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Why don't people use large 400w Panels on travel trailer?

For what it's worth, Never depend on VHB or any other adhesive as the sole way to secure panels to your roof! The failure rate may be small but
Murphy's law can be a deadly regret when panels go sailing at freeway seeds. I know some prefer not to drill holes into their roof skins for many reasons , I am one. A wise and easy choice are secured safety tethers. They are cheap insurance and can prevent tragedy.
Never say never..............✌️
Here's a real reminder of a REAL tragic trust of only using adhesive to mount your panels!!

 
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For what it's worth, Never depend on VHB or any other adhesive as the sole way to secure panels to your roof! The failure rate may be small but
Murphy's law can be a deadly regret when panels go sailing at freeway seeds. I know some prefer not to drill holes into their roof skins for many reasons , I am one. A wise and easy choice are secured safety tethers. They are cheap insurance and can prevent tragedy.
Never say never..............✌️
Here's a real reminder of a REAL tragic trust of only using adhesive to mount your panels!!

In the above video, I see that comments are turned off so there is no way of learning any of the facts about that case. Do we have any idea how these were installed? If glued to the roof, did the rubber membrane of the trailer fail, or did the adhesive?
 
This was just the thread I needed. I’m planning for 400w (x4) Trina panels on my TT. The though is to mount them over the vents and fans during travel while tilting them during camping. I may have to look at a way to divert wind, but I think it’ll work.
 
You need to hold on tight to those big things.
Wind gusts getting under them when moving fast will try like hell to rip them off.
Tilting hardware probably isn't going to help matters.
 
For what it's worth, Never depend on VHB or any other adhesive as the sole way to secure panels to your roof! The failure rate may be small but
Murphy's law can be a deadly regret when panels go sailing at freeway seeds. I know some prefer not to drill holes into their roof skins for many reasons , I am one. A wise and easy choice are secured safety tethers. They are cheap insurance and can prevent tragedy.
Never say never..............✌️
Here's a real reminder of a REAL tragic trust of only using adhesive to mount your panels!!

That looked like a 100W panel. Imagine a 400W panel flying at you like that.
 
That looked like a 100W panel. Imagine a 400W panel flying at you like that.
?? wouldn’t end well if it came thru a windshield. My 1 327w panel is held on by SikaFlex 252 done correctly but with two snugly fit vinyl coated steel cables from the panel frame to a solid structural rail in on the trailers framework. In the rare event the sikaflex fails it may flop around but it ain’t goin nowhere. Peace O mind ✌️
 
It is just not likely to be as solid. The moving parts can wear out
Sorry, I understand what you’re trying to say, but don’t see it when using the proper materials with frequent inspection, which should be done no matter the mount approach. It would be just as solid of a mounting system.
 
Sorry, I understand what you’re trying to say, but don’t see it when using the proper materials with frequent inspection, which should be done no matter the mount approach. It would be just as solid of a mounting system.
It is possible that a tilting system could be just as solid as panels that are bolted down. Good luck
 
I'm doing 3 x 400w Trina panels. Only One will have tilt function. 2 mounted flat, each flat mount will have 8 brackets. Tilt panel will use aluminum unistrut and 2 sets of ecoworthy tilt brackets (4 total). Am thinking to use wind deflectors on leading edge of panels.
 
"And bonus question. Is there any reason that the panels have to be mounted very tight to the roof? Or can they be raised up 5-6 inches or more off the roof to help decrease the chance of shade from things like an ac unit?"
My 2009 MH had two panels using 3/16" 4" aluminum angle had a height of 6" off the roof, for the very reason of shading. worked well. The first trip saw 40mph side winds at 80mph. On my current trailer I went with 1/8" 3" angle 5" off the roof.
 
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I put 225 watt panels up as no 400 watt panels were available at the time.
Once you figure out how to lift and mount these monsters... the bigger the better IMO.
 
I have 4 - 200 watt Panels that are 4" above the roof on my travel trailer, I have put 11K miles on my trailer and 22 states since the solar install and no damage has occurred. I am looking into adding 2 more panels which will need 6" or 8" tall mounts to mount the panels over the TV and FM antenna and a few vent pipes, I will use 6 mounts on each of these panels just to be on the safe side.

I mounted my panels like this, each panel has 4 mounts that has two 1/4 inch holes on the bottom for two 1/4" X 1 1/4" long lag bolts in each mount. I put a 4 inch square of Eternabond tape on the roof where each mount is positioned, then the mounds had vhb tape on them which stuck to the Eternabond tape, then the 1/4" lag bolts and then the mounts and lag bolts are covered in dicor self leveling roof sealant.
One thing a lot of people seem to forget is that TT and other campers often have fairings or noses that are designed to deflect the wind over the roof.
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Here's my one 400w Trina (80"x40") mounted on the 1-5/8" aluminum unistrut. 41" ecoworthy tilt brackets. Had to do quite a bit of trimming and drilling to get to this point....getting all the correct stainless steel hardware, etc.
I'll take the panel off the completed bracket, then mount the bracket to the roof. Seal things up, recoat roof. Then reattach the panel.
 

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