RV Roof Mounted Solar Panels

DW SD · May 2, 2020

I used 60 cell 3x 280W home panels on 102” wide coach. And the anodized rack system. I forget which but recall uni rack.
went to a wholesale solar supply house for everything.
I put deep wall M6 rivnuts in to bulkhead supports which in my case are thick. The the rivnut sandwiches the bulkhead hoop and the outer aluminum roof skin. I put a sealing cloth tape down over the hole before bolting the L bracket to seal. The L brackets are beefy. 3/16 aluminum with M8 hardware.
The panels mounted this way with black racks and panels almost disappear.
you can also see that I added an extra L bracket upfront And in the rear just for redundancy.
The rack systems are strong, tested, and inexpensive. Might as well use them unless you need tilt.

Hope this helps.

DW SD · May 2, 2020

A nice rivnut install tool is maybe $40. Get the kind similar to a rivet gun with the yoke type design.
buy the right drillbit diameter to go with your rivnuts. I bought a pair in case one broke. Murphy’s law said then I didn’t need the second one ?
I buy the rivnuts at McMaster. Pay attention to the working length suitable for your application.
Do NOT attach just to the roof skin.

DW SD · May 4, 2020

In the interest of accuracy, the solar panel rail mfg is Iron Ridge.
Hope that helps,
Doug

cass3825 · May 4, 2020

I ended up using these rv racks from Swagman,

although they've gone up significantly in price since my purchase. I thought I paid around $100/pr. These allowed the panels to span a few roof obstacles.

Mex Rider · Jul 12, 2020

Hi All, perhaps some opinions of my idea/thought process. Thanks in advance. Are the frames of solar panels strong enough to bolt two panels together lengthwise using a wood batten inside of each frame for added strength? The object being to mount to the roof rack solely at the outside four corners of the two bolted together panels.

BoloMKXXVIII · Jul 12, 2020

I it was a static installation without wind loads that setup might work. On a moving vehicle I would expect broken panels before long.

Mex Rider · Jul 12, 2020

BoloMKXXVIII said:
I it was a static installation without wind loads that setup might work. On a moving vehicle I would expect broken panels before long.

Thanks, had not thought about that...

DW SD · Jul 13, 2020

Mex-> another issue is heat. The panels are supposed to have an air gap below to transfer heat.

Doug

Mex Rider · Jul 13, 2020

DW SD said:
Mex-> another issue is heat. The panels are supposed to have an air gap below to transfer heat.

Doug

Thanks, was aware of that and am in a very hot climate so intend to see what the wind noise and drag is with 4 inches space below the panels and will lower if that height is adverse. I never drive faster than 60mph except to pass, when necessary. More concerned, or equally concerned with the heat effect on my lithium cells/batteries.

HRTKD · Jul 14, 2020

I have about 2" of clearance under my panels, with four mounting brackets holding the panel down. I don't have a way of measuring the heat of the panel, but it's been operating OK for three years now. I stay below 70 MPH, but I drive through some very windy parts of Wyoming. One time on I-80 the headwind was so bad that my transmission started getting quite warm, like I was driving over one of the Colorado mountain passes.

MisterSandals · Jul 14, 2020

Mex Rider said:
More concerned, or equally concerned with the heat effect on my lithium cells/batteries.

From what I've been seeing here, VERY few people experience ANY heating of their batteries. It would take quite a bit of charge amps from my experience (like maybe 2C charge rate) to notice any heat.

Or were you thinking of heat from something other than charging?

Mex Rider · Jul 14, 2020

Sorry I was not clear. I live in the desert of northern México so I was referring to climatic heat. I have insulated my van to a reasonably high standard and installed two roof top fans. Obviously to use solar, I cannot park in the shade but am considering awnings on three sides when not moving day to day. I am in the build process so open to ideas. Plan to install a USB fan blowing on the batteries/cells but still expect ambient temperature In the "garage" under the bed will be 95 degrees f, or possibly higher. At the cost of the battery setup I am worried about their life being materially shortened by heat....also thinking about how providing for reduced vibration is counter intuitive to air circulation. And if course in a van space is always an issue.

Mex Rider · Jul 14, 2020

HRTKD said:
I have about 2" of clearance under my panels, with four mounting brackets holding the panel down. I don't have a way of measuring the heat of the panel, but it's been operating OK for three years now. I stay below 70 MPH, but I drive through some very windy parts of Wyoming. One time on I-80 the headwind was so bad that my transmission started getting quite warm, like I was driving over one of the Colorado mountain passes.

Yes, likewise I range around the west and high winds and those mountain climbs are all a challenge to gas mileage and vehicle control. With two panels I was hoping to keep it to 4 mounting points by creating a beam on one side of each panel but it has been suggested I will probably end up with a broken panel that way and that is probably true ...so will need eight points, the real issue being the center of the roof is higher than the two sides and still a little higher than the top surface of my rack.

HRTKD · Jul 14, 2020

I've seen a number of rack systems with solar panels mounted on them. The "shoes" for the racks look to have two screws/bolts each, so eight total fasteners on the roof. If the rack system is solid, I don't see a problem mounting the panels to rack with sufficiently beefy mounting brackets.

Here's a rack system on a slide-in truck camper. I think he might need more clearance. :D

9f4c85db_4a46_4832_b624_155de155b656_f3c41871de6e1ce238079925b89f31c5756c9b48.jpeg

Mex Rider · Jul 14, 2020

Looks like maybe 16 screws/bolts, four at each end. For sure a lot of drag on that roof

CascadeOffGrid · Jul 15, 2020

There is a motorized tilt product on the market. I installed this system recently on a customer's 5th Wheel RV with 210W panels.

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Mex Rider · Jul 15, 2020

CascadeOffGrid said:
There is a motorized tilt product on the market. I installed this system recently on a customer's 5th Wheel RV with 210W panels.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

Very cool. That would make a great difference, especially at northern latitudes.

HRTKD · Jul 15, 2020

This might be the company that makes that motorized tilt product: https://www.solarvector.net/overview/

Pretty steep at $499 per panel.

CascadeOffGrid · Jul 15, 2020

HRTKD said:
This might be the company that makes that motorized tilt product: https://www.solarvector.net/overview/

Pretty steep at $499 per panel.

Yes and Yes! My customer sure loves it though!

LanduytG · Jul 15, 2020

I like the concept of the remote tilt. But the is no need to have to have 3 systems for 4 panels. I read through all the info and it needs to be re-engineered so it can handle more than that. At $500 a pop that is a lot of extra cash.

Greg

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