The solar project is complete!
Bill and Kathy bring the pieces of the adjusting support bar for the solar tilt mechanism. It is the finishing touch on the solar panel which is mounted on the roof rack of the Perfect Tow Vehicle.
Bill puts together a found tent support and a found awning support (How’s that for recycling!), and with some sawing and drilling and bolting and metal thingamabobs, he creates a telescoping safety “arm.” It serves as my third arm to hold up the panel while I insert pins in the adjuster bars. This is so hard to explain! Look at the photos. Click on any photo and it will open on another page. Click on the photo again to zoom in.
The white bar will be attached between opposite sides of the panel frame. The telescoping arm will swing down so the tip rests on the PTV's roof. It hasn't been painted yet.
Here it is mounted inside the frame and painted white.
When the tip is pulled back slightly through a hole in a bracket at the far side of the frame, the arm can swing freely.
Now it is in the support position. The tip was inserted into clear tubing in order to protect the PTV's paint.
The arm returned to its original position
Oh what a pretty sight! Thank you Mick, Bill and Kathy.
A few additional photos can be seen by clicking on “Solar Power” in the header.
Saying goodbye to Bill and Kathy, watching them drive away from my campsite, chokes me up a bit. Suddenly it hits me that I won’t see my new friends, including Chuck and Geri, for several months, not until next summer, and only with God willing. When I think of all they have done for me, I am overcome with gratitude. And tucked away somewhere in Tennessee is another good friend, Mick, who, incredibly, designed from afar and created the parts that make this van-roof-solar-mount possible.
A big hug and thank you for each of you!
The PTV, carrying a new solar panel on its roof and towing a cute, little Casita, is going to look mighty fine going down the highway on its way to Arizona tomorrow!
rvsue
rvsue and her canine crew 