My solar panel mounts

[Paul_R]

These will go on my travel trailer with an arched rubber roof with aluminum trusses. They will orient parallel with the length of the trailer and panels with the center screw in a truss. The other two screws will be in the plywood. All aluminum with stainless hardware. Six mounts per 200W panel, total of six panels.

 

[HRTKD]

Are you clamping the panels down or are you attaching the bracket to the underside of the panel frame?

 

[Paul_R]

They will be bolted to the under side of the panel frames like so:

 

[Browneye]

Looks nice. Mounts them up pretty high though.
If you're screw-fastening into a roof truss they should be plenty strong. If it were me I would use struts the length of the panels, with several fasteners - like #12 self-tappers.

If the "L" brackets were turned 90* you could use a single strut for two adjoining panels.

SS 1/4-20 with nylocs works good for this application.

 

[HRTKD]

Mounts them up pretty high though.

That's where I was going by asking the question I did.

If I used strut on the roof of my RV, I think I would end up using off-the-shelf brackets similar to these:

https://www.amazon.com/UI-AI-Solar-Clamp-Adjustable-Pack/dp/B07L7SWL54

 

[WYtreasure]

These will go on my travel trailer with an arched rubber roof with aluminum trusses. They will orient parallel with the length of the trailer and panels with the center screw in a truss. The other two screws will be in the plywood. All aluminum with stainless hardware. Six mounts per 200W panel, total of six panels.

Hey Paul, not trying to hyjack, but can you toss in a pic or two of your Crimper Caddy? ?

 

[Browneye]

That's where I was going by asking the question I did.

If I used strut on the roof of my RV, I think I would end up using off-the-shelf brackets similar to these:

https://www.amazon.com/UI-AI-Solar-Clamp-Adjustable-Pack/dp/B07L7SWL54

Those are nice. $4 each!
At least we're not trying to glue to a rubber roof.

One of the main reasons I used full width cross strut is easy of assembly, not fussy about exact length or width of the base struts, and ease of later adjusting the panel size should one need to be replaced.

I would screw the full length struts longitudinally like he says, then use full width aluminum cross struts to mount the panels. Low profile, easy mounting, and the panel frames bolt into strut nuts on the cross beams, then those bolt into strut nuts in the base mounts.

I did it with steel, but just two panels. For a lot of panels going aluminum would surely save a lot of weight up high on the roof.
I also used low profile strut, they sit right about an inch and a half off the deck.

 

[Paul_R]

Looks nice. Mounts them up pretty high though.

Nah, this is high:

https://diysolarforum.com/threads/strut-channel-for-roof-of-rv.20091/page-2#post-235752

If you're screw-fastening into a roof truss they should be plenty strong. If it were me I would use struts the length of the panels, with several fasteners - like #12 self-tappers.

If the "L" brackets were turned 90* you could use a single strut for two adjoining panels.

SS 1/4-20 with nylocs works good for this application.

These mounts will give me just enough height to get my arm under if I have to do any work, or a sponge pad ect. I've regretted having less than that on other projects. Keep in mind it's a curved roof, the brackets need to swivel. L brackets turned 90deg won't work unless they're bent and I want the strut channel centered under the frame so there's no side torqueing. Full length channel creates drainage and access problems and adds little structurally. Stainless 1/4-20 with nylocs is exactly what I'm going to use and I'm putting a nylon washer between the swiveling brackets because these are all made to tilt. The anchor screws are SS #14 sheet metal screws.

 

[Geokilroy]

They will be bolted to the under side of the panel frames like so:

I mounted mine similar but to the side of the panel instead of to the bottom. I had problems getting to the bolts to check for tightness and service on my old rig. After a couple of years the vibration caused some bolts getting loose (I boondock on dirt roads a lot). I like being able to access my mounting bolts.