avslash
Full Access Member
@avslash I have a 100W panel bolted to the front of my FRO roof rack for THAT exact reason. Tired of the whole battery charging issue.
I added a front pivot point on the panel so that I can tilt the panel up and stuff fire logs under it, which also acts as a wind deflector for my RTT. The panel up top is fine for now, but I lose a lot of real estate up there.
I gave serious consideration to fabbing up a top mounted permanent panel but at the risk of sounding a little bourgie (as my daughters would say), I didn't want to cover the sunroof and mounting it further back would eat up the rack space as you mentioned.
The benefit of the soft backed folding panel I use now is that it can be draped over any side of the vehicle to get maximum available sunlight.