Solar roof fan/vent

[JerryP]

Anybody aware of a reasonably priced solar powered roof fan, that could be used for the bathroom roof vent.
Seems like a natural fit for that 4" fan in a 12 inch hole in ceiling


If there is nothing out there reasonably priced, I wonder if a "bank'' of computer fans would work with a solar panel.

[HamRad Mobile]

Good morning, JerryP; 

     While I have not seen on the market such a fan system that will fit into the common 14" by 14" ceiling vent cutout, and comes with its own solar panel for that operation.  But the idea certainly is feasible. 

     And, yes, you can use four "muffin" fans or thick large 140mm or 180mm computer fans on a plastic sheet inside the frame of the vent to move the air, and probably about a 15 Watt solar panel to run the fans, and provide a switch to turn the fan system "OFF" BEFORE you FLUSH. 

     For this application, selecting muffin fans with about a 200 ma to 250 ma current rating at 12 VDC will give you a reasonably balanced power source to load system so that you should not need a voltage regulator when using a 15 Watt 12 VDC silicon solar panel that will have just about a 1 Ampere DC current output.   You can use other size solar panels and different fans or number of fans that will come close to matching the power ratings on both the solar panel and the fans. 

     Consider where and how you are going to mount that solar panel.  Personally, I do not like to drill any holes in the roof of my motor home.  One easy possibility is to use the mounting bolts for a MaxxAir vent cover shroud if that is fitted over the bathroom vent.  I made bent sheet metal covers that go over my roof vent covers from side to side for mounting some smaller antennas.   Something like that could be scaled up to fit the solar panel on top above the roof vent. 

     A good question.  For me, there are solar panels on the roof of the motor home already, so I can just turn on the regular bathroom fan and let the solar panel system keep the fans running during the day, and the batteries at night, with the batteries being recharged again the next day. 

          Enjoy; 

          Ralph 
          Latte Land, Washington 



     

[cook elandan]

What I have done is go to Walmart, camping section, they have a battery operated 10" fan, mount it and then hook up to yours solar panel.

[JerryP]

What I have done is go to Walmart, camping section, they have a battery operated 10" fan, mount it and then hook up to yours solar panel.

Smart, Thanks!!!