame for them. So that's what we did!

First step was to get the solar panels laid out so we could measure the distance between the mounting holes on the bottom. I grabbed some red wire thingydoodles from the shed because they were about the right size and we had a lot of them. We used those as spacers between the panels to give them a little bit of wiggle room.

On either end, you can see the cross bars of the roof rack where this array will eventually be installed.

With the measurements written down and double checked, then squinted at and checked a third time, we marked the holes on each of four aluminum U-channels which will be bolted to the solar panels crosswise. On each end, the channels will then be fastened to the roof rack cross bars. (Not pictured below: the fourth channel.)

Next up: drilling all the holes. Success!

And the holes even line up with the mounting holes on the solar panels!

The last step was putting on a couple coats of glossy black spray paint. This will help the aluminum channels blend in with the solar panels and the roof rack. They look so shiny!

(There's never not dog toys in our lives.)

Next post will show off the beautiful, lovely and amazing van wrap! So pretty. So shiny. Oooooooo.