Picture just for attention. It's the front fan that I'm referencing. This is an old picture of my van with the old solar panels I installed.

I've had my van built up for a few years. I use it for long weekends fishing trips around North Carolina. Summer time heat has been a bear. "Just go where it's colder” isn't an option given my use case. Instead, I'm upgrading so I can install air conditioning and run it off-grid.

I have some 430W solar panels I'm going to put on the roof. I'll build a rack. That's not a big deal. The issue is that I have a maxxair deluxe that's in the way. I want to keep the fan where it is so I can force some air movement through the van. The fan is out of warranty. Is there any reason I couldn't/shouldn't remove the lid and trim down the fan housing so it's not so tall? Is i did that, I'd have the fan covered in the middle of a solar panel. That should keep rain out. Will having air blowing on the back of that one spot on a panel cause me any issues? The air would be roughly ambient, so we're not talking about a really cold spot in the middle of a hot solar panel.

Second, if I do this, how much room do I want above the fan? Is there a reason I shouldn't just build the solar rack so the back of the panels are JUST higher than the fan motor that would be sticking up?

Is there something else I'm missing?

Thanks for your time and letting me pick your brains.