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Sport Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator

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emgeesea

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Keen Eye! Yes there is no longer a white logo on the panels. Instead our logo is molded into the junction box at the top of the panel. :rock:

We don't offer a wiring extension kit, but this is something that could be done yourself if you are comfortable with splicing wires.
I'm assuming that the connectors circled in yellow in the diagram below are connected together. If so, would you simply cut the wires where indicated to splice in the needed extra length? (I'm also assuming everything else shown stays in the engine compartment.)

What gauge are those wires? And stranded or solid?

Thanks,

Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator wirin
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ScubaSteve

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I'm assuming that the connectors circled in yellow in the diagram below are connected together. If so, would you simply cut the wires where indicated to splice in the needed extra length? (I'm also assuming everything else shown stays in the engine compartment.)

What gauge are those wires? And stranded or solid?

Thanks,

Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator wirin
Hey, Cacadia please correct me if I'm wrong, but the connectors are just standard solar connectors. You can find extension cables for them super easily and maintain whatever mounting flexibility you want without a permanent splice.

WindyNation 8 AWG 8 Gauge 1 Pair 15 Feet Black + 15 Feet Red Solar Panel Extension Cable Wire Solar Connectors (Variety of Lengths Available)
 

emgeesea

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Cascadia4x4

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TheHops

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45 and I am IN. Probably in at 30.
If the price is reduced accordingly, I likely would be too. I could get a 100W solar suitcase and a solid MPPT controller for right around the cost of the standard hood version, but without the same convenience of a "hard mounted" solution.

Parked at camp, I'm really not running a whole lot aside from my fridge and a phone, inReach, and/or drone battery or two on the charger, so 30W - 45W would likely be just find for my purposes. Maybe the occasional LED flood light. Having it hood mounted would save me the trouble and extra time of having to set up/pack away each time at camp.
 
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Cascadia4x4

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If the price is reduced accordingly, I likely would be too. I could get a 100W solar suitcase and a solid MPPT controller for right around the cost of the standard hood version, but without the same convenience of a "hard mounted" solution.

Parked at camp, I'm really not running a whole lot aside from my fridge and a phone, inReach, and/or drone battery or two on the charger, so 30W - 45W would likely be just find for my purposes. Maybe the occasional LED flood light. Having it hood mounted would save me the trouble and extra time of having to set up/pack away each time at camp.
You bet! The 30 watt panel will be significantly cheaper than the standard panels. We hope to have more news on this in the next couple months.
 
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Cascadia4x4

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How much does this thing weigh?
The panels are very light they are only about 5 lbs. They are just 1/4" thick! They are built to be extremely rugged to withstand all the conditions encountered while off-roading!
 

ScubaSteve

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Uninstalled old panel, cleaned and prepped hood, and reinstalled my new panel this past weekend. Thought I would share some photos this time around in case they could be helpful for anyone! Nice job @Cascadia4x4 on the new changes. Love the more subtle look of the logo-less panel!



Also, this time around I purposely skewed the panel slightly more rearward to allow additional clearance for the windshield washer nozzles to do their thing. Last time I centered the panel on the windshield bumpers and found that some of the windshield washer fluid would hit the panel and pool in the cutout.

Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_164236
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_164440
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_164445
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_165120
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_170917
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_174504
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_174528
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180056
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180119
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180540
 

JimLee

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I received mine last week. Unfortunately we had 40-60 MPH winds all weekend and I cannot fit my jeep all the way in my garage and close door. Will have to try this weekend.
 

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Cascadia4x4

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Uninstalled old panel, cleaned and prepped hood, and reinstalled my new panel this past weekend. Thought I would share some photos this time around in case they could be helpful for anyone! Nice job @Cascadia4x4 on the new changes. Love the more subtle look of the logo-less panel!



Also, this time around I purposely skewed the panel slightly more rearward to allow additional clearance for the windshield washer nozzles to do their thing. Last time I centered the panel on the windshield bumpers and found that some of the windshield washer fluid would hit the panel and pool in the cutout.

Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180540
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180540
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180540
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180540
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180540
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180540
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180540
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180540
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180540
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180540
That's great! Looks awesome Steve. Thanks for the write up :like:
 
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Uninstalled old panel, cleaned and prepped hood, and reinstalled my new panel this past weekend. Thought I would share some photos this time around in case they could be helpful for anyone! Nice job @Cascadia4x4 on the new changes. Love the more subtle look of the logo-less panel!



Also, this time around I purposely skewed the panel slightly more rearward to allow additional clearance for the windshield washer nozzles to do their thing. Last time I centered the panel on the windshield bumpers and found that some of the windshield washer fluid would hit the panel and pool in the cutout.

Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180540
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180540
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180540
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180540
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180540
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180540
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180540
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180540
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180540
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200607_180540
Thanks for the continued updates, I received mine yesterday and will be doing the install today or tomorrow. Also thank you for the advice regarding offsetting the cutouts more towards the windshield to give clearance for the windshield sprayers. That would have drove me bananas otherwise lol so will definitely make a point to do this.

Not sure how you received your replacement and installed it before I was able to receive my first order when we live in the same state, Cascadia are really taking care of you. I am glad they did though because otherwise I would have not benefited from your experience with the product.
 

ScubaSteve

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Thanks for the continued updates, I received mine yesterday and will be doing the install today or tomorrow. Also thank you for the advice regarding offsetting the cutouts more towards the windshield to give clearance for the windshield sprayers. That would have drove me bananas otherwise lol so will definitely make a point to do this.

Not sure how you received your replacement and installed it before I was able to receive my first order when we live in the same state, Cascadia are really taking care of you. I am glad they did though because otherwise I would have not benefited from your experience with the product.
I think Customs likes me. Lol. One other thing... I did notice that two days after the new panel was installed while it was sitting in the sun heating up, one of the back indents started to pop up again. I let it sit with some weight on that spot for the next day though and that seems to have taken care of things. You might want to do the same after install just in case. Probably just a fluke because the other corner seems to be fine.
 
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I think Customs likes me. Lol. One other thing... I did notice that two days after the new panel was installed while it was sitting in the sun heating up, one of the back indents started to pop up again. I let it sit with some weight on that spot for the next day though and that seems to have taken care of things. You might want to do the same after install just in case. Probably just a fluke because the other corner seems to be fine.
Will do, thanks again
 
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So i finished my install. I followed directions to the T (does that mean i only followed half of the directions ). Install went smoothly but i do have couple of comments/suggestions.

1 - looks more blue than black, unlike in most of the other photos I have seen. Not sure if that is just because my jeep is black. I was hopping for it to be more subtle than an attention grabber, but I can live with it.
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200613_094745_HDR

Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200613_094721_HDR

Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200613_094737_HDR
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200612_233923_HDR


2 - the edge of the product looks unfinished which I think takes away from it looking like its part of the hood. Probably glueing a thin rubber strip along the edge could clean it up. I will be looking to do this myself.
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200613_100641_HDR

Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200613_100629_HDR

Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200613_100606_HDR


3 - Not sure what it would have taken to remove the hoses from the windshield sprayers but i think it would looked cleaner if they were remounted through the panel instead of the cutouts. As it stands it looks like a place for water to pool. I did take @ScubaSteve advice and offset the panel back to give more clearance for the spray nozzle to clear the cutout when spraying.
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200613_101938_HDR


4 - if the intentions where to run the wires from the panel through the seem of the hood I would have liked to see a flat wire instead of a round one. I think it would decrease the pinching and stress put on the wires from opening an closing the hood.
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200613_103220_HDR


Overall I really like it and think its a great addition to the rig. I can't wait to put it to work, I am currently installing a 360 camera system by to eventually use off roading and as a parking monitor where the solar power will be its primary souce of power. It does seem darker and not as blue when I take it out in the sun, so my first comment really only applies to when you are in the shade. @Cascadia4x4 I hope my comments were helpful and thank you for all the hardwork pioneering this product for us.
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200613_102635_HDR
Jeep Wrangler JL Hood Mounted Vehicle Specific Solar System™ - Jeep JL & Gladiator 20200613_102626_HDR
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